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-- -- .--- .------ .---------. CITY OF ATLANTA 8 Aug ust 1969 ,, . Memorandum Regarding Discriminatio n Against Black Firemen Of Atlanta _ __: .. --==-- ,. To: .. Mayor Ivan All en, Chairman Board of Firema sters-, AJderlTra-fk__Wm. :,_ T. Knight and Atlanta Fire Chief Paul O• . Williams - ~ -- --------..-· ._ _ From: Black Firemen of Atlanta - ------. , /--, -- .......___ .. ' The Black fir efighters of Atlanta are dedicated municipal empl~ee~, . concerned with the s afety and w~lfare of our city and all of its citizen$ ; ·--. During the years of our tenure as firemen we have been subjected to dis- ·- ·1 crimination and abuses as outlined below. We ·request that imrre diate __

action be taken to correct these practices, and that on or before Mo·nd~ .·

August 18, 1969 that we receive a formal report on your ae---tio"ns in corre~ I ing the action s cited herein: . ~. / . ~- ···. .---' I. HIRING PRACTICES The ratio of .. _ -=-~-~--- r ..:;j )1,; ' . - Black Firemen to White Firemen -does not correspon

...-~ to th~ pop ulation of Black citizens in Atlanta. There are~about 90 to

100 Black Firemen in a department of more than 900 men. Black~-Firemen that are drafted into the armed servic~s are replaced by ._white firemen II. SEGREGATED SLEEPING & LOCKER A'9.RANGEMENTS J Lockers and beds of :Black Firemen are placed in the back or away from the whit e firemen. III. RECREATION CLUB _,, ___,~ -- ,_ ~ dB ,,... .,, ~ The membership was clos ed the ye ar Black Fi ~e~en were hired in Land was giv en t o the club by the _g overnme~t on ~ake ~llatoon!. )_lJ a cres) . ../ C <1--.,, ,40-/_ . (_~ ~0 ~ ~ ~ - - ) J.963. N. PROMOTIONAL DISCRIMINATION ~~ lJv<J-'t . ' i j ~1 /1'!~..... . - Black Firemen should be included in ·every department. Wh.i t ~. . .f i r_~ _,-'f r.ien with less time and experience are promoted .. to --driver poslt"ions. r:Hack Firemen with 5 and 6 yea rs should be promoted to Lieutenants ·;·-be-cause the entire officer cabin et is made uo of all white officers. Most of these officers have _bee o kn o ~-O--I'-€-e-t-h-e--i-r-p-r-e--j-ttd±c-e-s- ·on- s-1-a ck Firemen. We

~ -are- awar e of the test for Lieutenants, but in a time of an emergency men have been promoted wholesale from private to captains within a year, thus_ setting proper precedent. We consider this an emerge_n_cy ---hec---uu-se---o'f tne overall discrimination in th e department. White driv ers are giving up their positions because they know f uture Lieutenants are going to be appointed by Chiefs.· This is true because in the last captain's test the aides of all the chiefs dominated the list. Some of these Lieutenants didn't place in the top 40 on the Lieutenants list. Now they are captains. V. EXP!:RIENCE AND LE NGTH OF TH1E ON THE DEPARTMENT Act ing offi cers, we feel that every Black Firemen .with the time and exp erience, equal to any white firemen, should be .given the opportunity to be an ac~ing officer: This apJ?li~s toce tra dr ivers o House d~ies should be picked according to seniority. ~ I l·S ~ r/f'·,·· dio ) VI. STAtJDAR D SET OF RULES FOR ALL C INS Eich shift is operated different , captain authority has no limit. He forc es personal preju dices on Black Firemen. Transfer of ~en to other stations. ( ~ ~ ~ Afavk FOR COl\ITACT: Fireman William Hamer 195 !for mer Circle, N. W. Atlanta, Georgia 30311 __ elephone - 794-2244

· _ ---- -or ----Fire Station 16 on C Shift Telephone 523-5786 / , ",-u-1- ~ ___..----:-- r) /I A ~- 77v--, . Iv a()j ,. I ' I l I L.~ �