In the latest Tales From TikTok, o ne story shared by a white retired firefighter reiterates the deadly effects of racism.
For years, the lives of Black people have tragically been cut short due to racism. From police officers to doctors and beyond, the people in positions to protect and serve have done the opposite. Shamar Alion recently shared his experience with a retired firefighter who reportedly admitted to having a role in the long-running history of racism within fire departments across the nation.
During a stop at a local Denny’s, Alion met a man celebrating his 89th birthday, and after wishing him a happy birthday, he quickly learned why he had revealed that there were many things he wanted to forget. As a firefighter in the 60s and 70s, the man explained that it was a “very different time” in America. In the chilling Tales From TikTok , the octogenarian revealed that “firefighters who looked like him” would leave people who looked like Alion in burning homes, writing it off as if they couldn’t be rescued.
At one point, the retired firefighter recalled the final incident that caused him to walk away from his career as a firefighter for good. The 89-year-old man said he quit the fire department after making eye contact with a Black infant, who he pretended to save, before ultimately walking away, leaving the child to burn to death. He also admitted that he still experienced nightmares and hadn’t been able to forgive himself for his egregious behavior.
At the end of the clip, Alion expressed his ignorance of not realizing that so many people in various positions of power have contributed to the detriment of Black people.
“Police officers, we knew they didn’t give a fuck. But I don’t know why that didn’t click to me that it was everybody that hated us,” he said. “Everybody had a hand in deliberately making our lives worse.”
In 1818, Molly Williams, a slave owned by New York City merchant Benjamin Aymar, became the first known Black and female firefighter in the United States. By 1871, firefighter Patrick H. Raymond became America’s first Black fire chief in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Despite their achievements, Black people still face prejudice and racism within the industry.
New York Fire Department (NYFD) official Kareem Charles was given a racist nickname, “Kool-Aid,” by his white colleagues in 2015. Ultimately, he chose to keep quiet in an effort not to “escalate the issue” after fellow Black firefighters warned him about the implications of speaking out against racism and how it “went against the culture at the New York Fire Department.”
“At first, it feels like you’re part of something,” said Charles, who wound up walking away from the department in December 2021. “And then it feels like sort of a lie. And you feel like they just needed you for the numbers.”
As the nation’s largest fire department, NYFD is responsible for more than 11,000 firefighters and fire officers, with the majority of the firefighters being made up of white people. A 2022 report from Data USA revealed that 80.7% of firefighters in the force are white. On the contrary, only 7.15% of the force is made up of Black people.
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