May 7, 2006
No laughing matter
Documented by a cameraphone picture, an incident in a Brooklyn firehouse in November involved a stupid and offensive attempt at humor by a firefighter in need of sensitivity training. From the Daily News via Reiter's Camera Phone Report.
"The facts are known only in outline: A black firefighter is subjected to slurs in calls from an FDNY retiree. The firefighter tells colleagues. He is summoned to the firehouse kitchen, where a white co-worker wears a mockup of a KKK hood. This is supposed to be a tension-easing joke. The firefighter snaps a camera-phone photo but doesn't file a complaint. He shows the picture to a lieutenant whose brother heads the Vulcan Society, which represents black firefighters.
The New York fire commissioner office suggests sensitivity training, rather than a punishment because the firefighters in the house work well together and didn't want anyone punished. Left out of consideration is the damage this kind of idiocy does to the FDNY."
As Reiter points out "Perhaps this is a minor use of camera phones. But it highlights the everyday use: Quickly and powerfully documenting a problem."
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2006/05/012292.htm
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