Firefighters allege racism amid a larger reckoning
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— They threwher new cellphone on the roof of the station house and placed nails under the wheels of her pickup truck. As she prepared to answer a call, someone poured tobacco juice in her boots. Itwas toomuch for Timika Ingram to bear.
“It caused me pain, sleepless nights, suffering, anxiety,” said Ingram, whose four years as a firefighter in North Carolina amounted to a collection of indignities.
Other Black firefighters who endured similar treatment in the Winston-Salem Fire Department recentlybrought their complaints before the city. The grievance they filed inOctober calls for ChiefWilliam “Trey” Mayo to be fired for failing to disciplinewhite firefighters who, the group said, have created a hostile work environment through comments in person and on social media.
“It’s a festering problem that has become even more disease-rid den and even more detrimental to the life of the individuals who work here because of the current chief,” said 28- year veteran fire fighter ThomasPenn, a leader of the group that calls itself Omni bus.
Acrossthecountry, firefighters are confronting incidents of racismand discrimination as part of a burgeoning movement to call out and address racial injustice in America.
Two Black women sued the city of Denver in September, saying its fire department discriminated against them because of their gender and race. One alleged a captain overseeing her training said she should “keep her head down and act like a slave” to graduate from the program.
Last year, a Black firefighter sued city officials in Lansing, Michigan, say
ing they did nothing to stop racial discrimination within the fire department after he received hostile comments and found a banana on his assigned firetruck’s windshield. He filed another lawsuit this summer.
TheWinston-Salem group alleged two white captains talked about running over demonstrators protesting the police killing ofGeorge Floyd, and that a firefighter made a noose during a rope and knots class inNovember2017.
City Manager Lee Garrity cited the state’s personnel privacy law in declining to comment. He said the city has launched a so-called “climate assessment” through a Charlotte-based firm, which will evaluate the entire fire department regarding diversity, race, gender and sexual orientation. A report is due by year’s end, he said.
“We’d had very few grievances or complaints in the last couple of years,” Garrity said. “But I amsure there are opportunities for improvement.”
Mayo didn’ t return multiple phone calls seeking comment.
In early November, Penn said the climate assessment hadn’ t begun and added in an email that department ad min
istrators, including Mayo ,“has attempted to intimidate and bully ourmembers” by walking in during interviews.
Ingram said of her treatment throughout rookie school, “You develop alligator skin sothat youcangeton through the process.”
She officially joined the department in July 2006. Almost right away, she said, other firefighters stole her food and took her uniforms out of her personal space.
The cellphone incident was a significant factor in Ingram’ s eventual departure because, without it, her three children had noway to reach her. She said her white counterparts even pretended to search for it.
“My kids hadno otherway to get in touch. They didn’t know how. Something went wrong with my kids, and I couldn’t get tothemandthey couldn’t get to me,” she said. “That right there just set it off .”
In July 2010, Ingram quit. Her life spiraled downward for a time. She said she married someone“tomask the pain,” but that ended in divorce. Her carwas repossessed and she was homeless. She missed work for four months, and doctors told her she developed lupus as a result of stress.