Posted on 10/07/2017 2:14:34 PM PDT by TigerClaws
DETROIT (WJBK) - Fired before he officially started.
Last Monday, 41-year-old Robert Pattison went to introduce himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield in Detroit.
Second Battallion Chief Shawn McCarty calls it a tradition for firefighters.
by Taboola Sponsored Links Ad Content U.S. Trust: The Growth of Wind Power & Its Economic Affects From U.S. Trust The States Most Affected by Rising Sea Levels Zillow "It's not mandatory, it's voluntary," he said. "You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in."
photo And Pattison, a probationary firefighter, decided to bring a watermelon wrapped in a pink ribbon.
We're told some African-American firefighters were instantly offended since 90 percent of the people who work at Engine 55 are black.
"When you get your first detail at a firehouse you pretty much know what you are getting yourself into," said Patrick Trout. "So you would have to say it was probably a bad call."
FOX 2: "Is it racially insensitive to bring a watermelon into a fire house?"
"To some people," McCarty said.
FOX 2 spoke to Pattison by phone who claims it was not a joke - and he did not mean to offend his fellow firefighters. But he clearly did.
Fire Commissioner Eric Jones says the Fenton native was officially discharged.
In a statement Jones says: "There is zero tolerance for discriminatory behavior inside the Detroit Fire Department. On Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Engine 55, a trial firefighter (probationary employee) engaged in unsatisfactory work behavior which was deemed offensive and racially insensitive to members of the Detroit Fire Department.
"After a thorough investigation, it was determined that the best course of action was to terminate the employment of this probationary employee."
In a world where racial tensions run high, some tell me the trial firefighter should have known better. Trout doesn't know if he meant anything by it - but feels it was a bad choice.
"For sure by far it was,"
The question is did DFD take it too far?
FOX 2: "Should he have lost his job over a watermelon?"
"I don't think so," McCarty said. "Between what he did and what was there are a few things that could have been done."
Wait, let me guess. I am assuming that the new fireman who was fired was not a BLM kinda guy, right?
I never heard of this before. Is there something in the water in Detroit that would cause people to act this way and then fire the guy? That wouldn't have happened down here in the South.
We live in rural Florida and have a good friend who brings us watermelons from his garden in exchange for some citrus off our trees. A good ice cold watermelon is delicious.
BTW, our friend is black. He never seemed offended that he was delivering watermelons to his family and friends.
The US is not racist but liberals fuel the fires by labeling everything and everyone racist because otherwise what would they have to sell to the voters?
Racist, sexist, homophobic, misogyny, xenophobic (I don't even know what that one means), islamaphobic, white supremacy, white privilege, BLM, dog whistles, trigger words, micro-aggressions, safe spaces and on and on and on.
The liberals divide everyone up into classes and then they slice and dice them to pit one group against another to get political power. Name a group, make it a victim and stand back and watch the chaos ensue.
Without the liberals, this kind of crap would not be happening in the US.
Cotton still on the stalk --OBVIOUSLY intended as a racial slight, right..?
How ON EARTH could that simply be an interior display..?
Yeah, the nice Prof got TOTALLY busted for it, too.
It's like the Khmer Rouge executing everyone who WORE GLASSES; obviously members of the Intellectual Class, right..?
“All of us with darker skins do not look alike and do not act alike————”
Same with whites an Asians.
This PC insanity is very divisive and pulling people further and further apart.
.
Mr. Fireman, using the puppets on the table, show us how the watermelon hurt you.
Without showing INTENT to discriminate, there can be no “showing” of discriminatory behavior. A mistake maybe and showing some ignorance of such issues, maybe, but intent to discriminate - NO. He should sue.
Shoulda brought some fried chicken instead.
Cue up the BLM protests in watermelon-growing agricultural areas of Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma and the rest of the south, followed by invading the fields and destroying watermelons.
His biggest mistake is to apply for a job at a black majority government concern. He never was going to last there.
Not good. I’m a black person and not only am 8 not offended by watermelon but I love watermelon and would look very favorably on anyone who brought it for me to enjoy.
IF he had been Black, they would have WELCOMED the watermelon whole-heartedly!! They HATE WHITEY!
I love watermelon. Could eat it all day. Come to think of ti, I love fried chicken, too. Golly, maybe I’ve been black this whole time and I just didn’t know it!
That’s my conclusion as well. He should probably be thankful, because they would have allowed him to die on the job.
Don’t hire black people that are easily TRIGGERED!
Just about all food that is considered soul food is southern food. Might not always be the healthiest thing to eat but it’s always good eatin’.
heck I’ve lived with black people who saw I’d bought one for myself and they asked if it was sweet could they have some!
(i’m not black)
This episode also speaks to the fact these are some thinned skinned fire fighters, not sure I’d want them trying to help me since they can’t even help themselves and have such twisted logic instead of truth in their brains.
I ws wondering when they would get around to all the watermelon statues around!!!
That’s the way it should be. A gift is a gift and should be assumed to be such, unless there is evidence to the contrary. Racist blacks are going to use up all the goodwill between blacks and whites and it will end badly for the black community as a whole.
Racist blacks may think they have an upper hand, because they think they are exercising outsized power, but what is really happening is that liberals are merely letting blacks destroy themselves by destroying good will between blacks and everybody else.
I’m a fairly neutral person. I have no special hang ups about racial issues. However, if some people in a community are going to cause me grief and look for all sorts of things to claim racism, I would avoid the community altogether. If 70% of America does everything it can to avoid the black community, because of race baiters, what do you think will happen economically to the black community?
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