St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George is expected to respond to pressure from Mayor Francis Slay to promote at least 30 firefighters.
On Thursday, a group of local African-American leaders took aim at Slay, viewing his request as a veiled threat.
"We do not intend on asking Chief Sherman George to resign and don't plan on pressuring him to resign," said Charles Bryson, special assistant to Slay.
Results from the fire department's promotions test in 2004 showed most of those passing were white.
F.I.R.E., a group representing African-American firefighters, argued the tests were unfair and that cheating took place. :D
George refused to make any promotions despite pressure from Firefighter's Union Local 73 and city leaders, including Slay.
In May, a federal judge sided with the city, saying the test was fair and there were no irregularities.
But African-American leaders sounded off Thursday, backing George and going so far as to compare the court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision, which said that slaves were not and could never become citizens of the United States.
"It was wrong. Everybody knew it was wrong and I believe that many people know that this testing process was incorrect," said Harold Crumpton, president of the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP.
Slay is also proposing to hire a new firm to test firefighters.
