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- -·-------------------. CITY OF ATLANTA 8 August 1969 , ·- . Memorandum Rcga~d i ng Di scrimination Agai nst Black Firemen Of Atl anta ·--==--- . . " ~ --· - Mayor I van Allen, Choirman Board of Firemas te rs-, Ai de rma-n_,__Wm. :. T• Knight and Atl anta Fire Chief Paul O. Wi l liams -~ . ,_____ ·. . To: __ _...:. .. • . Bl ack Firemen of Atlanta From: The Black fir efighter s o f Atlan t a ar e dedica t ed municipal emplo{ee ~, . I conc ern ed with the s af ety an d wel f are of ou r city and all of its citizens : · . Durin g t he years of our ten ure a s firemen we hav e been subjected to dis- ·-I crimina tion and abuse s a s outli ne d below. We request that imire diate -. , action be taken t o co rr ec t • t hes e pr actices, and t hat on or before Mond.ay, .

August 18, 1969 that we rec ei ve a fo r mal report on your ac---t io·ns in cor~ ing the actions cited her ein : · / . ·, ._ !\ ... .,\ I. HIRING PRACT IC ES _ ·. ..:;] ,;_ (-=-~ -~ - . ,. .. . j • Th e ratio of Bl ack Firemen to White Firemen does not - - to th·e population of Bl ac k citi zens in Atlanta. There ~a·re.._ about 90 to 100 Black Firemen in a department 6f more than 900 men. Blac k--Ei=emen that are drafted i nt o th e armed servic~s ar e replaced by _white fi r emen I I. SEGREGAT ED SLEEP ING & LOCKER AO.RANGEMENTS J Locker s and bed s of Bla ck Firemen are placed in the back or away from the white fi remen . III. RE CREAT ION CLUB The membersh i p was closed t he y ear Bla ck Fi r~men were hir ed in .t963 . Land was g iven t c the club by t}e I.V. ~ PROMOT I ONAL DI SCRI MI NAT ION ~e:;~.~ ~ l.fo · . a.J'! 143.215.248.55J.. )a cr es)l ~ 1 1 w..:;a.... - i - Black Firemen should be includ ed in every department. Whi t _~,..J.i t.§?~ ~ r.1en wi th le ss time and experienc e are pro mot ed·-to -d;r--i -ver pos it ions. tHack Fi r er.1 f n with 5 and 6 yea r s should be promoted to Lieutenants-;··· because the -entire officer cabinet i s mad e uo of all white officers. Most of these off i ~g_s_h_ay___e_h_e.e.n__k\Am t o f o :r-e--e--t---h-e±r--p-r--e-juu'-:tc-e-s- on - Brack Firemen • 1,'/ e aie--awar e of th e test f or Lieut enants , bu t in a time of an emergency men h ave been promot ed wh ol e sale from priva t e to captains within a year , thus_ s et t ing prop er pre cedent. \'le consider this an emerge_o_cy ..beG-attSe--o--f tne over all discrimi nation i n t he depart ment . White drivers are giving up their pos i tions because t hey know future Lieut enants are going to be appointed by Ch i efs. · This i s true because in the last captain's test the aides of all th e chief s dominated the list. Some of t hese Lieutenants didn't place in t he top 40 on t he Lieutenants list. Now they are captains . V. f EXP!:R IENCE AND LE NGTH OF TI ME ON THE DEPARTMENT Actin g officer i, ·we f eel that every Black Firemen with the time and experienc e , equal t o any whi t e firemen, should be . given the opportunity to be an ac!ing of f_ice:r:: This apJ?li~s to.f;;tra drivers. House d~ies shou l d be picked acco r ding to sen1.or1. ty. ~ \ \·<; ft-I21v-o r.f/V' ut.io ) VI. STAtJDARD SET OF RULES FOR ALL C INS Eich shift i s opera t ed differen t, captain authority has no limit. He f orces personal pre judices on Black Fi r emen . Transfer of ~en to other stat ions. ( ~~ ~ ~ At_ /,J a{!j FOR CONT ACT: Fi rem an Wi 11 i am Hamer 7 7 v-i 195 Herrn er Circ le , N. W. .---- - - . _ Atlanta, Ge or gia 30311 ___ _____ elephone - 79 4- 2244 or ..-----t • Fire Station 16 on C Shift Telephone 523 a 5786 vL-f) • • • ~ - r)/J ' ~ =---·-- · · · - - '- I \. .. . �