FDNY in Black and White

The Huffington Post - Last summer Mayor Michael Bloomberg swore in a new class of New York City police recruits. Among the 274 new officers, 58 percent were minority. The city proudly noted that the class "consists of recruits who were born in 22 countries."

But in a city that is half minority, only about 10 percent of New York firefighters are despite recent efforts to increase their numbers. Only 3.4 percent are black. This week that particular statistic came back and bit the city, in the form of a ruling by a federal judge that the Fire Department's hiring practices constituted "a pattern, practice and policy of intentional discrimination..." that was a "stain on the Fire Department's record." Read more.