By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For years before he was hired under a court-ordered affirmative action program, Charleston had just one black firefighter.
Twenty years later, Chuck Overstreet is about to become the city’s first black fire chief.
“My physical went well and I believe the mayor signed the paperwork today,” Overstreet said Tuesday afternoon, after a training session at the Civic Center.
One of two senior assistant chiefs vying for the top job, Overstreet scored highest on a written exam two weeks ago and needed only to get medical clearance to get the job. That was by no means a certainty.
“I had a heart attack about five weeks ago,” he said. “I got a stent. But I feel better now. I am a strong Christian; I feel the good Lord brought me through my heart attack.”
He figures the stress of worrying about the job, cramming for the test - more than 1,000 pages of reading, not to mention a consultant’s study that could lead to downsizing of the department — finally got to him. “That had something to do with it, along with eating and family history.”
Regardless of the cause, doctors gave Overstreet the go-ahead Tuesday.
“I was ecstatic,” he said. “And being a minority, it really means a lot.
“In 1991, when I came in, the way I got my job was through affirmative action. They went to court to get more minorities in the department.”
Black firefighters and police sued the city in 1987, charging discrimination in hiring and firing practices. The federal suit was settled two years later.
“I just feel proud,” Overstreet said. “Guys like Matt Jackson, he was the only minority before that, the only one for about 15 years. There were about three [black firefighters] that came on in 1990 and I believe there were 10 of us in 1991, out of 20 people.
“It was a little different, but in the ‘60s there were minorities too, like my uncle Peck Straughter. The chief posted things so there wouldn’t be harassment. There were a few things, but it was pretty limited.”
Born and raised in Charleston, the 52-year-old Overstreet attended schools on the West Side — Tiskelwah, Wilson and Stonewall Jackson High School. He earned associate and bachelor’s degrees from West Virginia State University.
If all goes according to plan, Overstreet could be sworn in at the next City Council meeting Monday evening.
“I’d really like to have Matt Jackson to present it to me,” he said.
Mayor Danny Jones said he looks forward to Overstreet’s leadership.
“I think we have enormous challenges ahead of us because the fire department, really everywhere in the city, we have to downsize because of the pension problems. He has great experience. I’m very excited he’s going to be chief.”
The mayor said he did not know of any other black fire chief in the state.
“He’s just a fireman. That’s why he’s there,” Jones said. “I think it’s a great honor for the city to have the first black chief. But to him, he just wants to be a firefighter.”
Copyright 2011 Charleston Newspapers