Greensboro City Councilwoman Sharon Hightower boycotted a graduation ceremony last week for new firefighters.
The reason? Not enough minority recruits in the class.
Hightower, who represents District 1 in mostly black East Greensboro, said she skipped the graduation ceremony June 23 on purpose.
She said Thursday that she was “very disappointed” to learn that only one of the 18 new firefighters is black. A half-dozen other black recruits quit midway through the training, she said.
Hightower said: “You have to ask yourself, ‘What are we doing to help retain the people in these classes?’ ”
In an email to a constituent on Wednesday, Hightower said the city needs to “know from those who left the class why they don’t stay.”
“We need to hear the real reasons for them leaving. We can’t assume nor can we take the chief’s word.”