In December, FDNY electrician Gregory Seabrook (a black man) filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights, saying that the FDNY overlooks minority electricians for overtime. And on Thursday, he arrived to his Brooklyn FDNY locker to find a noose inside. Unfortunately, this sounds all too familiar.
Seabrook's understated lawyer Stephen Jackson told the Daily News, "There's an ominous message behind it," and says the noose was tied with a monkey knot, which "was a type of weapon used as a flogging knot to beat slaves. It's very thick and very hard and it's designed to cause injuries." Jackson plans on handing the 3-foot noose to the authorities today.
The City Law Department says it's investigating the incident, but this is not the first time the FDNY has been accused of some act of racism or discrimination. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found in Lanaird Granger's favor after he found a noose in his locker in 2005, but nobody at the firehouse was ever disciplined.
