Rochester FD Settles: “Juneteenth Parody Party”
Cancel Culture?
In 2022, a Rochester, NY, fire crew attended a private event where Juneteenth flags were displayed and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Hennessy cognac were served. News sources referred to the affair as a “Juneteenth Parody Party” which employed racist tropes.
Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.
Jerrod Jones, a senior black firefighter, sued the city over his presence at the party and other racially offensive aspects of the fire department.
The fire captain in charge of Jones’ unit retired after it was suggested he be terminated following a city investigation.
It turns out this wasn’t just any party — the hosts, Mary Znidsarsic-Nicosia and her husband Dr. Nicolas Nicosia, are very prominent Rochester socialites were serve on various philanthropic boards.
Or rather served.
After the story broke their standing in the community plummeted even after they held a press conference to share their side of the story.
Or perhaps because they held a press conference.
During the meeting to defend their reputations and to deny any racist intention, their attorney, Corey Hogan, said, “I challenge you, the press — look into their background, find anything in their lives, their 50-plus-year lives, that’s racist.”
That didn’t age well.
Mrs. Nicosia then admitted that she operated a hateful Twitter account, “I have made blatantly racist comments under that persona.”
The Nicosias complained at length that they had been “cancelled” as a result of the revelations.
That’s ironic because to the extent that the cancelling occurred via social media, that’s the very platform Mrs. Nicosia employed to traffic in poisonous racial stereotyping.
What the Nicosias see as cancel culture can also be attributed to the enforcement of community standards with the enhanced speed of social media.
As stated earlier, the fire department captain who took the crew to the event “got out of dodge” but it raises the unanswered question of the nature of the fire department culture in Rochester, the quality of their supervisors and the effectiveness of their communications.
As for firefighter Jerrod Jones, he has effectively left the department while receiving a payout of around $500,000 with his pension intact.
