“We have DEI, we have budget cuts, and yet I’m wondering now
if your house was burning down, how much do you care what color the
firefighters are?” Jennings asked, referencing a California program that aimed
to change the primarily white male makeup of the state’s firefighting force.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), however, immediately pushed
back on the Trump-boosting pundit’s suggestion, adding that she was “so tired”
of conservatives finding a way to blame DEI.
“Because you are a woman or because — because I know that
some of the right has been sharing these photos of the fact that I believe that
the fire chief may be a woman or something — that has nothing to do with it,”
she said. “We are looking at qualifications. What diversity, equity, and
inclusion has always been about is saying, ‘You know what, open this up. Don’t
just look at the White men. Open it up and recognize that other people can be
qualified.’”
Crockett went on to note that if minorities are “good enough
to build this country” and serve in the military, they “are good enough to
serve in other ways.” She then made sure to let Jennings know that he was
making his comments on a panel that was quite diverse.
“The fact is, stop trying to act as if only white men are
the ones that are capable because right now, you’re sitting at a table with
three very capable Black women,” she declared.
“I’m not,” he retorted. “I’m just simply saying that as a
matter of public policy in California, the main interest in the fire department
lately has been in DEI programming and budget cuts.”
Unsurprisingly, nothing in Representative Crockett's attack addressed Jennings' argument a California program pertained to diversity, equity, and inclusion and hampered the response to the wildfires. Though it's hard to separate fact from fiction and the wheat from the chaff, we do know that, according to Newsweek, Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin
Crowley is the first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ person to
hold her post. She is married to retired firefighter Hollyn Bullock.
Her nomination came after former Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas
stepped down amid growing scrutiny for not doing enough to stop sexist and
racist behavior within the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Trying to cover both his right and left flanks
"I look for who's best, not just who makes
history,"(Mayor Eric) Garcetti said at a press conference. "Because the
protection of our city first and foremost has to go to the human being who is
best prepared to lead. But, let me be clear, that is Kristin Crowley. And this
progress is incredibly important and long overdue."
"Not just who makes history," sayeth the Mayor, obviously proud that he broke a glass ceiling by doing something "incredibly important and long overdue." However, Crowley (thus Garcetti, also) should be given her due because
When she was nominated to her position in 2022, she had been
with the fire department for 22 years, having been a firefighter, paramedic,
engineer, fire inspector, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, fire
marshal and deputy chief. She became Los Angeles' first female fire marshal in
2016. When she took the firefighter exam in the late 1990s, she ranked among
the top 50 out of 16,000 applicants.
Possessed with a strong resume, that would have made Crowley "qualified" in much the same way that Kamala Harris- former big city District Attorney, huge state Attoreny General, US Senator, Vice-President- was immensely qualified to be President. However, when she accepted the nomination, she not only said what must be said- my people will perform well- but went beyond by stating
As the fire
chief, if confirmed, I vow to take a strategic and balanced approach to ensure
we meet the needs of the community we serve. We will focus our efforts on
increasing our operational effectiveness, enhancing firefighter safety and
well-being, and fully commit to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive
culture within the LAFD.
Assuming Crowley was being honest, she saw her mission as twofold. She would try to be effective and increase employee safety- the traditional, conventional, and sensible aim. However, she also would "fully commit to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture within the LAFD."
She would be serving not only one, but two, masters. (Relax- it's the traditional, generic meaning of "masters.") One would be the unavoidable and inevitable goal of improving the department; the other, equity.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion is not, has not been, and never will be synonymous with "open this up. Don't just look at the white men. Open it up and recognzi that other people can be qualified." Equity pertains to equal outcome, not equal opportunity. Applied aggressively, it can be the opposite of "open this up."
Nonetheless, DEI had nothing to do with the eruption of wildfires and little or nothing to do with the response to them. Neither, in all likelihood, did any of the other partisan, right-wing explanations such as federal relief funds diverted to migrants; protecting Delta smelt at the expense of water made available to southern California; money appropriated for Ukraine; fire department budget cuts; and Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom because they are, well, Democrats.
By contrast, in Newsweek, Leighton Woodhouse notes that beneath the asphalt of Los Angeles is not a desert but a grassland, whose natural ecosystem is fire. Around virtually every city emerged "exurbs, and around them rural agricultural zones. Only then do you reach wild forests, mountains, or prairies. By contrast, L.A. "grew up in a hurry. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, development occured so rapidly that urban and suburban density extends unabated all the way up until it collides into wildlands." Add to this a warming climate, and the situation is ripe for such a catastrophe.
Relying on historical context, this explanation is unsexy, a threat to sacred cows, and realistic. Video and, especially, soundbites cannot tell the story. It is also a little complex and far less provocative than talk of DEI, fish, marauding immigrants, or Ukraine. Three guesses which will dominate the news cycles.
