A leader of the Omnibus firefighters group said Tuesday that a consultant s report on the racial climate in the Winston-Salem Fire Department confirms the group s claim that racism and discrimination are happening in the department.
The report, delivered to the city s Public Safety Committee on Monday, said that the fire department as an organization is not racist. One of the study s authors said the Winston-Salem Fire Department was a progressive leader on race.
But the consultants also said the allegations of individual acts of racism were serious enough to warrant diversity training for fire employees. It actually substantiates the things we have been saying for the last seven months, said Thomas Penn, the lead spokesman for the Omnibus group, which formed last summer to protest what the group of current and former firefighters called ongoing racism in the department. These acts have occurred, there are racists in the department, and it creates a hostile work environment.
Consultants hired to look at the Winston-Salem Fire Department have concluded that while the department as a whole is not a racist, allegations of individual acts of racism and discrimination show a need to better train firefighters to deal with diversity.
The city commissioned what s being called a Climate Assessment after a group of Black current and former firefighters calling themselves Omnibus began protesting conditions in the department.
The assessment, produced by WPR Consulting LLC, involved interviews with more than 100 members of the WSFD, including 20 captains, 20 engineers, 60 firefighters, Chief William Trey Mayo, his administrative team and other fire department employees.
Report on culture and climate at the Fire Department delivered to City of Winston-Salem Public Safety Committee Author: Adaure Achumba Updated: 7:56 PM EST January 11, 2021
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Some Winston-Salem firefighters continue to bring attention to actions within the fire department they ve said are blatant racism. This, as city officials received a 42-page report from Charlotte based consultants, WPR Consulting LLC., on the culture and climate of the fire department.
According to the report, the WSFD itself, is not a racist organization, however, there are individuals employed by the department who are viewed as racists.
In October, a group of Black firefighters with the Winston-Salem Fire Department filed a grievance with the city. They want colleagues whom they say are responsible for racism as well as the fire chief out.
It was an ordinary day of training at the Winston-Salem Fire Department in November 2019. Firefighters were beefing up on ropes and knot-tying skills when a symbol of hate interrupted the class.
Michael Chapman, a white fireman, tied a noose and held it up to Darius Johnson, one of his Black counterparts in the department, then asked if Johnson knew what type of knot it was.
Nooses were tied around the necks of thousands of Black men and women who were lynched during the Jim Crow era.
When Johnson reported the racially charged gesture to his higher-ups, it spiraled all the way up the command chain to Fire Chief William Mayo.
Making an American saint can take more than a miracle
The cause of a Catholic priest killed in the Korea conflict ticked most of the boxes, but his candidacy had to overcome two formidable obstacles. The Rev. Emil Kapaun celebrates Mass, using the hood of his jeep as an altar, as his assistant, Patrick J. Schuler, kneels in prayer in Korea on Oct. 7, 1950, less than a month before Kapaun was taken prisoner. The priest died in a prisoner of war camp on May 23, 1951, his body wracked by pneumonia and dysentery. On April 11, 2013, President Barack Obama awarded the legendary chaplain, credited with saving hundreds of soldiers during the Korean War, the Medal of Honor posthumously. (Photo by U.S. Army Col. Raymond A. Skeehan/courtesy of the Father Kapaun Guild)