Seattle firefighters trained on Ibram Kendi before getting top jobs.
Seattle Fire Department’s Lieutenant Exam: More About Social Justice Than Firefighting?
Being a lieutenant in a fire department is one of the most challenging jobs. They make crucial decisions on how to tackle a blaze, which floors to prioritize, and how to deploy firefighters against an inanimate enemy. To ensure that the people making life-and-death decisions know the bare minimum to make them well, most departments administer a written test to prospective lieutenants.
However, firefighters in Seattle were surprised when their department’s lieutenant exam focused almost as much on social justice as on firefighting. The test, which has both written and oral components, is based on a list of texts assigned by the Seattle Department of Human Resources. The books about race and gender span over 800 pages, including How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and Both Sides of the Fire Lane: Memoirs of a Transgender Firefighter by Bobbie Scopa.
Seattle fire chief Harold Scoggins lamented last year that the department is “overwhelmingly” white men. To diversify the department, the exam is part of a much larger effort to promote social engineering. Critics say that this has made the promotion process more about ideology and less about merit, politicizing a public service where competence can mean the difference between life and death.
Tests That Favor Diversity Over Knowledge of Firefighting?
Local officials, including Scoggins, commissioned a report on diversity in the fire service. One of its recommendations is to avoid tests that “rely heavily on knowledge of firefighting.” The report says that “questions that ask more about the candidate’s character and values, rather than knowing the ins and outs of the job, can be beneficial in advancing more women and people of color.”
Seattle appears to have taken that advice. An upcoming test for fireboat engineers will quiz candidates on Robin DiAngelo’s Is Everyone Really Equal?: An Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education. The fire captains exam assigns DiAngelo’s book, along with handouts on the “structural interplay between all oppressions.”
“This stuff has nothing to do with firefighting,” said Wayne Johnson, a retired Seattle firefighter who helped write some of the city’s promotional tests. “It has everything to do with social engineering.”
- Seattle’s lieutenant exam focuses on social justice as much as firefighting.
- The exam is part of a larger effort to diversify the department.
- Critics say that this has made the promotion process more about ideology and less about merit.
- Local officials recommend avoiding tests that rely heavily on knowledge of firefighting.
- Seattle’s upcoming fireboat engineers test will quiz candidates on a book about social justice.
Seattle’s efforts to diversify its fire department have raised concerns about politicizing a public service where competence can mean the difference between life and death. While promoting diversity is important, it should not come at the expense of knowledge and experience in firefighting.
Seattle Fire Department’s Ideological Screening
The Seattle Fire Department’s promotion exams for battalion chiefs now include a report on fire service diversity. This is an outlier compared to most cities where written fire exams test only tactical knowledge. However, in Seattle, promotions hinge on mastering ideological tomes. Firefighters who sat for the 2021 lieutenant’s exam said that “How To Be an Antiracist” was an integral part of it, while basics like fire behavior took a back seat. This has raised questions about competence and worsened the staffing crisis caused by the city’s vaccine mandate.
Woke Tests Making it Harder for Macho Guys to Get Hired
Former department members say that the ideological screening has worsened the staffing crisis caused by the city’s vaccine mandate, which put nearly 80 firefighters out of work. At a time when the city desperately needs first responders, the fire service has grown more hostile to the sort of people who typically join it: big, burly men whose politics tend to be to the right of the average Seattle bureaucrat. “These woke tests are making it harder for the macho guys to get hired,” said Steve Collins, who lost his job in October 2021 when he refused the COVID-19 vaccine. “They weed out people who are not politically aligned.”
Equity Concerns Affecting Physical Evaluations
The emphasis on equity has even bled into physical evaluations. When women fail the Candidate Physical Assessment Test, the department has been known to offer them an immediate do-over, while men must wait until the next testing cycle. Instructors have also been barred from gauging recruits’ readiness with tests more difficult than the standard assessment, due to equity concerns. The result has been a high rate of attrition among new recruits, perpetuating the department’s staffing shortfall.
Design Flaw in Social Engineering Schemes
The blunder reflects what Collins says is the fundamental design flaw in the city’s social engineering schemes. “Mother Nature,” he quipped, “doesn’t care about equity.”
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