SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento is known as one of the most diverse cities in the United States, but even with that, the city continues to face accusations of racism. It wasn't until just recently that the city is finally doing something to address its diversity.
In the middle of a tense time in our nation with the pandemic and protests coming from George Floyd's death, Sacramento Firefighter Desmond Lewis was watching it all unfold while working with the city's fire department. As he tried to process what he was seeing, Lewis said some of his managers and colleagues within the fire department made it clear where they stood.
"I remember, had a firefighter, you know, kind of feel like he was gauging me and whether or not I was, you know, on the side of the badge, or the Black Lives Matter protests. He's like, do I see myself as a black man or a firefighter?" Lewis said. "I had a captain say that, can't these people go back to shooting each other instead of protesting? And these people I assumed he meant, you know, backfire, or black people," Lewis continued.
Feeling like he wasn't supported at work, Lewis decided to let the city know he was leaving because of these issues. He also wasn't the only one.
Back in February, Sacramento Fire Battalion Chief Jonathan Burgess filed a lawsuit alleging the department fosters a culture of race-based discrimination in promoting within ranks. That lawsuit came after he claimed he was passed up for the deputy fire chief position multiple times.
"I believe it's very important that we lead by example, both for our community and the employees to demonstrate that we're serious about the racial equity work that we're doing in the city," said Mayor Pro Tem Mai Vang.
Now, the city is trying to make things right. On May 3rd, the city council approved mandatory diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging training.
"I think it's important for our current elected and even future elected officials to be aligned with the internal work and the external work that we're doing around race and gender and equity," said Vang.
Up until this point, training was available, but optional for anyone who wanted to take it. With the recent criticism coming from within the city's fire department, Lewis believed the timing was no coincidence.
"I think it is reactionary because something happening now. Now, it's a reaction to that happening, but I'll take it. I think that either way. It's a good thing," said Lewis.
Vang said these initiatives started back in 2019 and there's more to it than just training.
"This is really about having to commit to really be in the space when with intentionality and to act differently. And to consensually show up to address and disrupt the system that we know often too well, has not been set up for many of our families and our community members," she said.
This training is intended to address things like cultural competence, the history of racism, micro-aggressions, and white supremacy, and improving relationships across gender, race, and sexual orientation. It aims to be a four-hour training that happens every two years for elected officials, their staff, and appointed officers.
"We have department heads, and we have city staff that have already taken some of the training. But our council if you look at the fifth floor, many of them have not yet right. And so this is a reason why not just having not doing an op in version, but making sure that it's mandatory, will be really important and critical to the racial equity work that we're doing in the city," said Vang.
Now, Lewis is back with the Sacramento Fire Department and said things are better than they were in 2020. This new training, Lewis believes can only benefit the city and its staff.
"Just respecting one another, you know, we come from different walks of life, different religions, different political views, and that's okay, we're here to do a job. Let's just be pros," said Lewis.
At this point, the city still needs to form and develop this training. There's no timeline on when it will be launched just yet.
