[Scoppetta is commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, and very well did not pick the inflammatory subtitle of this op-ed.]

The policies and practices used in the past to promote workplace diversity have long been in need of change. The Supreme Court affirmed that last week, when it found in favor of a group of white firefighters from New Haven, including Frank Ricci, who claimed reverse discrimination after that city tossed out results of a promotional exam because it did not advance any black firefighters.

A testing system that favors one group at the expense of another does not create a positive work environment for anyone. How is it fair to minority firefighters when they're brought in under a cloud of resentment? Those tasked with walking into burning buildings must have the mutual respect and trust of their fellow firefighters. Lives depend on it.

[This is a problem from both ends -- the resentment from both sides is a problem. It will not suddenly stop after Ricci, which only does so much, even if you like it.]

Let's be clear: Workplace diversity is critical. Minorities are historically underrepresented in fire departments across the country. And that injustice must be addressed. Public agencies owe it to their communities to devote time and attention to making sure everyone is represented.

But it no longer makes sense - and the courts now consider it unconstitutional - to tell white firefighter candidates that they are being effectively pitted against black and Latino counterparts in a zero-sum game. [This is a simplistic way of phrasing things.]

In New York, despite an ongoing U.S. Justice Department lawsuit that asserts our past practices were discriminatory, we think we're on the road to proving that there's a better way to ensure equal opportunity.

For us, the answer isn't to abandon tests or to tweak our formula to ensure a more heterogeneous racial breakdown. Instead, we've focused on reaching out to minority groups and making sure that everyone knows about the many significant benefits that come with being a city firefighter.

We started in 2006, armed with a $2 million budget supported by Mayor Bloomberg, making over 2,600 visits into minority communities. The job of being an FDNY firefighter - the pay, the benefits, the schedule and the public admiration - truly sells itself, once you get that information out.

We also created a database of young people interested in the job and we followed up with thousands of phone calls, urging them to take the test. Children of firefighters don't need that encouragement - they already get it at home - but we wanted to give everyone the same motivation.

We offered extensive free tutoring so all test-takers could get the same help available to those who already had family members in a firehouse. I personally recorded an automated phone message that went out to 18,000 city residents, reminding them about the tutoring. A second automated reminder call was made two days before the test.

Our goal was simple: Make sure everyone who wanted the job had the same opportunity to succeed. We made certain that no one had preferential treatment and no one was hired for any reason other than their ability.

[This is "affirmative action" that in large part understands that disparate results often in some significant part is a product of things beyond the test itself. This does not mean the test or process lacks flaws. But, it does underline that true equality is hard work. And, the history of discrimination often leads to a result where one side has more burdens that make taking even a neutral test harder for the disfavored side. Disparate impact is one flag to determine when the work is required.* It should be noted that a "insider bias" was found by some to be a problem in New Haven, one that had disparate impact results. Some also pointed out that the cost of the materials was a possible problem.]

In the end, minorities comprised 38% of the passing list, and - more importantly - of the top 4,000 candidates scoring highest on the list (and thus likely to be offered the job during the test's four-year life), 33% were minorities. Thus, last December, we graduated by far the most diverse probationary firefighter class in department history - with minorities comprising more than a third of the class.

What we've done can work at any fire department; indeed, the model can succeed at many other workplaces that are committed to diversity but wary of putting themselves in the same bind as New Haven. Like New Haven, we need diversity in our fire officer ranks as well, and I'm confident we'll achieve that goal as we significantly improve minority representation in our firefighter ranks.

[The idea here is that "diversity" itself is a positive good, a qualification for a good department. A test or rather a process that does not provide such a result is not a "business necessity." It in effect is the opposite.]

Firefighters aren't simply city employees, they're real-life role models. We need to make certain that people in communities all across New York City - and the nation - see themselves in us, and us in them.

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* A former member of the Bush Administration recently joined Justices O'Connor and Breyer in a panel discussion on the judicial nomination process. The moderator pressed the issue of diversity, including regional and what schools they went to, not just race/sex. The Bush guy noted that they took this sort of affirmative effort -- when selecting nominees, they paid attention to see if there was a lack of diversity. They were told to re-check their efforts, to determine if they made an concerted effort to reach out to options that might have been missed the first time around. If they did this and still let's say the best choice seemed to be white, fine. But, it was not deemed "racist" to take a second look to make sure that the disparate impact was acceptable.