9 FDNY firefighters suspended for racist remarks about George Floyd

Nothing brings out white folks’ racism like Black outrage over obvious injustice…

Source: Alexi Rosenfeld / Getty

Maybe NWA should have done a song called “F**k The Fire Department” too. Every sector of public service is liable to be brimming with racists, bigots, hate-mongers, and now, literally, people who wouldn’t pee on fire to save a burning Black person.

According to a report in The Hill, 9 FDNY firefighters have been suspended after they were outed by their Black coworkers for sharing numerous racist messages and “jokes” about George Floyd and the Black Lives Matters protesters. In some cases, the communications were internal, paid for by taxpayer money. In others, messages were posted to social media without a moment’s thought about how Black firefighters would receive it. NYTimes reports that the suspension range from a couple of days to a couple of months. FDNY Commissioner Daniel Niro told the outlet that at least one of the firefighters will not return to the department after his suspension is complete.

The highly detailed article includes citations from 12 former or current Black firefighters who all knew of the hateful messages that their white counterparts were sharing. In one instance, white firefighters “gloated” about cops being able to “legally shoot Black children. In another case, a firefighter said that they should be allowed to hose down protesters because…wait for it…”wild animals like water”.

B-b-b-but wait, it gets worse!

A Black firefighter who did not want his identity revealed said that he saw a meme on a white coworkers social media page of a naked Black woman sitting on a white man’s face with a caption that read: “He can’t breathe either but you won’t see that on the news.”

These are the people who believe they deserve respect and honor because of the jobs they do. They can all go fight fires in Hell.