NAACP banquet speaker talks about number of minorities in fire and police departments

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October 13, 1973
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At NAACP banquet, probably in St. Paul, an unknown speaker comments on the small numbers of Black members in fire and police departmants.

Speaker says: “As Mayor Cohen stated we have made tremendous strides but in words of the poet we still have miles to go and promises to keep before we fall asleep. As we look at our fire dept, we see the dismal picture, out of 484 employees only 11 minorities, not just talking about blacks. Gives us a 2.27 percent involvement. In police dept, 690 men on the force, only 16 minorities, giving us a 2.94 percentage of involvement. Very quietly, with dignity, with smart minds we?re going to move on this situation.”

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- Certainly as Mayor Cohen stated, we have made tremendous strides. But in the words of the poet, we still have miles to go and promises to keep, before we fall asleep. As we look at our fire department, we see the dismal picture that out of 484 employees, there are only 11 minorities.

And I'm not just talking about Blacks, only 11 minorities. Which gives us a 2.2700% involvement. You look at the police department, with 690 men on the force, only 16 minorities, giving us a 2.94 percentage of involvement. Very quietly, with dignity, and with smart minds, we're going to move on this situation.

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