Morale is down among the non-quota hires at the department -- among both blacks and whites.

          The original issues leading to the court ordered quota were:  (1) Too many black applicants flunked the fire department entrance exam, and (2) The fire department didn't look like Philadelphia, i.e., it had fewer uniformed black firefighters than the proportion of blacks in the city.

          Welcome to modern day Civil Rights by Quota.  The late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who fought for equal opportunity, and who believed that a man should be judged by his character rather than his skin color, must surely be spinning in his grave.

          The Court has repeatedly invoked the doctrines of disparate impact and proportional representation both when it imposed the racial quota in the 1970's and in subsequent court rulings which have resulted in continuing the racial quota.  You won't find either of these terms in the U.S. Constitution or in the Bill of Rights.

          Under the doctrine of disparate impact no proof of intent, opportunity or motive to commit the violation (statistical discrimination against blacks, i.e., underrepresentation) is required, as would normally be the case under our civil and criminal systems of justice.  The Philadelphia Fire Department is presumed guilty of discrimination until and unless it can prove that it has hired the "right" number of blacks. 

Remedies ...

          Several "remedies" to Philadelphia's alleged unintentional discrimination against blacks have been implemented:

White Hires: The 36 white hires had an overall average class rank of 257.4 (the blue bar in the graphic). 

The highest ranking white hire was # 140 in the class, and the lowest ranking white hire was # 303 in the class.

Detailed Quota Data

Minority Hires: By contrast, the 44 minority hires in recruit class 178 had an overall class rank of 710.9 (the brown bar in the graphic above).

         While the highest ranking minority hire was # 40 in the class, the remaining 43 minority hires were ranked between # 327 and # 935 in this class!  No whites below the rank of 327 were hired.

Judge Becthle:  "Now, I want to comment about [the department's] argument yesterday that it would be unfair to readjust, if you will, the rank of members on the eligibility list by providing for some kind of a quota system. 

          "[The department's] argument was that every person on that list who has a passing grade on that list and appears on that list according to passing grade would be denied his rights if he were passed over by one with a lower grade. 

          "Well, the court's comment on that is simply this:  No person has a vested interest in an unlawful hiring list [meaning a list of class rankings that has a "disparate impact" upon blacks], and if a person appears on a list that has been prepared in violation of the law [i.e., prepared according to performance on a test on which blacks do more poorly on than whites], his right to remain on that list in a certain rank must give way to the lawful requirements to avoid discriminatory hiring.  ["Lawful requirements" here refer directly to the "disparate impact" doctrine, NOT to intentional discrimination.]" Opinion by Judge Bechtle 7/26/74, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Civil Action 74-258, in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania et al., Plaintiffs v. Joseph L. Rizzo et al., Defendants.

Philly FD Quota Stigma ...

          Philly FD's racial quotas demoralize the white firefighters.  But the quotas also demoralize the black firefighters.

          On the other hand qualified, hardworking black firefighters who did well on the entrance exam resent being portrayed as a "quota hires" when they may have been hired for their actual ability to do the job.

Dumbed Down Entrance Exam ...

          The City of Philadelphia has decided that since blacks were failing the entrance exam at such a high rate, "business necessity" (necessary job skills) no longer required certain test questions, as follows:

• Reading comprehension skill questions have been eliminated from the entrance exam. The ability of firefighters to read and comprehend Material Safety Data Sheets, hazmat placards, and Emergency Response Guides has become less important to the Philadelphia FD than hiring the correct number of black firefighters.   Note also: All Phila. FD hires are supposedly certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's).  What about the ability of these EMT's to read, comprehend, understand and apply emergency medical protocols?

• The fire department has also eliminated math skills questions from its entrance exam.  Before the court-ordered racial quotas, a Phila. firefighter needed basic math skills in order to determine if a pumper, hydrant or standpipe would be able to deliver enough water to a fire by computing friction, pumping force and height.  After the court-ordered racial quotas this ability has apparently taken a back seat to hiring the right number of black firefighters.

Oral Interview Panel ...

          In a further effort to increase the number of blacks who are hired, a black Phila. fire chief or officer usually sits on the two person interview panel.

Legal Representation Needed ...

          The Court has repeatedly denied the firefighters the right to intervene in this matter.  Additionally, the City of Philadelphia is obviously not doing a good job of representing the firefighters' interests before the Court.