RACE MATTERS

Race Matters

By: Randall G. Talifarro

In 1994, Princeton University Professor Dr. Cornel West wrote a powerful and award winning book entitled Race Matters. The essence of the manuscript was all important issues are affected and impacted by the filters of race, gender, ethnicity, class and culture. Therefore, if you evaluate those issues by removing the social filters aforementioned you miss very important points, and perhaps arrive at erroneous conclusions about the reasons the problem exists in the first place. I would suggest, that just, as Dr. West proposed in his book, race matters in emergency response and the perceptions that are formed about that response. Furthermore, I would propose that DHS/HLS through offerings at the Emergency Management Institute, the National Fire Academy, and other programs would do a great service to those of us in emergency response by addressing this topic directly in course offerings, or indirectly as part of a larger curriculum dealing with the political nature of emergency response.

I use the title her “Race Matters” as a play on Dr. West’s book. But in reality, as in his narrative, I recognize that implicit in my use of the term “Race Matters” is the fact that race is layered with many other factors including: race, gender, ethnicity, class and culture.

As a Black Fire Chief and , I sometimes have conflicted emotions because I’ve witnessed, been a part of, and read about certain events through the lens of my upbringing and background. I am conflicted each time I read about a traffic stop or other minor offense that leads to a deadly exchange between a minority patron and non-minority officer. I was angry when I read about the arrest of Harvard Professor Louis Skip Gates for breaking into his own home. I was upset when I witnessed the images of armed National Guardsmen raising their weapons at the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I was distressed when I saw news reports about the treatment of Rodney King, Malice Green, and Abner Louima and when I first realized The Muir Building was blown up by Timothy McVeigh and not Arab Terrorists as initially believed. I have often found myself conflicted!

The issues raised by these types of interactions resonate with me because of my personal experiences. As a child, I distinctly remember being told to “get my black ass off the ramp” while riding my bike on the apron of the local fire station! As a teenager, I remember being surrounded with friends by gun welding officers because we looked liked a group that had robbed a shopper. I can’t tell you how many not to mention times we were followed for being suspicious. As a college student, I was a part of a traffic stop that nearly went horribly wrong. In fact, to be honest were it not for the calm professionalism and restraint exercised by the officer, I could very well be a statistic myself. Hence, my point here is not to blame the responders. I simply suggest that it is important to be aware of our bias and pre-conditioning that help to shape our behavior.

So now I find myself as a fire administrator, working for the government and homeland security, perhaps precisely because of my experiences and wanting to show a better way. But, I still struggle. To be fair, with a better understanding of the nature of our work I now recognize that much of what I’ve witnessed was simply a matter of perspective. That is to say in many of the examples I’ve provided, the responders were legitimately doing their jobs. They were doing what they were trained to do; getting control of a scene; deliberately and methodically sorting out complex events; prioritizing response actions and quickly sorting through issues to reach a decision. But, these actions still don’t always feel right especially from a laypersons perspective.

A good example of my conflict occurred in 2001 shortly after receiving my new assignment. I participated in an Emergency Operations Center and watched a civil disturbance unfold surrounding a major sporting event. Rioting and looting ensued. Fortunately, the event had been pre-planned and a heavy police, fire and EMS was present. Ultimately, tear gas and pepper spray were used to disburse and disband the crowd. But, only after numerous warnings were given. It was a serious riot.

I recall being struck by what happened after the fact however. There was a tremendous community outcry against the response and heavy handed tactics (i.e., the use of tear gas and pepper spray) on the poor students. A commission was established and meetings were held for an entire year to try to develop a better more compassionate and sensitive plan. I sat back quietly watched and listened as meetings were held and plans were proposed, many of which were completely contrary to any emergency response plans to civil disturbance that I have reviewed. Finally, the City Manager asked my opinion. You should have seen his face when I said “I am confused. Where I am from, we were taught and expected to follow the orders of a police officer if you did not wish to be arrested or detained. We would have fully expected to be gassed under those circumstances! Honestly, we did not know refusal was an option. In that moment, The City Manager understood the difference in the perspective of an affluent mostly student populace and my urban experience. More recently, I witnessed this same conversation play out in Ferguson, MO. Many argued that the crowd brought this on themselves by refusing to cooperate with police. Yet, I couldn’t help but think that some of those people would formerly have been those that called the tactics heavy handed (Or vice versa). The roles were simply switched.

So what is the point I am making and the outcome(s) I am seeking? I suppose it is this. If we as responders do not take a moment and reflect on the perspective of others, then we miss an opportunity to have meaningful, lasting impact on those with whom we come in contact, often during life changing events. Without some attempt to connect on a more human, personal level, we resort to becoming taskmasters and fail in our efforts to help while trying so diligently to do so. When General Russel Honore’ was appointed Commander of the Joint Task Force during Hurricane Katrina he impacted the operations, not so much because he changed the actions of the task force, rather he changed the approach of the task force. Telling National Guardsmen to lower their weapons did little to change the task that they were there to perform. However, it was impactful and did a great deal to change the nature and tenor of the response and the perception of the response. That is an important point. We need to examine our response techniques during after action critiques and a part of that examination needs to be a discussion about the socio-economic variables that may have affected our effectiveness as responders. Honest dialog must occur if we are to improve.