Disabled veteran and former firefighter and marine vows to continue his fight against discrimination

[Chella Alene]

Humans are naturally motivated to categorize people and objects. This is normal cognitive behavior. But discrimination goes beyond that.

Some of the most damaging forms of discrimination are the result of deep-seated, destructive generalizations about a certain group. In such cases, people harbor unrealistic, disparaging beliefs about a group and its members and and intend to harm, disadvantage or avoid them.

2 former New Bedford, Massachusetts firefighters have come forward with disturbing allegations of racism and discrimination in the workplace so serious it caused them to resign.

What I found most upsetting is the fact that the individuals in power that are responsible for disciplining this type of behavior are condoning or actively involved in it. Allegations include racial slurs and comments, inappropriate texts among coworkers and even threats to the 2 former firefighters safety.
This type of behavior is certain to make it difficult to focus on your job which in turn puts their lives and the lives of the people they are called to save at risk.

Veteran Sgt Steven Francis USMC explained how they actually said they would like to trap him in a fire, this highly disheartening information came from the other former fireman Jonathan. They dealt with discrimination daily and made it impossible to focus on work in such a toxic environment.

Jonathan Neno was told no one will have his back in a fire. From what they have explained it is a good ole boy network within the fire department and those in power completely abuse it and use to their advantage. Several other firefighters from that department also resigned and have legal representation. Steve has hired an attorney and both Steve and Jon both have open MCAD cases. Also a complaint of discrimination against disability has been added Steve’s complaint.

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, after researching this there have been multiple reports of racism within fire dept nationwide, a lot of which is swept under the rug by local media. This can not be tolerated anymore. This type of behavior needs to be exposed and those involved punished.

Discrimination has been widely shown to have significant, harmful effects on health and well-being. Persistent exposure to discrimination can lead individuals to internalize the prejudice or stigma that is directed against them, manifesting in shame, low self-esteem, fear and stress, as well as poor health

It is 2023 and racism is still spreading like a virus and will take a lot of awareness and education to put a stop to it. It is time people of all ethnicities to stand as one because at the end of the day there is ONE race and that is The Human Race.