Symbol or substance?
Quote of note:
A new boss is nice--an African-American new boss is even more welcome--but real diversity is needed throughout the department and not just at the top.
A black boss is not enough to end racism
Dawn Turner Trice
April 2, 2004
When James Joyce took over as Chicago fire commissioner four years ago, he did so at a time when racial tensions were pretty high in the department.
Among the culprits: the infamous home video of a station house retirement party in which drunken firefighters exposed themselves and shouted racial epithets. Racial sensitivity training, among other things, followed. And so did a report, commissioned by the city.
Nothing has had substantive and lasting effect.
On Thursday, Joyce, 61, announced his retirement at a time when the Fire Department's racial tensions continue to rise. In recent months, the department has had to deal with racial slurs made by unknown individuals that have been broadcast over Fire Department radios. There was the discovery of an independent firefighters' Web site spewing racist language. And a black fire battalion chief was sent a death threat.
With Mayor Richard Daley's appointment of Cortez Trotter, an African-American, to head the department, the hope is that somehow he will be able to make a difference.
In making the announcement, Daley said Trotter's appointment as the city's first black fire chief isn't meant to be a symbol or send a message about diversity.
But how can it not be and do just that?
