Washington, David L White, Claytee D

Description

Part of an interview with David Washington by Claytee White on March 18, 2009. Washington describes how he worked to serve as a role model and helped start the Black Firefighters Association, serving as President for the first two years.What was it like when women came onto the department? Was it like it was back in the 60s when blacks started coming in? Sure it was. In fact, I misspoke. I said that when the women came on I was in support services. That's not true because I was in support services — it's like a logistics officer. That was after I was a training officer. I was a training officer when women first came on the department. In fact, I overheard brothers saying, oh, man, we don't need them women; they're going to be taking our jobs. And I told them no one's going to take your job if you are prepared for that next promotion. I just believe that everybody has a right to choose a type of employment. And if, in fact, they are physically, mentally capable of handling that job, so be it because I've seen men that some women made them look like chumps. Oh, yeah. Not a lot. But there are some women that are much stronger than some of the guys because they're small stature. Like me, I used to lift weights

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University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University Libraries

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Mountain West Digital Library