My guess would be that a large fraction of EMTs are in fire departments. Fire departments are notorious for being full of racists. They were pretty segregated u

My guess would be that a large fraction of EMTs are in fire departments. Fire departments are notorious for being full of racists. They were pretty segregated until the mid 20th century, too. As the system was taken over by the government, the pay got good, and it's one of the best jobs someone without college can get. So you can bet that the incumbents would use any weapon, including racism, to discourage competition for these jobs.