This Week in Racism
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Bigotry for a Boston-Area Fire Department
It’s an embarrassment of riches in our weekly roundup of the world’s most preventable disease!
Death and taxes used to be the only two certainties in life. But no matter how much progress it feels like we’re making sometimes, the sad fact is you can probably slide racism into that list. Are we in a moment of uprising that feels like it has the potential to create real, systemic change? Yes. Do people and organizations still show their ass on a daily basis? Oh, most definitely. And to keep tabs on all that ass-showing, we created a weekly racism surveillance machine.
🗑 Is there a less surprising phrase than “Boston-area fire department accused of racism”?
Located just west of Boston, the Massachusetts town of Newton has long been a bastion of upper-middle-class privilege, churning out a seemingly endless parade of accomplished actors, writers, and artists. It’s also where, according to a recently filed lawsuit, the fire department has made one Black firefighter’s life a living hell. In the lawsuit, plaintiff Lee Gilliam puts many of his co-workers on blast, from a commanding lieutenant who…
