Ric Leczel,
San Gabriel, CA

I grew up in a firehouse with every race. We spent every holiday together. Black and Mexican and Indian firefighters were just that – firefighters. Not a race doing a job. A man doing the job and their families interacting as families on the most special of days. It never dawned on us the colors.
The separation was the class – the money. Some firefighters had more than others. They lived in a better part of town – not b/c they were Black or Mexican or White, but b/c they were “rich”. It wasn’t color.based