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Article: Florida bias suit settled. (discrimination against minority police and fire department applicants in Miami Beach, FL)
- Article from:
- Black Enterprise
- Article date:
- August 1, 1992
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Earl G. Graves Publishing Co., Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The U.S. Justice Department has forced the City of Miami Beach to sign a consent decree mandating that the city pay $550,000 in back wages to African-American and Hispanic police and fire department applicants who were unfairly denied jobs since 1986. The April 22 settlement is seen as a victory for minorities in Dade County, which has a history of racial discrimination conflict.
None of Miami Beach's 199 firefighters are black, and only five of the city's 313 police officers are black. While only 3.6% of the city's population is black, its recruitment pool includes Dade County, which has a 21% black population.
"It's hard to argue with the inexplicable ...