In 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed to prevent discrimination in major forms. Till this day we still face discrimination and this article “Feds: Minority Firefighter applications were Discriminated Against” is a prime example.   

In the article the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Investigated the Austin Fire Department and discovered black applicant were being discriminated because of their race and Hispanic applicant because of their national origin.  Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr stated they will not hire any more applicants responding to this determination and she will not debate these findings. She had no further comments. Later she did state she wants to show how the hiring process has improved over the years. AFD received a letter from U.S. EEOC saying they found out that only one black candidate was hired out of 736. If that is true then that’s very unacceptable. Kerr said 636 blacks completed the application and the 328 that took the test. 3 were placed on the hiring list. This still does not make it better.

City Manager Marc Ott wrote a letter to the president of the Austin Firefighters Association stating the city needs the unfettered ability” to implement any recommended changes to the hiring process that might result from the federal investigation. This Article is worth reading because it gives the reader understanding on how minorities are still being discriminated indirectly and what’s being done about it.