0 thoughts on “OUTRAGE READER GETS RICH!”

1. Now, I’m not racist. Pretty far from it. I belive that all races and genders and what have you should be treated equally but this “equality” thing is getting out of hand! Now-a-days if you are a white, male you have less of a chance of getting a job as a disabled black woman, even if you are more qualified! If you were to ask my opinion I would say that Ethnical groups that were minorites and opressed in the past are not just trying to get equal but trying to get on top of everyone else. Sure, Mr. Fogg and others like him probebly suffered at the hands of opressers but 4 million dollers sure does ease the pain doesn’t it? Equality is a beutiful thing but when some people suddenly become “more equal” than others it becomes ugly.

   So I think it is good that both sides are discussing the issue of race. Perhaps this is the type of open dialog that needs to happen so that we as a country can get past the issues surrounding racism and our history as a nation.

   If Mr. Fogg sufferred the abuses he claims to have sufferred then he deserves the settlement. If not than shame, shame shame! I would agree with some of the comments re: Mr. Fogg using the legal arena as a viable and legal form of protest.

   I would like to state my feelings though for some of the commentary coming from some African American’s regarding the shared guilt that non African Americans should be burden with because of the attrocities sufferred by African Americans in the past.

   So In response to Patrick’s comments, which a snippet is included below I will submit my perspective. This type of implication states that because I am white I have benefited from slavery and further am responsible for past and present forms of racism against African Americans. My response would have to be;

   1) Then lets also compensate the white sons and daughters of people who fought for the Northern army during the Civil War. Lets compensate those of the North that last their lives and property.

   2) This is basically racism in reverse.

   3) Many present day whites came from families that immigrated after slavery was abolished.

   4) I still think America offers the best chance for anybody to immigrate with nothing and through hard work end up with a lot (contrast the many Nigerian cab drivers in Chicago that work hard and go to night school with the white and black trash on the permanent welfare doles).

   5) Check my last name out, I might be the descendant of the 2nd and 6th presidents that spoke out against racism when doing so was NOT popular. So if other whites are descendants of slave owners and should feel guilty today why aren’t you praising me and bowing down before my lineage.

   6) Last but not least lets be careful how harshly we criticize from both sides for those who would attack with the broadest of brushes may create a rascist out of someone who was never a rascist.

   “How many whites reading this letter know for a fact that their great, great grand daddy and mommy owned slaves? What about all of the land and all of the money and all of the benefits derived from that time to the present and beyond? Benefits that have directly influenced your destiny and place in the world. How did you come about these things? You came about them through the indirect free slave labor of my great, great grand daddy and mommy.”

   Time: 5/19/98 (14:47:27)

   Well, as an African American, I guess I have quite a few things going against me too, as far as the mind set of much of society goes. For instance, I don’t like basketball. I am not your steppin, fetchin, head handkerchief, acting stupid, smiling and laughing in your face type. I have never committed a crime or served time in prison. I don’t wear funny looking clothes, four sizes to large for me. And I don’t go “ape” over barbeque, watermelon, fried chicken, greens, and hot sauce. I don’t use rapid fire expletives or any curse words for that matter. I don’t like “rap crap”. I think some call it hippity hop or is it hip hope? So, who the hell do I think I am? Who really cares? But are there more like me? We will see.

   I do stand for many things. Perhaps, some of you stand for a few of the same things too. I will mention several: I have boycotted movie theaters for the last 15 years. I will not rent videos. I will not buy a newspaper or any news magazine. I will not purchase certain products aired on certain programming. I have not and will never eat at Denny’s restaurant, who used to be called Sambo’s, by the way. And I won’t buy anything from Circuit City, an electronics store chain. Now, if the reader is asking himself why I don’t do these things, then the reader probably does not live in America. Or if the reader does live in America, the reader may not be as aware as he possibly should be concerning what is going on in the world around him.

   As you read through what I have to say, you will have picked up certain phrases in other letters in OutRage, concerning Mr. Matthew Fogg. I have put those phrases in upper case, and I have chosen to add some of my thoughts to them.

   SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT SLAVERY

   So, you are sick and tired of hearing about slavery? Well, let’s start with this issue of slavery from a perspective of time. First, slavery was supposed to have ended 133 years ago. And after this period there followed another 100 years of “Jim Crowism”, segregation, inequality, bombings, the codes, burnings, lynchings, rapes, false imprisonment, unjust and unfair laws, unequaled access, discrimination, racism and the list goes on and on. After that 100 years there followed an attempt by Congress, called The Civil Rights Act, to put an end to the previous 100 years of wrongs. The Civil Rights Act became effective a mere 33 years ago. These were a special group of laws specifically designed to counter all of the institutionalized racist policies of this country by finally granting the African American, and other people of color in the U.S., full citizenship and other basic rights, which, heretofore, had been denied to them, particularly in the south. Some of those basic rights were: the right to vote, the right to own a home wherever one wanted to own a home, and the right to send ones children to public schools, which had remained to that time segregated. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending which side you are on, we have seen many of those laws loose much of their effectiveness. So, if you are so sick and tired of hearing about slavery, why not work to correct those institutions which support and encourage the offspring of slavery, namely, discrimination, racism, injustice? A few ways you can help your sickness and the sickness of many others is to use your vote, use your political power, and use your dollar to bring about positive and permanent change for social and economical justice.

   IF THE COUNTRY IS SO RACIST, THEN HOW COME BLACKS DOMINATE ALL SPORTS, EXCEPT HOCKEY?

   Yes, but how many African Americans own professional teams? How many of African Americans are in the front office of these professional teams and make major decisions? How many African Americans control professional team franchises? African Americans have certainly contributed to sports, rather substantially, but where do we exercise any power, except on the playing field? This is the attitude of many racists: “African Americans have integrated and dominate sports, what more could they possibly want?” This is quite typical of the mentality of the classic, two thumbs up, jackass racist.

   WHERE WOULD THE BLACKS OF AMERICA BE NOW WITHOUT SLAVERY?

   Here is another classic case of racist logic. There are two ways to answer this question: one from the African perspective and the other from a U.S. perspective. First, from the African perspective. If there had been no slavery, no rape of Africa, no kidnaping of a people, no colonialization of Africa. If there had been no forced separation of people who were supposed to remain together and no forced mixing of people who were supposed to remain apart, Africa today, would be in parity with the rest of the industrialized world. Think not? Then, why not?

   If this is difficult for the reader to comprehend, and it probably will be for many, then think of forcing the mixing Chinese and Japanese together, for example. And to force this mixing through an external use of military force, through slavery, through political repression, and through economic depravation for hundreds and hundreds of years and then observe the results. Chinese and Japanese, two very different people with two different cultures and history, being forced to live in close contact with one another. This was one of the major devastating end results of what colonialization, slavery, and externally induced, internal wars did to Africa. The invaders came in, captured slaves, set up there systems and carved Africa up to suit their agenda. And, while engaged in this process, forced people together who should have remained apart. People who were just as different as Chinese are different from Japanese. Naturally, this mixing had the obvious effect: wars between the tribes, which further helped weaken the African.

   Take Rwanda today, for another example, and the conflict that is occurring between the Hutus and Tutsises. Two very different people who were at some point in their history were forced to live together directly through the process of the slave trade and colonialization of Africa. Then a few hundred years later old tribal differences became issues which were exacerbated by other political and economic factors and you get the horrors of what that country went through just a few years ago.

   It has been because of this legacy of divide and conquer Africa, colonialize, plunder, enslave, while causing as much internal conflict as possible in Africa that Africa today still has many of the problems it carried within itself hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

   If there had been inclusion of Africa into the world economy through trade and exchange of goods and services with the rest of the world Africa, today as a whole, would be just as advanced and industrialized just as any other nation of the world. Think not? Then, why not? Perhaps, Africa would have been even more advanced because of the tremendous natural wealth on that continent, to include diamonds, gold, oil, iron, copper, and other minerals and metals just to name a few.

   Second, from the U.S. perspective of where Blacks would be now in America if it had not been for slavery. The answer to that question is Blacks would have enjoyed all of the freedoms, the opportunities, and the cultural recognition as any other ethnic group of citizens who immigrated to this country. Africans would have been accepted just as the Germans were accepted, just as the Irish were accepted, just as the Italians were accepted and so on. Of course, these groups did encounter some difficulties but, surely, nothing compared to the scale of wholesale racism and discrimination African Americans have had to endure and continue to endure.

   As far feeling slavery was not so bad and the life African Americans have in this country today was worth the price of being a slave is concerned, first read about the life of a slave and then ask yourself that question again. Read “The BullWhip Days”, for example, then ask yourself if you would still jump at the chance to be a slave in America. THIS WRITER GETS THE FIVE GOLD STAR IDIOT AWARD!

   The truth is where ever the white man has gone in the world, he has carried with him his Jesus Christ, his bibles, his culture, his arrogance, his greed, and his absolute destain and contempt for others unlike himself. And after forcing his religion down the throats of a people, the white man followed with his armies, his occupation, his enslavement, his unjust and repressive laws, his raping, his murdering, his diseases, and his thievery.

   Go back a couple of hundred years and before and check out any location on this earth where the white man has had any contact with people of color. The white man with his Christianity and his armies and you see the same results over and over again: India, Australia, Hawaiian Islands, South America, West Indies, South Pacific, Mexico, Africa, Polynesia, and North America.

   “But these people were savages and we brought them civilization,” some would say. I ask the question: “Who were really the savages?” Was it the people who were moving along in history at their own pace, attempting to develop for themselves an identity of who they were, at a point in time. Who were really the savages? Was it the people who welcomed this strange traveler with open arms, shared many of their secrets with this traveler, shared their food, and shared their wealth with this traveler? Were they the savages? Or were the savages the ones who kidnaped a people, raped and ravaged an entire continent and brought those people they kidnaped to another continent to slave on another land of which this traveler stole from someone else? And, while in this process of doing this, the white man would attempt to destroy all vestiges of the identity of these people, attempt to destroy all the history of these people and their culture by the imposition of the white man’s identity and the white man’s history. Savages? The next time you see a western movie in which an Indian is carrying a scalp, understand that it was the white man who first started scalping, not the Indian. In fact, it was the number of scalps the “scalp hunters” had which determined how much money they were to be paid by our government, at that time.

   AFRICAN AMERICAN?

   One writer said: Well, I suppose if African Americans went back to Africa would be an American African? I disagree. If an Irish American went back to Ireland, would that make him an American Irishman? I think it would not. What it would make him would be an American in Ireland. Ditto for the African American in Africa. Does the reader see how simple things can be if one analyzes from an intelligent perspective?

   There are Iraqi Americans, Irish Americans, Polish Americans, Italian Americans, Indian Americans, Mexican Americans and so on. The Irish Americans have their own special holiday: St. Patrick’s Day. The green beer, the leprechauns, and the folklore are part of the Irish and their tradition. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to maintain who they are? Why shouldn’t they be allowed a relationship with their culture, heritage, language, and history? The same goes true for other ethnic Americans. However, when it comes to the racial identity term “African American” and its acceptance, the bigots go “ape”. The same rules will apply to everyone else but, for some reason, does not apply to African Americans. Negro, colored, nigger. These were all names provided by the white man for the African American. Why should African Americans accept any of these terms? Would Italian Americans, or anyone else, accept a name forced upon them by another group? I think not. We should and we will call ourselves and demand to be called whatever we choose, just as any other people would choose.
   It is cultural diversity which is what could makes this country so unique. And out of this cultural diversity comes strength. It is only when you mix sameness do you get the same or, perhaps, weakness.

   NONE OF US OWNED SLAVES

   This is a good one. Many whites have somehow conditioned themselves to feel that simply because they do not see a slave in America today this absolves them totally for the actions of the fore-parents and the role their fore-parents played in slavery just a few hundred years ago. No, I can not show you any slaves today. However, I can show you the effects of slavery. Also, I can also show you how many whites, how many institutions, and how many companies in this country have benefited from slavery then and continue to benefit from the results of slavery today. This is called “old money”.

   Many whites have been given a tremendous head start because of slavery, if for nothing else than the color of their skin. What some whites don’t seem to understand is many of them are where they are today, as a direct or indirect benefit from slavery. Others of them, by virtue of having being born white has help them to a large measure of obtaining what they have today.

   It is all most as though, in the thinking of some whites, it is perfectly all right for them to start a thousand miles ahead and then someone yells “go!”, but refuse to consider how they got the head start they have or why it is that the people starting a thousand miles behind is yelling foul.

   How many whites reading this letter know for a fact that their great, great grand daddy and mommy owned slaves? What about all of the land and all of the money and all of the benefits derived from that time to the present and beyond? Benefits that have directly influenced your destiny and place in the world. How did you come about these things? You came about them through the indirect free slave labor of my great, great grand daddy and mommy.

   “Well, I have worked very hard all of my life for everything I have today! No one ever gave me anything!”, many would say. But I say if you have benefited in the slightest from slavery, if a relative of yours, for example, or someone you know has benefited in the slightest from slavery, which has directly or indirectly influenced your position in life, then you have been given a head start, an unfair advantage. You have no idea of how ignorant the argument “none of us owned slaves” sounds. However, you will continue to use this approach, simply because it is so convenient. Shame on you!

   MY TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

   Well, if you mean getting stuck in traffic, from time to time, as a trial or a tribulation. If you mean you got behind in your work at the office and you will have to make up for it tomorrow as a trial or a tribulation. If you are talking about life’s every day surprises and inconveniences and attempting to place those every day surprises and inconveniences on an equal footing with institutionalized racism and discrimination in America. If you are trying to place those things on an equal footing with justice denied and lack of opportunity simply because of the color of someone’s skin, then you are really one of the sick, major malfunctioned.

   THERE AND THEIR

   Spelling and grammatical errors? Well, why not? Why not use these things to attack another, when there is nothing else to use? If it was not a question of being grammatically correct, what else would it have been? Perhaps, the internet provider the writer uses. Or possibly the day of the week the writer posted his letter, or something else just as irrelevant and immaterial. What these big-time, PhD’s in English, KNOW IT ALLS should do is re-read some of their own letters and check their own grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This is the old game of: “Well, if I can not offer anything of substance to counter the argument or the logic presented, then I will find mis-spelled words and incorrect grammar and use this as my argument, or use something else just as insignificant.

   And when you can not find a few mis-spelled words, how about saying something funny. Yes! Make us laugh! How about something really hilarious. How about “sum yung guy”? Very cute!
   Make a mockery of a people and their language, why don’t you? Yes! Equivocate, misdirect, marginalize, and undervalue. That’s it. Look for something minuscule, some speck of inconsistency you can use as an issue, then use it. It does not matter if it is pertinent or not. No, of course not. And when you find that speck of an argument you call your logic, understand that whatever that speck of “logic” is, it just about equals the capacity of your brain and your connection with the rest of humanity. But certainly don’t remain focused on the issues. Oh No! You never do. You never do, when the other side is justified, logical, or correct.

   WELL, IF BLACKS ARE SO FED-UP WITH THE SYSTEM HERE, WHY DON’T THEY GO BACK TO AFRICA?

   Since most Americans seem to be fed-up about something concerning our political and social policies, why doesn’t everyone go back where they came from? The question does not sound so logical for some of you now, does it? Really, don’t the majority of you complain about our government? But why should the question of going back to Africa be asked in the first place? The racists will ask this question because this is the game the racist use as their logic. They will attempt to do this every time. And what does the racist expect for us to do, when we are right and we demand the system work for us just as it should work for anyone else? Just run away and find another job? OooooK. “Now, that’s a nice Black man, just run away from the truth, as well as the lie.” Yeah Sure! In other words, don’t attempt to fix the machine. Just simply allow the broken part of the machine to inflict more social damage, more injustice, and to mangle more of society again and again and again, over and over and over. What you mean is to let evil flourish, while the majority of us stand around doing nothing. Because if this is what you are talking about, then possibly YOU are in the wrong country and YOU need to leave. If you really feel this way and have that “Standard Operating Procedure, Stuck On Automatic Pilot, Because That’s The Way It Is Mentality,” you belong someplace else, but not here. How about North Korea? They are a little short of food right now but don’t worry your hate, your ignorance, and your confusion will sustain you. And take those head-handkerchief, stepin-fetchin, basketball junky, foul mouthed, barbeque crazed, rap-crap listening, rag around the head wearing, ignorant, HE, He, HA, HA, live for a picnic type Blacks and sum yung guy with you!

   SUE THE ANCESTORS OF THE AFRICANS WHO SOLD OTHER AFRICANS INTO SLAVERY.

   This one the racist really enjoys. I say if there is a market for anything, it will sell. Am I right or wrong? So, when the European created a market for the exportation of slaves, naturally those Africans who had captured other Africans in tribal wars sold those Africans in exchange for goods and materials. Is this so difficult to understand. Stop looking at Africa, at that time, as one people, as one language, as one custom, as one culture, and as one history. Remember the analogy between the Chinese and the Japanese? Now think of thousands of different groups of totally different people which comprised Africa, at that time. And the same is true today. So, if there had been no market for the exportation of slaves, there would have been no worldwide “supply and demand” for slaves.

   Take human organs, for example. Right now, there is a tremendous market for human organs for transplantation all over the world. There is a lot of money involved. Some countries are known to execute their prisoners and sell their organs. This is Big Business. So, for the racist to place that kind of emphasis and logic on Africans who sold other Africans into slavery is really just another bogus, empty argument. Once a market is created for anything and the supply and the demand is there, it will sell. So, who is the culprit here? The ones who did the selling, or the ones who created the market in the first place? In any case the racist will use their argument to suggest that there were astronomical numbers of Africans who were sold into slavery by other Africans. This is absolutely not true. The vast majority of slaves out of Africa were captured by the slave traders who came from other places outside of Africa.

   DIVINE INTERVENTION?

   Instead of being critical of Mr. Fogg’s obvious connection with religion, I would think the writer should be glad Matthew Fogg has such strong beliefs in his God and was able to “hold on” during a period in his life when it must have seemed like pure hell. I wonder what the writers, who criticized Mr. Fogg, would have done, under similar circumstances? More than likely, they probably would have gone completely “bananas”, taking as many others with them as possible. So, this writer mentions he would not have told the teacher? My response: Not having ever to tell anybody anything concerning your continued employment “because of the man” has never been something that writer has ever had to concern himself. That writer never had to play the game of: “tag your it, because of the color of your skin”. That writer’s livelihood has never been exposed to not getting a job, to termination of employment, to racially motivated harassment, and a pattern of racism and discrimination simply based on his skin color. So easy isn’t it? It is so easy to just sit there and talk about something you know absolutely nothing about and can not begin to comprehend what it must be like to be a victim based solely on skin color.

   I never did believe the white man’s God. Falling on my knees and asking Jesus to help me, which is really asking Zeus to help me, if you know your Christianity, seems so ridiculous and absurd. Oooops! I think my African American ratings just went down. But seriously, for one thing, why should I pray to a God who does not look like me? I ask the question: Would the white people reading this letter pray to a God who looked like an African American? Thought not. But since religion apparently has such a great influence in Matthew Fogg’s life and much of his resiliency and strength comes from that belief, then more power to him. I say use what ever power you feel you must to sustain yourself, when you are under attack.

   Like so many others, what maintains my resiliency and provides my strength and power is listening, directly experiencing, and reading the sick and repugnant BS of the racist garbage many writers in OUTRAGE and on other websites submit.

   Someone said: “The Best Revenge Is Success”. One of the most disturbing and emotionally unsettling experiences for the racist is to see a successful Black man or woman. They cannot comprehend it. They refuse to accept it. How can this be??? Has anyone ever heard of “Black Wall Street”? It is on the Net. Check it out. It is one of the perfect examples of what I am saying. And how could a Black man have more than a white man? It flies in the face of everything they have been re-cycled to believe. And when the racists are confronted with the success of the Black man, they attempt to destroy him. When the racists are confronted with the success of the Black man, they attempt to marginalize him. When the racists are confronted with the success of the Black man, they attempt to undervalue him.

   My success speech has all ready been prepared. Indeed, I have won all ready. The next step is merely a formality. And one of the first things I mention in my success speech is: I wish to thank all of the racists who tried their best to destroy me, to break me. I want to thank all of the bigots for the opportunities that rightfully belonged to me but were denied me simply because of the color of my skin. I want to thank those so called supervisors who promoted the less educated, less qualified white over me, when I deserved that promotion without question having worked very hard for it. A promotion I did not get Not because I was not qualified. A promotion I did not get Not because I not know the job. A promotion I did not get Not because I did not have the experience. But because of the color of my skin. The color of my skin? WHAT PURE AND UTTER NONSENSE! Think about it: Because of the color of a person’s skin. What a truly SICK & PITIFUL state of mind for some of us !!

   And why don’t many of the racists provide their e-mail address? Such Cowards! Still choosing to remain concealed, not with a white sheet over their heads but under the vale of anonymity on the internet. Can’t say I blame them. If I was as pitiful as they, I would remain concealed also. And then again perhaps somewhere in all of that cess-pool of sickness, of confusion, of lies, and of hypocrisy they call a mind, could there be that little voice, that little voice that is in all of us. That little voice in all of us that whispers the truth, when we shout lies to ourselves and to each other.

   Culturally conditioning has a major role in influencing the way we think and the way we respond to each other. Most newspapers, many magazines, in advertising, the little games they play with our minds on television, at the movies and the on radio, we are continuously being subjected to a patterns of culturally conditioning and influence. Naturally, “the happy go lucky”, less astute among us, is venerable to this conditioning and will carry it to their families, into their communities and into their work place .

   Each of us is either part of the solution or part of the problem. Which are you?

   Time: 5/10/98 (17:52:55)

   Hmmm… anybody else think it odd that the author of the message below states his name as “Matthew Fogg”, and then halfway through the text proceeds to refer to Matthew Fogg as a third person? Either Mr. Fogg has spent too much time watching Bob Dole speeches on TV, or else a (not too) clever supporter has decided he can best further this cause by taking on his hero’s identity. I’m betting on Choice B since the words that message were actually spelled well enough to be understandable, compared to all the other writings of Mr. Fogg that I’ve seen. Either way, I’ll never trust a man who talks in such a I-Have-the-Moral-High-Ground-Because-I-Won attitude.

   Do you really think it makes your argument seem all the more persuasive to quote irrelevant scripture passages out of context as supporting your cause?? Get real. There was no divine intervention in this case. The only thing that happened was that a self-made “victim” was able to convince a handful of jurors that they should continue the current fad of handing over ridiculous amounts of money to anyone who yells ‘racist’…

   It doesn’t matter if you had to work with racist people or not. The fact is you decided to play the little-kid game of run and tell the teacher rather than finding some where else to go. You are one of the antagonizing little pricks that would rather sit stubbornly and take abuse and then influence a higher power to intervene, than to try and deal with your own problems. No one like that will ever deserve or get any respect from me or most other decent, hardworking people in this country. You are a simple opportunistic parasite who put up with all that ‘racist hatred’ so that you could justify your position as Chief Martyr among the skin-coloredly-challenged.

   If you really are intellectually above the people you claim wronged you simply because of your heritage, why would you choose to dwell in their domain for over a decade? You are no better than any ignorant racist, and in my opinion deserve nothing more than you earned yourself.

   Oh, and learn how to write in English, will you please? I don’t quite understand how people can demand to be taken seriously when they haven’t even fully grasped the skill of speaking properly in their first language. I’m not talking about obscure grammatical errors or occasional typos. I’m referring to the consist incorrect use of pretty basic words. If I had to work with your illiterate ass I’d give you a hard time even if you had bright white glowing skin. Go back to high school grammar class and then come back and complain some more.

   SumYungGuy

   “Live long and prosper… or sue”

   Reply

2. “Outraged” cannot begin to describe the way I feel about the Fogg situation or the fact that you had the audacity to print what you did without having done your “homework”. You must be white, ignorant and part of the problem and if you are black, you must be the type of black person who says “I’m not going to trouble myself with the racist activities of this country. It doesn’t affect me directly because I’m willing to do what needs to be done to bring home a paycheck and not make waves.” Whether you are black or white, when you sit back and do nothing about the racist activities in this country, to me you have what is called a “yes sa’ masta’ sa'” mentality. Although I am estatic that Fogg received a four million dollar judgment, I am outraged that he will never collect this money, considering what he has been through. Had you done your homework, you should have found out that on a Title VII claim, there is a $300,000 cap which was set by Congress. What you probably don’t know is that the Marshals Service attempted to settle with Fogg prior to his court date (for a sizeable amount, I might add) if he would agree to “give up his fight quietly.” Thank God Fogg rejected their offer! You see, I believe the Marshals Service knows and has known for years what has been going on in their domain regarding racist activities and I also believe they did not want their laundry aired across the nation. But guess what? The saying “what goes on in the dark will come to the light” is true, especially if one is steadfast in their commitment to seeking justice. Fogg is to be commended for his persaverence. Thirteen years of pursuing justice for himself and others is a long time and, unfortunately, it was a tactic on the part of the powers that be to wear him down and force him to give up. But Fogg is a strong, 100% black man, and he refused to give up the fight!! I think your outrage is misdirected. You should be outraged at a system which allows such racist activities to thrive, not at the individual who is at the receiving end of such activities. If as a taxpayer Fogg’s award will, in essence, be taken from my purse, I would much rather pay him and hope that his “day of justice” and others like him will help stop racism in this country, as opposed to paying money from my purse to a government who pays $400 for a hammer, along with other things they “pay for” which affects human life to the detriment. To me, Fogg’s award is not about the money; it’s about principle. It is also apparent that the jury felt the same way. And for “principle” sake, you need to offer Fogg your sincere apology for printing such rubbish about him. He deserves a pat on the back, not a punch in the face!!!

   I don’t know why myself and others continue to try and civilize the overwhelming body of uncivilized people in this country….I guess it is our belief that tomorrow will be a brighter day…After reading this story and, going to the “bigots with badges” site, and reading what was the experiences of Deputy United States Marshals in the last 10 to 15 years or more, I am truely sadden that so many people, in 1998, responded as they did….When will “you people” learn…Mr Fogg should be commended for not going “postal”….To withstand all the abuse, the destruction of his career, the nights, I’m sure, that he spent at home trying not let this situation get to him, and the civilized manner in which he handled this whole ordeal, he should be applauded…I guess many of you would have liked it if he had gone to the U.S. Marshals headquarters and wrecked the place….Well, in this country and elsewhere, there are people who try to advance change through civilized discourse….and Matthew Fogg is one of those people….I guess, for those of you who give lip service to the size of the award, that Congress, in 1991, when it decided to include “punitive” damages, in these types of cases, was wrong as well….I think Congress was right on target because too many cases were continuing to appear before the courts….and one of the best ways of getting the attention of a government or private entity, is to hit them in the pocket where it might just get their attention….Now I read the comments about this situation affecting “tax payers”….Does any of you know the affect that racism has caused, and is causing to this very day?…..Let me ask you…Hom many of “you people” could stand to be “black” for just 30 days?…..in your workplaces, your neighborhoods, going in a bank trying to get a loan, or trying to buy a house, or car, seeking employment, and yes, even your churches…..not many of you I’m sure….If you’re honest…..But yet and still, you have so much to say about how wrong this this award is…..Does anybody realize what has been going on?….In a Federal Law-enforcement Agency, in 1998, it has been established, that a racially hostile environment exsist…isn’t anybody OUTRAGED over that…..or, as is clearly demonstrated by your comments, in your minds, you are more focused on the award than the savage treatment endured by Mr Fogg and countless other people in simular situations in every sphere of endeavor in our society…NONE OF YOU WOULD TRADE PLACES WITH MR FOGG IN THIS DAY AND AGE, AND ATTEMPT TO GO ABOUT YOUR DAILY LIVES…you couldn’t do it…you would go absolutely “postal”….Just go and read about the experiences that were/is ongoing in this Agency…To hear that a supervisor, placed a “black rat” on the desk of a white Deputy, who told the truth about an incident, and later, after an investigation, stated with pride that he did, that same supervisor, today, is now the head of Internal Affairs?…I say this scars the American dream….do “you people” think that blacks will have a equal chance to enter the Marshal Service with this man at the head of the section that determines whether or not you can come in to the Service?….if you do, most of you probably believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America too..

   If you have been spammed by Matt Fogg, here’s a solution. His ISP has an anti-spammer policy and will remove his account, which should slow him down. Write to: abuse@iname.com

   As the hired help of “We The People”, The US Government is our responsibility. If we allow the Government to commit a tort, we are liable. With pockets so deep that we can afford to hire a special prosicuter for the GOP to express their sour grapes over loosing the presidentcy, awards need to be rarge enough to get the attention of some of our government agencies.

   I’m outraged all right. I’ve corresponded with Fogg (mostly to get him to stop spamming me but that’s a forlorn hope).
   He’s centered on Fogg and Fogg alone; even the $4 million won’t be enough to get him to shut up. What a waste of money! Will it fix the problem in the US Marshall’s office (perhaps, if it means that Fogg is out of there)? I can imagine the amount the atmosphere there has been poisoned by his bitterness over the past 13 years.

   Certainly there was some truth in his statements, but how much of the treatment he says he received was a result of him being a complete jerk and no one (white or black) wanting to work with him. Until we all get beyond the color barrier, we are never going to be able to live together. Fogg thinks that punishing taxpayers will “fix” things, but all it’s doing is making sure that people of different colors avoid working together.

   Fogg certainly doesn’t strike me as being one to forget he’s black and others are white, and I suspect that every disappointment he’s had has been because someone disliked his skin color. He says he was an excellent US Marshall with lots of decorations, but does that mean he should have been promoted. Would anyone promote someone who is suing you for discrimination and put hi m/her in charge of the careers and lives of others? Unlikely. Fogg is not a team player.

   Judging by many of the replies, he’s spammed a lot of others and is not even smart enough to remove those who disagree with him from his list. I thought it was somewhat immoral and highly unethical for him to solicit people to send comments to Justice Department officials favorable to him on a case before the courts.

   I also agree with others who say that the US taxpayers should not have to pay $4 million (Fogg of course disagrees – does that mean he discriminated against himself – he says taxpayers are to blame for the discrimination and I assume he pays his taxes
   on the wages that the US Marshall Service has been paying him throughout his career).

   u.s.marshal@writeme.com wrote:

   “I am asking everyone on my e-mailing list to please respond to this attached ‘The Outrage Column’ indicating my valid claim and verdict of ‘4 million dollars’ against racism in the U.S. Marshal Service was a “Get Rich Scheme”. Please CC me a copy of your replies sent to the Rageback comments at: http://www.dailyoutrage.com/rageback/98-05-01.html#soundoff

   God Bless You,
   Matthew

   As I stated to Matthew Fogg some time ago…There can be NO sincere and true reconciliation between persons, cultures or nations, if any essence or form of BITTERNESS is present within the vessel of mankind. Recorded history, Scripture (Old and New Testament) verifies this fact, but personal experiences confirm all, even to this present day.

   At this time of mankind’s existence, there is NO man, woman or child that has not been impregnated by the seed of BITTERNESS… the very essence of all that is unrighteous bares witness before our eyes and ears. The children of all races bare witness to this fact.

   To our findings this is the backbone of any form of anger that is fierce and wrath that is cruel. We have learned well to accuse, condemn and misjudge each other…but recognize the fierceness of actions. Whether Mr. Fogg and you are right or wrong in the eyes of mankind, examine your attitudes, you will find…fierceness of actions in condemnation and accusations. Both of you will enhance the fires of self-destruction within the nations, families, cultures, etc. I am NOT outrage with both of you, but I’m teaching my children wisdom (insight and foresight) to be aware of the movement to rob,kill and destroy their future, that would come by BITTERNESS stemming from hidden ENVY.

   I give you a passage from the Old Testament (please I am not a die in the wool religious person, but the Scripture do have some insight to our daily existence…religious vanity is not my thing)…I Timothy 6:4, James 3:14 and Prov. 24:4. Whether you are white or black, brown or yellow, all have been inpregnated with the seed of Envy, some greater then others. Bitterness is it’s might and it is beginning to show boldly in our daily existence in the form of anger that is fierce and wrath that is extremely cruel.

   The fruits (children) bare witness!

   I was born in the United States, East Coast, New York. I’m part Native American, Black Afican, and Anglo-Saxon. I’m proud of all three, but aware of the direction they are taking.

   My children and I thank you for the lessons on self-destruction that comes by Envy and Bitterness. I will read your outrage column and comments more often, I can learn much…for I’m the dull and ignorant one labeled by the self-destructive system.

   Sincerely;

   Martin Middleton
   Director
   ISS The Institute for Special Studies
   Auckland, New Zealand
   research@ihug.co.nz

   Time: 5/2/98 (16:45:56)

   How about a simple test? Let’s all get together and enact into law a severe cap of $10,000 on all awards that do not involve bodily injury or destruction of property. I wonder how the inability to gain large chunks of money for intangible injuries would effect the litigation industry. I wonder if there is a politician in existence that would sponsor such a bill, considering that many of them used to be lawyers. I wonder how many people would press their suits to the finish if they were doing it just to get the issues into the public eye, without the prospect of outrageous profit. While it’s true that people rarely do something for one reason alone, this test might provide an interesting view of the primary motivation behind litigation.

   I’ve received 6 spam messages from Fogg asking that I come here and support him and cc him a copy of what I wrote. Fogg is an opportunist who has used his race as a disabilty and has used that disability to steal money from the taxpayers of this country. Fogg is not the greatly respected person that he wants you to believe he is and the Marshals Service is better off without him.

   Let’s see how much of his new found wealth he uses to make it better for others who have REALLY been the victim of racism and hatred. Lets check his tax statements and see how much money he donates to make sure things are better for those coming up.

   Fogg you and the other 2/3’s of your three stoodges outfit are an embarrassment and should shut up. You do not represent the minorities in this country, nor do you represent the rank and file members of federal law enforcement. You have made up lies and half truths and have bs’d your jury. Shouldn’t be surprised after OJ, but it’s hard to believe people can be that stupid.

   Readers of the Rageback section should keep in mind that Mr. Fogg has begun a spam campaign asking people to send comments in his favor to Rageback. Many of these people, as you can see from their comments, haven’t even read the column. It’s interesting that Fogg directs them directly to Rageback; not to the the column they are supposed to be responding to. Maybe he realizes that they might not respond in his favor if they actually read the Outrage.

   Time: 5/2/98 (13:18:38)

   I think Mr Fogg should have been awarded 400 Million. That would be enough to get this country’s attention. This page reflects the attitudes that perpetuates the basic problem. Some posts to this page display the author’s total ignorance of racism/preferential treatment. Wake Up America!!!

   There seems to be an exorbitant amount of rage being displayed over the amount of money that someone was awarded for winning a legal suit. This outrage is in response to an action that did not physically or mentally harm them, their family, or friend. My rhetorical question is “How would each of these outraged people have reacted if they were in Mr. Fogg’s place and experienced the things that he went through?”

   I’d rather the small amount of my tax money go towards the 4 million (and I hope he gets it) rather than be used to continue racist policies that harm people like me. I can understand that some white men who feel entitled to social, political, and economic dominance would resent having any fraction of their hard-earned dollars going to enrich a Black man. Well, since we’re cutting entitlements these days, I’m all for cutting that one too.

   I find I must agree with Mr. Fogg’s portrayal of his reward as fair repayment for the years of danger the U.S. Marshall’s Service exposed him to simply by virtue of his skin’s color. It is obvious that the jury found the government deeply at fault for both the Marshal Service’s actions and their inaction. In a nation as divided on nearly every issue as this country finds itself, it must be up to the government and its various departments to show America the way beyond racism or sexism or whatever ism is infecting the minds of the mentally petty people.

   I work for a city government and have witnessed countless instances of outright racism and hatred directed solely at the color of another’s skin. The level of proof needed to even force an investigation into the matter is ridiculous in 1998 America. In fact, I have seen what could only be described as open and shut cases of racism (lots of witnesses and, once, even video tape) be ignored or officially denied simply through inaction by superintendents.

   America is still a very nasty nation when it comes to respecting what makes humans different. When David Duke and Pat Bucannon can achieve a frightening number of votes when running for this nation’s highest office, I believe any thinking person would have to admit that the mere fact that Civil Rights legislation was once passed hasn’t removed the horrors of racism from our souls. In fact, when the Republicans can convince millions of people that whites are now being discriminated against and accomplish the destruction of many of those civil rights laws, it is certainly obvious that America has a long way to go before it can say it is a fair or just nation.

   As to the money that Mr. Fogg was awarded, it is sad that the American taxpayer finds itself responsible for the actions of the despicable few. However, as he pointed out, the only people who can truly eradicate racism from our government are the self same people the majority have elected. Should America ever cease electing the clowns that are currently in office and look for leaders instead of actors or professional politicians, perhaps the focus will turn back to fairness and honesty and equality once again. We came so close but completely reversed course by electing that B-movie actor, Ronald Reagan, which gave the Nazis of the far right the legitimacy it needed to appear intellectually honest.

   I congratulate Mr. Fogg in the closure of what had to have been a truly trying decade and more. Perhaps now the powers that be will recognize that they are directly accountable for the evils conducted by the people they appoint. Should that occur, then America may finally receive a bit of honesty in government. Personally, I won’t be holding my breath.

   John Cannon
   Author: Another Perspective – http://www.concentric.net/~jcannon/

   Fogg is nothing but a crybaby. Nothing but a phony. Talk of rasism . . . just as Jesse Jackson and his ilk – constantly looking to get their feelings hurt! No wonder rasism continues. The Foggs of this country continue to feed the fires. Disgusting! But then again, with all of his money, he (Fogg) will be able to help the poor in Africa – and maybe stop slavery over there. Or maybe he can help O.J. look for the killer of Nichole . . . there are a few golf courses in the country that O.J. hasn’t been able to search.

   I am very happy to see this type of verdict, it keeps hope alive for me in my situation concerning racist law enforcement officials, as an oppressed citizen of such.

   For the past five weeks we were being gassed with an unknown drug in our home, in order for FDLE, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT of Law ENFORCEMENT, to come into our home while we were asleep, to steal back documents that would enable us to continue receiving entitled benefits, in order to cause me to have to go out into the open for their criminal counterparts, whom they are working closely with to try and take my life.

   I am just poor black American without any rights in my own country, since I have made so much noise on the internet about being deprived of our rights, law enforcement and our own government are now perpatrating a more sinster plot, that they hope to try and coverup.

   Local cape coral police refuse to make out any reports of these incidents,even seriously deadly crimes against my kids have not been investigated of over two years ago to this date,we are completely isolated from any potential help,our house and phone lines are bugged,and there is strong evidence that our house is being video monitored inside and outside,and yes I say too,what price would be enought to right this wrong to us,but we are unable to get a lawyer,if they decide to take our case,they quickly drop it without explination.

   for further info on our situation, please feel free to contact us at;
   1 800 242 2565, or; ACRYFORHELP3@webtv.net ;
   oppressed@iname.com, fred.e.robinsonjr@usa.net

   thank you

   The Fred E Robinson Jr Family’s CRY FOR HELP FOR JUSTICE IN AMERICA TODAY,AND NOT 50 or 100 YEARS FROM NOW!!!!

   That Mr. Fogg’s story is not unusual in this litigious country…and the fact that we as a society tolerate awards like the one he won…is just one symptom of a sort of collective insanity. Mr. Fogg is nothing but an old-fashioned opportunist despite his claims of victimhood. Mr. Fogg, you should be ashamed of yourself.

   The problem with “racism” in America today is that too many people such as mr.fogg use their race as an excuse for anything that their own actions or decisions may cause. As a member of another minority I am always upset when only blacks are given preferential treatment over anyone else.

   Time: 5/2/98 (9:19:43)

   I would like to applaude the comments of most of the ragebacks I have read on the subject of Mr. Fogg. Maybe he would like to donate his money to a good cause. You know a good cause like evening the score in the NBA. Since everyone is concerned about being treated equal. But hey that’s happening to white guys so who care’s uh?

   Given how much many completely useless people earn for being nothing but figureheads every year (i.e. politicians, supermodels, sports stars, corporate CEOs) I think it’s abot time we made it expensive for the government to have knocked down and terrorized someone who was actually trying to have a useful career and serve his country. As for the term “African-American” — I’m white myself but it seems to me that only when whites stop noticing skin color first then blacks will stop putting “African” first.

   Now that Mr. Fogg has $4 million, he ought to invest a portion of the money in a good, basic English class. I am embarassed that my government hires people who are unable to even write decent English. What a pity! Everybody, I suppose, has the right to be ignorant. Mr. Fogg abuses that privilege.

   It’s absolutely amazing that so many people cannot comprehend what it must be like to have to live in fear of what co-workers may or may not do while one’s own life is in danger. Matt Fogg didn’t win $4 Million. It’ll take many more months and possibly years before the final sum is figured out unless the judge comes up with something that is agreeable to both sides.

   FYI I’m a ‘white’ female but nevertheless have known discrimination. It’s hateful and should be halted. If the only way to open people’s eyes to the damage it creates is by a lawful legal action, than so be it. Being a litigant is also stressful. One has to really believe in the cause to continue day after day. It is not a guaranteed win-win situation.

   Getting passed the money issue, the bottom line question should be . . . Will the U.S. Marshall Service become a place where anyone who is qualified and wants this type of career be able to fulfill his job duties without fear and backlash? If this becomes a reality, we’ve all won.

   Mister Fogg is an oppurtunist who saw that if he stayed long enough he would get what he wanted. Anyone who is discriminated against can and should have thier due comings, but 4 mil is just a tad to much. It is time we stop all of these outrageous lawsuits. It is time we took responsiblity for our own actions.

   The great emancipator wrote: You cannot build character and courage by taking away a persons initiative and
   independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could, and should, do for themselves.
   abe lincoln 1861

   Racism will only stop when ALL parties involved stop blaming each other, and take resposibility for their actions.

   I can see where the loyalities of Mr Fogg lay, it is not the United States Constitution that he has pledged to support and defend. It is his skin color, he continully calls himself “African American”, African first, then American. I suggest that Mr Fogg take his four million and return to Africa since that is where he seems to think he is from. Then will he then call himself “American African”, or just plain “African”?

   Re: fogg, Please tell the black man that the word “there” as he uses it several times is spelled “their”.So much for his “education”.

   If Fogg is an “African American” why in the hell doesn’t he sue the descendants of the Tribesmen who sold his forebears to the slavers? Give us a break, you are either an American, or an African! I am a German, Irish, Scotch, Shawnee, English American and disabled, but Fogg gives me a giant pain. He is just a literate Reginald Denny.

   I am so weary of being held personally responsible for the atrocity of slavery. If this society is so racist, could someone tell me why African-American athletes dominate every sport(except hockey)from the college level through professional? If Mr. Fogg really wants to help the poor oppressed victims of American racism, he really ought to give that money to someone like the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who, I am sure, could put it to really good use.

   I don’t like the glib tactic of “bitting the hand that supports you” re: your “victimization sweepstakes” tactless commentary on Mr. Fogg. I think four million among we taxpayers is “getting off cheap”. Couldn’t you find some “corporate, multinational greed” that always seems to elude litigation? Is this website a subsidiary of Dennis Miller’s “Rants?

   Where do I sign up to be “discriminated against” and collect $4 million?

   Matthew Fogg is a sick sonofabitch. He ought to go and “f” himself.

   Jerry Hermes
   San Diego

   Reply

3. >Name: A.C. Piermarini, Jr. (allypier@aol.com) Wrote @ Time: 5/4/98 (9:18:27)
   >
   >Mr. Fogg claims to have a college degree,
   >yet he is unable to spell or use proper
   >grammar in his missive. I have the utmost
   >sympathy for all victims of racism, but Mr.
   >Fogg may be taking unfair advantage of
   >the system for his own personal gain. This
   >type of activity will not elicit a sympathetic
   >response from the general public.

   He is also not aware of the difference between
   the “EBOLA” virus, and the “E-Coli” bacteria.

   He used the term “Ecola” for a reason for not
   eating meat.

   Perhaps if one cannot stand the heat in the DOJ kitchen
   they should go teach ebonics in Oakland, CA.

   It is clear and evident many of the Outraged writers concerned about me receiving FOUR MILLION $$ for Civil Rights violations that actually lynched my livelihood and career via Bankruptcy, Foreclosures, Eviction, Stress and Termination in compensation was an abomination. It was quite striking that none of the Outraged dissidents were Outraged and upset with the racist pais thugs responsible for the lynching. It just shows us all where your real anger lies. Your Outrage really has nothing to do with the government money but it simply means you don’t see Civil Rights & Hate Crimes against Americans who refuse to be accepted as second class citizens a violation of our great Constitution and Law. Remember Deputy U.S. Marshal Zanowic is a white American and his career was lynched because he witnessed the abomination of Black U.S. Marshals and took a stand for Gods Justice. Well let me say this to the Outraged, pre-judges, falsifiers of the facts and hate mongers with hidden genders. “Truth pressed down no matter how long will soon rise to surface” I know you live in darkness but God is on my side. You have one of two choices. Accept the truth of this Godly verdict or live with the Satanic lie that all men are equal and well in the U.S. Marshal Service. Matthew Fogg was simply the messenger on Holy Ground. And in this case God will not allow your words to destroy the messenger but merely set the ground work of your destiny by your own tongues in that “you shall reap what you sow”. That is why some of the writers here who profess to be U.S. Marshals and know me refuse to truly identify themselves because they live in eternal darkness. But I shall continue to “March On Towards the Mark of the High Calling” knowing II Corinthians Chapter 10, VS > 4-5
   4: [For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 5: Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; ] I will make a statement in closing I believe we will all agree upon if true justice is what we seek. The taxpayers including the Jurors should not foot the 4 Million dollar bill so let’s figure out a “Goldman family” way of liquidating the personal assets of these Bigots With Badges responsible for these Civil Rights violations and I think that would please us all and send another great victory for taxpayer justice and GOD, “Touch not my anointed nor do them no harm”. AMEN!

   Mr. Fogg is sadly mistaken in indentifying himself as an African American. Many times people ask me about the ethnicity of my family name, inquiring “Is that of etc… nationality?” I always reply “It used to be!” There is only one kind of American; no hyphens, only red, white, and blue!

   Fogg, following his spam practices, emailed a copy of this man’s letter to those of us unfortunate enough to be on his spam list.

   Like many people, I am sick of hearing about slavery. The writerin one of the other messages talking about how bad the slaves had it forgot something. NONE OF US OWNED SLAVES. My family probably picked cotton with them. They also forgot to ask themselves, where would the blacks of America be now without slavery? What kind of life would they be living in their beloved mother land? I don’t think they should be angry about slavery. It wasn’t the best way to get here, but look at the life they have now. Also, if my reading is correct, not every black person in America can trace their roots back to slavery, but the Fogg’s of the country like to make claim to that lineage. It’s like my buddy the “vietnam” vet, who wants all of the entitlements to that claim, failing to mention he spent his Vietnam time in Saigon and never even held a rifle.

   Time: 1998-05-06 04:39:27
   Comments: Mr. Fogg,,, I am an American Taxpayer and as an American taxpayer you accused me of being responsible for racism in this country. Now, I know I got a lot of things going against me…I’m white, a male, a Christian, and a property owner, but just for my knowledge, could you tell me exactly what I have done, as an individual, to support racism in this country? Can you point to an example? Where is my guilt then? Why should I pay for your so called trials and tribulations that you have had to endure? Unfair things have happened to me in this life and in fact happen on a daily basis. But hey, that’s life. I don’t expect it to be perfect. In fact I’m thankful it isn’t. But guys like you (SNIP) me off. What makes your hardship so special? So you think you’ve been a victim of racism and maybe you have I don’t know…so what? Really…so what? I’m a Mormon. We are the only religion in America that has had an extermination order issued against them. Men were killed, women raped, children killed, farms burned, churches and temples desecrated, they were driven from state to state until they had to pack up and make the arduous trek to what is today called Utah to build up a whole new society in peace…in the middle of the (SNIP) dessert for crying out loud! But they didn’t and to this day we don’t ask anybody for nothing. Is what happened to us unjust? Yes. But what would suing the government have accomplished. What would it accomplish today? Would the politicians be hurt? NO. Would the lawyers be hurt? NO. Would all the bureaucrats be hurt? No. Then who would? The taxpayers. Now, many of them may have directly or indirectly supported the crimes against the Mormons. But not all of them. Many were against it. Why should the innocent pay as much as the guilty? Honestly, could you explain that reasoning to me? Please!? I’m serious! My E-mail address is lincoln76@hotmail.com Write me. But to this day, despite the injustices that the Mormons have had to endure, we still love our country. We combated the evils done against us by settling a great portion of the west, creating economies, goods and services, producing, enriching, serving, proselyting to let people know who we really are, educating, and living lives as examples. Now there are no extermination orders against us. In fact the Mormon people are respected by most. It was a hard fought fight but one that was won. What have you accomplished with your lawsuit besides filling your pockets? How have you helped to stop racism? Could you answer me that? Please! Cause I don’t know. All it seems to me that you’ve done is to (SNIP) a whole lot of innocent people off and may in fact have fostered even more strife and division between the races. If you think racism is so bad in this country, why don’t you go back to Africa? You certainly have enough money now to buy a ticket, I’d almost consider buying one for you if I wasn’t so poor. If you think slavery was such an injustice, now that you’re free, why don’t you go back? Go. Leave. If you cant live with the good and bad of this country, go to one that you can. You won’t be a minority in Africa will you? So what’s stopping you from going? Please, go, we don’t want you here. And take a whole plane load of your fellow victims with you back to the promise land of Africa while you’re at it. And don’t let the doorknob hit you in the (SNIP) on the way out. Love it or leave it Fogg. If you really loved this country you would do something to help it. But all you’ve done with this lawsuit is to help bring it down. You’re a hindurence to American prosperity not an accomplice. You’ve done more to weaken it than to strengthen it. You’re a joke, and the only one you fooled with that letter to John at The Outrage is yourself. You know why?…cause you are a fool Fogg.
   Sincerely

   Mr. John Groom,

   First, it may interest you that I wrote this letter, before reading Mr. Matthew Fogg’s letter he wrote in reply to you.

   Mr. Groom, African Americans, from the very beginning of being kidnaped from their land and imported to this country, have attempted to find some measure of justice and fairness, equal rights and equal opportunity, as well as protection under the law. African Americans have protested for these things. We have marched for these things. African Americans have petitioned the Supreme Court for these things, we have fought and died in the U.S. military, suffered bombings, beatings, police dogs, and murder for these things. However, for African Americans, these things apparently will be just that, things, empty words on paper and not a reality, not in my lifetime anyway.

   The $4 million dollars Mr. Fogg received and all of the money that will be paid because of other cases involving racism and discrimination says something quite apparent about some institutions in this country. What this says is there are those institutions in this country, even institutions in law enforcement, that would rather take the chances of paying large sums of money to African American citizens, rather than to change its attitude towards racism and discrimination and clean up the cancerous putrification racism creates. What this says is that in many institutions in America would rather practice racism and discrimination, even blatantly, in the hopes that the psychological affects of past racist policies of discrimination will neutralize those who have had and who continue to have their rights violated. What this says is some institutions in this country feel they can, with impunity, and in many, many cases with the blessings of our federal government, continue to practice wholesale racism and discrimination. Just look at what the Department of Agriculture has done to the African American farmers of this country with the flagrant practice of racism
   and discrimination. There is a huge lawsuit in this regard being directed against our government right now by those farmers.

   The prevailing attitude seems to be that some institutions in America can do what ever they want to do to African Americans. Many people actually believe that African Americans will just ride off into the sunset and forget about that job promotion or job opportunity which should have been theirs, but was denied to them because of racism and discrimination. Some people think African Americans will just forget about the unfair treatment, the harassment, and the lose of their jobs due to outright patterns and practices of racism and discrimination. Many are of the opinion that African Americans will just forget about the abuse, the retaliation or the threats of retaliation for exercising their constitutional rights to defend themsleves against racism.

   Damned if we do and damned if we do not. Study hard, make the sacrifices, past the tests, do your job, obey the rules and regulations and you will succeed? In every aspect of society African Americans continue suffer the devastating affects of past and present discrimination and racism. In housing, in employment, in mortgage lending, you name it and racism and discrimination is there in every institution in America. And when racism and discrimination infect the core of our society, namely law enforcement, as well as the military, all of us are in big, big trouble. Think not? Could your group be targeted next with the same determination and energy that African Americans have and continue to be targeted? “But I am a white man”, you say. Maybe you don’t look white enough, John. Maybe [they] will find a way to do genetic testing on you and find that you are not so completely white or white enough for them after all. Wouldn’t that be interesting, John, if tomorrow you woke up and someone told you had more African American blood in you than was acceptable? And therefore you were going to be systematically and methodically denied access to the freedoms and opportunities you have enjoy all of your life. Do you know what I think would happen to you John if such a senario became a reality? I think you would not be able to take that kind of pressure for very long at all, let alone a lifetime. More than likely, you would find the first bridge in your area and fling yourself over the side.

   Mr. Fogg is one of my heroes. I know Mr. Fogg could never be one of your heros, John, but he should be. Mr. Fogg should be a hero, as well as an example, and an inspiration for all of us no matter what the color skin you happen to be in. Mr. Fogg’s victory was a victory for each and every one of us who still believes in freedom and justice for all, instead of the maggots who would like to eat America from the inside out. And as far as the $4 million award is concerned, perhaps this is the only thing America understands and is capable of doing, where racism and discrimination is concerned.

   Now to answer your questions and respond to some of your statements.

   Statement concerning the $25 contribution. This amount, if it is accurate, should not be referred to as a contribution, but was adjudicated in favor of the victim in a court of law! You would do well to remember that. You speak of $25 cost to every person in this country, I wonder what you have had to say about the two blood sucking, scum-bags Milken and Bosky? Have you ever heard of these names before? Do you have any idea how much each of these men will cost the people of this country? Do you know how many people were ruined because of these two? For your information, even those who have yet to be born will have to pay for the greed of these men.

   Question: How can you justify $4 million? If you had never been discriminated against and had been promoted fairly, according to merit, you would certainly not be worth $4 million at this point. Does it bother you at all that your victimization has turned out to be widely profitable?

   Answer: John, you are turning out to be quite a bigot with a typewriter, instead of a bigot with a badge. I want to ask you the question: ” how can you justify racism and discrimination and what should be the price we should be paid when we are victims because of it?” John, lose your job because of racism and discrimination. Lose your home, lose your family and opportunities for your children, lose your friends, lose your lifestyle, go through the psychological roller coaster ride of being a victim of racism and discrimination and then talk to me about how much money you think you are due!

   Question: When you spend this money, will it make any difference to you that it came as the result of a jury verdict rather than money that was voluntarily paid to you as normal earnings? Since the taxpayers are the ones who will ultimately pay this money, what do you have to say to them? Obviously, none of them are directly responsible for what happened to you.

   Answer: You should concentrate more on the causes of racism, instead of the monetary effects of it and how the money will be spent. What an interesting concern of yours involving how the money will be spent. Very interesting. Are you worried, John? Are you sitting there wringing and hands, sweating profusely, and missing your meals because you don’t know what Mr. Fogg, an African American, is going to do with all of that money? Yeah! Right! Uh-Huh! I know who and what you are, John. All of us know who and what you are. It really says plenty about the state of America, when a person with your mentality is hired by a magazine company to write anything. You appear to qualify to deliver magazines but certainly not to write for it. But then again this just gives your readers an idea of something about the institution which has employed you.

   As far as the taxpayers are concerned I think you are way off base once again. I say this because each one of us falls in one of the following categories: (a) people who have the power to do something to stop racism and discrimination in this country but who will do nothing, (b) people who advocate, support, and practice racism and discrimination, (c) people who are doing something to counter racism and the effects of racism, and (d) victims of racism and discrimination who do nothing but accept its reality and, thereby, encourage racism to continue. This just about covers all of us, therefore we all have to pay because we are all ultimately in a relationship with racism in one way or another. Which category to you fall into, John? What category do your friends and co-workers fall into?

   Question: Do you think that such huge jury verdicts lessen or increase racism? We might argue that such verdicts increase racism, as whites may think that such suits are just get-rich-quick schemes by those that could not honestly earn the money.

   Answer: Isn’t it interesting to hear a white saying something about “get-rich-quick” scheme. I wonder what you would have to say about slavery? Now that was some big-time get-rich-quick scheme. Get-rich-quick and free labor in the process. Some of the bigots of this country all ways dsimiss slavery as though it was something which occured thousands and thousands of years ago. Less than four (4) hundred years ago, John, less than four (4) hundred! This is no more than a heartbeat in time.

   Do you know what “old money” is John? Do you know who has benefited from “old money”? Perhaps, you and your family
   have benefited from this money and continue to benefit. You and other whites have been given a tremendous headstart on the blood, on the sweat, and on the unspeakable horrors and conditions of others.

   Question: How does it feel that you could retire, based on your new wealth, and live much better than a Marshall, or other worker, who had neither discriminated not been discriminated against? How much did the lawyer get?

   I will not dignify either one of these questions with a response. Why concern yourself with the lawyers anyway? Lawyers have a job to do; they work for it, why shouldn’t they get paid. The next time you need one, get one of those student lawyer, social service, freebie types. And then ask yourself, did you get adequate legal representation for paying absolutely nothing? I’ll defend you in a court of law, John, for free. Now how comfortable does that make you feel? You get, what you pay for!

   Statement: We’re not racists, but we’re also deeply offended when being a victim seems to be much more profitable than work.

   Response: I, just as many African Americans, realize that much of white America can not be saved from itself. It is utterly a waste of time trying to educate someone who does not realize that [he] has become a victim also. The way you express yourself, John, is indicative of just how much of a victim you really are and others in America who think the way you do. What are you so afraid of?

   Lastly, I know what you think of me all ready. You think of me, just as you think of Mr. Fogg, and every other African American who demands fair treatment and justice. We are African American males with an attitude, with a problem, aren’t we John? To you, we are the enemy simply because we are the type of African American who will accept nothing less than what the law says rightfully belongs to us, rightfully belongs to all Americans.

   I hope you print this in your magazine, but I do not think you have the nerve to do it. You see John, bigots and racists are simply cowards. They are afraid of what would happen, if the playing field was level and fair for all. They don’t want to compete with African Americans because they are simply afraid to do so.

   patrick w. knight

   It’s pretty simple really. Too damn many lawyers crawling all over one another looking to make money. There’s no moral ground, just financial ground. If you hate tobacco you’ll love hating beer and bacon even more. Well, off to law school!

   I can’t imagine your attack on someone who has gone through hell, something you may never (I hope) have to know. This person has followed all the rules and went through the court system. I believe the courts know more than you do. Instead of blasting the cause you have blasted the victim. Please repair the damage you are doing. Get the facts.

   Below is the letter that I sent to Mr. Fogg:
   What a poor, poor life you’ve had! How dare “the man” come down on you! It’s always about racial injustice isn’t it? The poor black man ( notice I didn’t use the politically correct term “African American” ) just can’t get a break in the white man’s world.

   Go ahead and hide behind the skirts of racism and keep crying that you’ve been belittled, and stepped upon by our racist government, if it helps give you an excuse for being the same thing as a bum on the street. You’ve both got your hand out for money and neither of you want to work for it.

   I’ve seen black people operate in our government both in the military and in law enforcement. I’ve been a part of both. Although you’ll never believe it, I’ve never seen one instance where a black law enforcement officer was subject to racism by white co-workers. Yes, I’ve seen lazy ones, but I’ve also seen plenty of lazy white officers. In this day and age, when a black person is being reprimanded for a work infraction, all he needs to do is cry racism. “Boo hoo, leave me alone….and by the way…give me some money for making my great-great-grandfather a slave and for making me feel like one”.

   I could go on but of course you’ll have to write this letter off as just another racist steppin’ on the black man’s back. Give me a break! You’re just another lazy person, your color doesn’t even matter!

   Regarding allegations that the U.S. Marshal who won a $4 million lawsuit did it as a “Get Rich Scheme’: It sounds like this man’s life was threatened because he sought justice in an unjust environment. I’m sure there are less dangerous and less stressful ways to “Get Rich.” This brother did what many of us are afraid to do, he attempted to take the “hood” off the face of racism. It sounds like a jury OF HIS PEERS agreed with him, as did the judge. The man deserves to be commended, not condemned.

   Mr. Fogg claims to have a college degree, yet he is unable to spell or use proper grammar in his missive. I have the utmost sympathy for all victims of racism, but Mr. Fogg may be taking unfair advantage of the system for his own personal gain. This type of activity will not elicit a sympathetic response from the general public.

   Some people here have stated “how would we feel, those who disagree with Mr. Fogg receiving this large sum, if we had been in his place?” Well, as one other gentleman stated, not everyone in this country is going to like me, nor am I going to like everyone else. But what I do ensure is that I take full responsibility for myself and what situations I choose to put myself into. I would NOT have been in Mr Foggs situation, because instead of choosing to be “a victim”, I choose to keep my skills current and continually learn and increase my value to the community. So, no, had this been happening to me, I would not have stayed. Just as I have done in the past, when a situation is not good for me or my family, I find one that is. Instead of perpetuating a continuing and growing problem of “victimization” in this country. Not everyone is going to like everyone, nor should they be FORCED to. But, alas, it is far easier to find a lawyer more then willing to work for nothing and take these “cases” for the hope of the huge windfall to come. How long would Mr. Fogg or anyone else continure these rediculous and frivolous suits if the money was coming out of his pocket? How many lawyers out there would take these cases? Exactly. The sad part is, there is ligitimate racism still alive and well in the US today. But, suits such as these only serve to turn people away and off of those REAL cases. Just as the boy who cried wolf so often….here we have the same effect. People see these people for who they are. Someone out to make a quick buck. And as long as this attitude by so many minorities continues, there will always be racism, even were racism is not. For preception is sadly reality. When one goes looking for “it”..whatever it may be, racism, discrimination, etc, he can find “it”. And as long as these types of awards continue…there will be those who will look for it diligently.

   With damage awards like this, it’s no wonder that everyone’s joining the “suspect group” bandwagon whereby any mistreatment is instantly and only attributed to discrimination and becomes a source of instant wealth. Thanks to idiotic awards like this, people are now suing because of alleged discrimination against their height, weight, length of hair, refusal to wear deodorant, irrational fear of minorities, alcohol addiction, gambling addiction, kleptomania, uncontrollable urge to swear at people, even inability to read. It’s just too bad that I am white, male, of average height and weight, don’t steal, don’t swear at people, don’t drink on the job, don’t gamble, don’t fear minorities, have satisfactory hygeine habits and can read a newspaper. If it weren’t for all of that, I could join the “Don’t Look Cross-Eyed At Me Or I’ll Sue” country club and make a fortune.

   Time: 5/4/98 (0:39:20)

   People don’t seem to understand that it doesn’t matter whether Mr. Fogg may have suffered some emotional damage from working at his job with the US Marshalls. It was his method of handling the problems he encountrered that is Outrageous. In every point in history and in every other country, if someone found themselves at a job where he was disliked by some other employees, he would have to shrug it off and learn to deal with it. If the dislike escalated to the point of actual physical damage (of which there is none in this case) then the subject of this torment would LEAVE AND GO FIND ANOTHER JOB ELSEWHERE…

   Mr. Fogg did not do this. Instead he found himself in such a situation and decided to become a career victim. He calculated to himself that it was more profitable for him to put up with horrible psychological trauma for 13 years (THIRTEEN YEARS!!) and force an unneccessary sum of money from the government than it was to move his ass to another less painful job. This man is clearly either not capable of making a simple judgement call to move himself away from something that is causing him pain (even small animals have this ability), or else he is scum playing on the current trends in our country to get rich from his genetically-caused physical attributes. These same genetically-caused physical attributes that he claims he is trying to prove we should all be blind to.

   Everyone should have learned in kindergarden that not everyone has to like you. People do not have to, and will never, enjoy being around or be friendly to everyone else they come in contact with. It is not in any human’s nature. But to claim that people don’t like you because they are part of a nationwide conspiracy to make people of your race/color feel bad is ridiculous. It is bullsh*t like this that keeps racial tensions alive and well in this world. NO ONE WILL EVER TREAT YOU WELL IF YOU CONSTANTLY ANTAGONIZE THEM. Suing people for not treating you like royalty will guarantee that you never reach the level of ‘Fairness’.

   SumYungGuy

   Passing comments along per my brother’s instructions. (Wayne Hinson)

   Subj: The Outrage! <moderator@theoutrage.com>: OUTRAGE READER GETS RICH!
   Date: 98-05-02 23:25:42 EDT
   From: wwhinson@juno.com
   To: DLSlay@aol.com

   Linda’
   I’m OUTRAGED! Just because I’m not online, I can’t rageback to The Outrage. Maybe I’ll sue… What I was going to suggest is that since Mr Fogg now has (or will have) 4 million dollars, maybe some Postal worker will sue Mr Fogg for his comment about “going postal”. I think that would be appropriate, since Mr Fogg has no shame about stealing from the American taxpayers. His disdain for the USA that gave him opportunity (including to sue) comes through loud and clear. Please forward my comments to the D.O., along with my name and email address.

   Thanks.
   DeBrother

   P.S. Apparently a lot of other people were outraged at the Libertarian Party press release that blamed white people and racism for all the Blacks’ troubles; I heard some discussion of it on the Raleigh station one afternoon this week.

   All the talk about racism, racism, racism. I hate to say this and I wish it was’nt so but I’m afraid it is. Even though this country was won in a long protracted war against it’s native peoples, there was still all the great ideas about the ultimate sovereignty of each individual human (regardless of race,etc.,etc.) that could have truly won the day and made this the great place it could have been. That thing I’m afraid to say is that slavary killed the promise. This has nothing to do with African Americans. They would have been immigrants just like so many others. It’s slavery, the terrible inhumanity of it that killed the promise and so God help us all.

   How I wound up on Fogg’s mailing list is beyond me as I certainly do not support his actions, nor do I agree with his characterization of the United States Marshals Service.

   He asked that we write letters of support and cc him a copy. Well, I’m cc’ing a copy to him, but this is certainly no letter of support.

   I’ve been with the Marshals for quite some time, been a city cop for even longer before and I have to tell you that, to me Fogg is a continued embarrassment to each and every hard working Deputy U.S. Marshal I’ve worked with or known.

   I know a great many minority deputies, female deputies and the vast majority I’ve spoken with think he is worthless and has taken advantage of his race to get money. I’ve heard a lot about the other 2 who’ve aligned themselves with him and their reputation is as bad or worse than his.

   Please don’t think that Fogg or the other two represent the Marshals Service. They don’t. They are an anomoly. I’m sorry that he’s been awarded 4 million, but the up side is, he won’t be in the service either.

   He has had a real knack of lying about things that have ocurred, change the real meaning of them and turn them into racist events. Its a crutch for him as far as I am concerned and it’s a shame that someone with the “potential” he had, has sunk to using race as his tool to get ahead, he could have done so much more from what I’ve heard.

   So, Fogg can get his money, retire and continue to lambast the oldest federal law enforcement agency. He should sleep very well at night, comforted with his money. Let’s see how much of it he contributes to poor blacks in this country. Lets see how far that money goes in stopping racism. I’ll just bet he’s made donations to the ACLU and the NAACP, yea right….

   Do a study sometime on the requirements to get a job with the Marshals Service and then compare it to that in even the smallest police department. No polygraphs and no psychological test. Those two requirements on their own may have stopped many problem deputies from being hired.

   Fogg take your 4 million and go shut up.

   In my opinion, $4M was not nearly enough to compensate any peace officer and his/her family for the outrageous (racist) abuse caused by any “system” of our government. I am sure that Mattrhew Fogg and his family will rest just as comfortably, at night, as did the perpetrators who caused and perpetuated this injustice. Stay tuned, as America will likely see more “sizable” lawsuits addressing racial discrimination in these “United” States!

   Reply

4. Matthew Fogg:

   Righteous Indignation is the last bastion of the religious Zealot.

   No wonder your where you are, I am sure you’ve been throwing that in their faces for a while.

   The government, I hope, will appeal, and win.

   Good Luck Froggy, crossing the road will be a bit harsh.

   Reply

5. It is funny how most people who bring hardship on themselves claim that it is the responsability of the employer. Yes we all know there is reaceisim in our country, just like there are people who dislike you for not belonging to the proper “Click”, or don’t “Hang” with the right group. I feel that less that 10% of the people who sue for discrimination have valid cases. I see far to often that the person who sues is just a person who cannot get along with others, and needs to blame others for his faults. I too have a hard time getting along with others, but that is a result of my personality, something which I cannot help, nor can I change, but I will not go out and blame my parents for this, i will deal with it as an adult, I can deal with it, why can’t you?

   Dave

   An introductory note: last week I received an e-mail from a participant in this discussion asking me to post a copy of an article I wrote. After having read the previous messages on the list, I decided to do so. This article orignally appeared in the Princeton Progressive Review, a student journal at Princeton, in October 1995, as a response to a letter to the editor opposing affirmative action.

   ——–

   The Perpetual Underclass: An Argument and a Response

   “True peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.”

   -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”

   For the last several months, Republican presidential hopefuls have been jockeying to prove their conservative credentials to the right wing of their party. One of the favored targets in this John Birch-style game of chicken has been affirmative action. It is not surprising that affirmative action is under attack: along with welfare, it benefits a section of society with very little political clout. It is a convenient place for the displaced anger of working-class white men who have seen their real wages decrease for the past thirty years. It stirs up feelings of racism that politicians are quick to publicly denounce but even quicker to exploit. There is, however, very little serious discussion about affirmative action underway; more often it is supplanted by buzzwords such as “quotas,” “set-asides,” and “reverse discrimination.” A serious discussion of affirmative action must begin by addressing the question of collective responsibility.

   Affirmative action opponents firmly reject the notion of collective responsibility, claiming that it is unfair to punish those alive today for crimes committed by their parents. One letter to the editor received by The Progressive Review reads: “I never owned slaves, and have never discriminated against anyone. Why should I have to pay for someone else’s sins? Slavery ended over a hundred years before I was born, and over seventy years before the first of my ancestors arrived in the United States.” Unfortunately, responsibility for the effects of slavery and discrimination cannot be so easily shirked. Even if our direct ancestors did not participate in the slave trade, we are nevertheless members of a society that did; part of the “individual responsibility” so fervently worshipped by neo-conservatives must include taking responsibility for things done by our society. When a person becomes an American, he or she must accept not only the glory and honor of our history, but also the shame of our shared crimes. By the logic of affirmative action opponents, Germany should not have been forced to pay reparations to Israel after the Holocaust. Japanese-Americans interned during World War II did not deserve the meager compensation they finally received: their compensation unfairly “punishes” people alive today who were not alive when they were interned. The newly freed slaves did not deserve forty acres and a mule, since the forty acres would have come from publicly owned land and thus penalized people who were not slave owners. All of these redistributive programs are examples of societies paying for historical crimes. In no way are any of these programs different from affirmative action: each one takes money away from people alive today and uses it to compensate the victims of historical crimes or their descendants. Anyone who opposes affirmative action on the grounds that it unfairly punishes white men for something their ancestors did must also opposed Holocaust reparations on the same principle.

   Compensation for historical crimes, however, is not the sole justification for affirmative action. It is also a method of countering the benefits that racism and sexism continue to provide to every white male American. The economic prosperity we enjoy, the relative peace in which we live, and the political institutions we revere were all built on the backs of slaves and housewives. There is not a moment of our lives that we do not benefit from the work of the oppressed. Affirmative action does not attempt to punish white men; it merely seeks to transfer some of the benefits from the work of slaves from the descendants of masters to the descendants of the slaves themselves. If the promise of forty acres and a mule had been fulfilled, how many of us might not have gotten into Princeton because a more qualified black candidate was admitted instead? When you are the one who did get into Princeton, it’s very easy to dismiss this injustice as someone else’s problem about which we have no responsibility. Opponents of affirmative action say that history is as it is, and that no one is responsible for that. The fallacy of this argument is clear: we all share responsibility for the sins of
   the past, and no one can escape his or her share.

   Affirmative action, however, does not seek to right wrongs that reside entirely in past history. The claim made in the letter to the editor that “I have never discriminated against anyone” suggests that racism is extinct today, or that it exists in only a few rare specimens (several of whom seem to reside in the United States Senate). Nothing could be farther from the truth. Every single person alive today, without exception, is a bigot. Everyone. We have all grown up in a race and sex-obsessed society, and it is inevitable that the effects of constant bombardment by racist imagery take their toll. Even those of us who have never been party to an overt act of discrimination are constantly surrounded by racially charged imagery, from television, from movies, and from countless other sources. If you do not believe that you are a racist, try a thought experiment: what is the first picture that comes to your mind when you think of “the most honest person?” Then picture “the best scientist.” Picture “the most beautiful woman” and “the most handsome man.” If you are white, the odds are that at least three out of four of these pictures were of white people, and that “the best scientist” was a man. Even the most bleeding-heart liberals (such as myself) fail this simple test because we have grown up in a society that has taught us stereotypes all of our lives. Color-blindness is not the default in our racially charged society: it is achieved only by a constant struggle against the racism around us, by forever asking ourselves whether we would treat someone differently if he or she were of another skin color.

   Although the majority of people do make an effort to insure that their behavior is truly color-blind, no one is entirely successful. The subliminal racist in all of us colors our thoughts and actions, and it makes itself felt every time someone applies for a job or has a college admission interview; it causes damage that is hard to estimate because the people involved are not consciously acting on the basis of race. Nonetheless, it has probably cost many promising minority candidates their admission to an Ivy League university. Affirmative action, therefore, is partially an attempt to balance the effects of subliminal racism. Every time someone claims that he lost a job because of affirmative action, we must ask how many previous jobs he has gotten because of racism, either conscious or unconscious. The “wronged” white man at least can appeal his case in the courts; those harmed by subtle, invisible racism have no such recourse. In the end, affirmative action must be based on race and gender because it seeks to combat prejudice based on race and gender. As Prof. Gerald Horne of UC Santa Barbara notes in his book Reversing Discrimination, “Affirmative action is a group remedy for a group wrong….The discrimination is visited upon the individual because he/she is a member of a group. The essence of bigotry is this kind of collective punishment.” Prof. Horne’s point is accurate: affirmative action must exist as a race based collective remedy because it is attempting to combat a race-based collective problem. All individuals who are members of a minority suffer this collective punishment, and thus all must receive compensation.

   Most importantly of all, affirmative action is the only method by which minorities will ever be able to achieve real equality in society. Judging from the neo-conservative rhetoric, their position seems to be that if government eliminates affirmative action and other anti-racism programs, racial equality will eventually happen on its own. Right-wingers claim that America will naturally eliminate the last vestiges of racism if left to its own devices. This argument, however, shows a profound ignorance of the self- perpetuating nature of power. As Prof. Horne points out, “It is well known that ‘who you know’ is often more important that ‘what you know’ in obtaining a position. The notion of meritocracy is just another myth.” One particular example of the myth of meritocracy is familiar to many of us: standardized tests. Prof. Horne observes that “…there are a number of companies, e.g. Stanley Kaplan, Inc., that for a pretty penny will instruct those who can afford to pay on how to do well on these tests; this means that many of these tests do not measure the scope of the intellect as much as they measure the depth of the pocketbook.” The end result of this sort of “stacking the deck” is that those who lack money and power tend to stay down.

   This effect also contributes to the overall racism and bias of society. We are racists not because our parents were racists, but because if you see someone being arrested for a crime on the television news, the odds are that the criminal is a person of color. Indeed, the proportion of African-Americans in our jails is huge compared to their numbers in the overall population. Statistically, a young African-American from inner-city Los Angeles is more likely to end up in prison than in college. Bias is the inevitable result of constant exposure to facts such as this, and in turn this bias harms the chances of the next generation of African-Americans. Thus, the natural trend of capitalism towards class immobility combines with the slow poisoning of the American mind to form a deadly cycle for minorities. They cannot break out of poverty because they lack opportunities; in turn, their poverty contributes to racism and further decreases their chances of escaping poverty. Statistics clearly confirm the effects of racism on minority opportunities: a 1992 Federal Reserve report found that Bank of America and Security Pacific Bank together held $631 million in deposits from (predominantly black) South Central, L.A. but made only $11 million in home mortgages there. Manufacturers Hanover had more than $100 million in deposits from Harlem, but lent only $100,000 per year for mortgages there. A study reported in the March 1992 New York Amsterdam News found that African-American farmers were loosing their land ten times as quickly as their white counterparts. Given these odds, it is not surprising that African-Americans have faired poorly in the economic sphere. Furthermore, banks see these failings and in turn are reluctant to lend money to African-Americans. This cycle can only be reversed by active intervention. It will not correct itself. Affirmative action attempts to do just that, by creating positive examples of success for minorities; these images are beneficial not only to minority children, but to all of us. The more often we see images of African-American bankers, female scientists, and Latino attorneys, the more it challenges our own prejudices. Affirmative action is the only program that seeks to combat not only the physical but also the psychological ramifications of our history of oppression.

   Thus, even if affirmative action is clumsy, imperfect, and unfair in a few cases, that must be balanced against the inescapable subjugation of a whole segment of the population offered up as the conservative alternative. The letter to the editor claims that “The whole point of the Constitution, particularly that Bill of Rights part, was to guarantee that the rights of an individual would not be trampled when a majority found that trampling would be in its best interests.” This is partially but not entirely true: the Constitution does exist to safeguard individual rights, but it does assign some weight to the collective good. A clear example of this is the power of eminent domain, which holds that the government can use private land (after fairly compensating the owner) to fulfill an obvious public need. Without this power, many hospitals, national parks, and the Long Island Expressway would not exist. This is, indeed, as the letter to the editor alleges, a form of “utilitarianism.” Unfortunately, societies have to be somewhat utilitarian. That’s why there is a draft, that’s why even people who send their children to private school have to pay school taxes, and that’s why even the victims of crime have to help pay for a public defender to defend the people who victimized them. The question is not whether individual rights will be limited; no society can function without being unfair to some people some of the time. Instead, the question is whose rights will be limited and to what end. The small injustice suffered by a few individuals unfairly harmed by affirmative action cannot balance the tremendous injustice created by its lack. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that affirmative action ever harms white men more than racism and sexism help them. The vast majority of corporate executives are white. In the 1991 case Ann Hopkins v. Price-Waterhouse, Price-Waterhouse passed Ann Hopkins over for partnership despite the fact that she brought in more business than 87 percent of the men being considered for the partnership. In 1988, a study conducted by the American Medical Women’s Association found that men constitute 98 percent of department chairs and 79 percent of faculty members at medical schools, despite the fact that 36 percent of medical students are women. The Feminist Majority Foundation concluded in 1990 that less than 3% of top jobs in Fortune 500 companies were held by women. Eleanor Smeal, head of the Feminist Majority Foundation commented that “At the current rate of increase in executive women, it will take until the year 2466–or over 450 years–to reach equality with executive men.” If, as affirmative action opponents claim, whites are constantly losing their jobs due to affirmative action, why aren’t American workplaces teeming with women and minorities? In fact, the opposite seems to be true: despite affirmative action, white male dominance of the most powerful positions in society remains largely unchallenged. In the light of statistics such as these, it seems hard to defend the position that white men suffer unfair discrimination, even in a society with affirmative action.

   In the end, affirmative action is a conscious choice to favor social justice for many over maintaining power for a few. As Prof. Horne observes, “Affirmative action is an absolute necessity if the struggle for democracy is to survive. Excluding categorically racially oppressed and ethnic minorities and non-minority women is a blow to the future of this nation, not to mention a crime against those who have to endure bias.” Without active intervention, minorities will be condemned to exist as a perpetual underclass, trapped in poverty by the racism to which their poverty gives rise. Racism will not eradicate itself; in a society ruled by the almighty dollar, one cannot separate legal equality from economic equality. That is the most fundamental flaw of conservative opposition to affirmative
   action: the belief that those who live under bridges have the same rights as those who do not. Unless we make an active attempt to undo the effects of three hundred years of oppression, there will never be a color-blind society. The complaints of a few white men who miss their traditional ascendancy seem insignificant in comparison to the alternative: an unbroken cycle of misery for everyone else.

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6. You people crack me up,when you have a system based on greed all you can get out of the system is greed example;Federal reserve system printing money out of nothing no gold standard to back it up this is very wrong and benifits a few elitist criminals and what about the IRS MAJOR GREED entity thats not even legal that just steals money from the american citizens. We can go on and on what about lying ( our president) WHAT ABOUT RAPE !! What about murder (ABORTION) So you see weve made it all part of the system by our liberal choices.People learn what their taught Im not saying suing is right,but when a system is what people depend on and that system is corrupt you will reap corruption.

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7. Fogg is a dumbass. Maybe the people on his mailing list could sue him for everything he’s got. That’s all I gotta say.

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8. Want to hear what’s really OUTRAGEOUS? Our money is no-longer based on anything. (certainly not on gold anymore) There is no such thing as a DEFICIT in this country. Law suits mean nothing. In fact based on the ZERO fact money is based on OUR GOVERNMENT COULD GIVE EVERYONE 5MILL AND THERE WOULD BE NO REA-WORLD EFFECT. There is nolonger an agreed upon measuring rod. It’s all a JOKE. Our money is based on the AVAILABILITY OF THE PRINTING PRESS. Hmm. if you actually open your eyes you too wil also see- THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHS ON. Another thing- The amount of blacks who’s families are destroyed by (not whites like yourself) but by those who have a deeply entrenced destine for blacks is extremely pervasive. I’m outraged that there is no list of those who discriminate. I would bet- the SAME NAMES WOULD APPEAR OVER AND OVER AGAIN. In fact, some corporations may getting sued due to the actions of a DISCRIMINATION TERRORIST who simply moves around. I know WHITE FOLKS who are fearful of WHITE FOLKS who are FOCUSED on HATE. Damn- I’ve said way more than I intended. Sorry about that.

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