- If You Don't Care, I Don't Care -
September 9, 1998
NAACP National Headquarters, Office of the President
Mr. Kweisi Mfume
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-3297
RE: Your letter of August 28, 1998
Dear Mr. Mfume:
This letter addresses your letter referenced above which was in response
to my letter of August 24, 1998. As you will recall, my August 24th letter
was a three-page, in-depth, dissertation on the glaring racism of Westinghouse,
CBS and Howard Stern, which included six pages of documented examples of
Howard Stern's racist broadcasts. As you will also recall my August 24th
letter simply asked for positive action by the NAACP relative to the continued
racist radio broadcasts of Westinghouse, CBS and Howard Stern.
Quoting your August 28th response which states the "positive action"
you have taken as the President of the NAACP,
"Please be informed that your correspondence has been forwarded to
our Legal Department for their response. A representative from that department
will contact you in writing, once your correspondence has been thoroughly
reviewed."
On the surface, your response may seem promising to some, but it becomes
less than hopeful when viewed with another response you wrote to Dr. Carole
Burnett of Silver Springs, Maryland, who, like myself, wrote to you concerning
the same Westinghouse, CBS and Howard Stern racist issue. In your response
to Dr. Burnett, you wrote,
"Please be informed that your correspondence has been forwarded to
our Legal Department for their response. A representative from that department
will contact you in writing, once your correspondence has been thoroughly
reviewed."
Does this sound vaguely familiar, Mr. Mfume? Of course it's familiar.
As incredibly moronic as it may seem, your response to Dr. Burnett is the
EXACT same Xeroxed form letter (with the same Xeroxed "Kweisi Mfume"
signature) that you sent me.
Come on now, Kweisi, do you really think I can't tell the difference between
a heartfelt 'original' response and a no feeling Xeroxed form letter piece
of Fred Flintstone "Yabba-dabba-doo"? Quoting your book entitled,
No Free Ride, Mr. Mfume, "What you think, I'm some kind of fuckin'
fool?"
Your response, in both form, fashion and function, is clearly demonstrative
that, under your control (the word "leadership" seems inappropriate),
the banner organization for civil rights and anti-racism in America, the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is nothing more
than an ineffective, archaic, Pinocchio puppet organization that confronts
racial issues of the 1990's with meaningless lawyer deferral.
Simply stated, sir, your form letter has given "Colored People"
a bad name.
Where, Mr. Mfume, is the fire and spark of the NAACP that marched on Washington,
Baltimore, Montgomery, Chicago and every other major city in this nation?
Where, Mr. Mfume, is the heart and soul of Malcolm, Martin and Medgar
in today's NAACP?
Where is the spirit of the NAACP that participated in the Million Man March
(or as the Howard Stern joke goes, had it rained, it would have been called
"Gorillas in the Mist").
Lest you have forgotten, Mr. Mfume, here are the names of a few individuals
who have laid down their lives for the cause of the "Advancement of
Colored People":
Medgar Evers - June 12, 1963 - killed by a bullet in the back.
Three young black girls - killed as they worshiped in Birmingham, Alabama
when a bomb exploded in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
Two white and one black college students/civil rights workers murdered
in 1964.
Martin Luther King - assassinated.
Malcolm X - February 21, 1965 - Murdered while, literally, standing on
a stage speaking against racism.
Hattie Carroll - Killed by a Maryland tobacco farmer because she spilled
a glass of wine on him.
James Byrd Jr., June 1998 - Beaten and dragged behind a pickup truck near
Jasper, TX until he was decapitated.
Hundreds of Blacks who have been lynched, beaten, tarred & feathered,
and murdered by the Imperial Knights of the Order of the Klu Klux Klan.
In my 30 years of participation in the 200 plus years of struggle for racial
parity in America, I have fought against racism in the workplace, in the
sports arena, in the education of our children, in the corporate boardroom
and in the streets of Baltimore, Chicago, Montgomery, Macon, Selma and Los
Angeles. I have been called a "nigger lover" in almost every
city in this country.
I have been spit upon, knocked down, beaten up, threatened and physically,
mentally and emotionally assaulted. I have given time, energy, effort,
sweat, blood and money to the cause of the NAACP. And, on behalf of the
NAACP you, sir, have given me a form letter in return. I, sir, have spent
more time putting bandages on my wounds from my confrontations with racists
than you have put into writing, mailing and licking the stamp on your little
form letter.
I sent you graphic examples of "nigger jokes" broadcast on The
Howard Stern Show that tell his listeners that "niggers", like
apples, look best when hanging from a tree.
I sent you samples of Stern's broadcast that the five most common words
a "nigger" hears are, "Will the defendant please rise."
I sent you transcripts of Stern's presentation of a radio game show called
"Guess My Color" in which blindfolded contestants must guess an
individual's color by the sound of his voice as he answers questions posed
to him by Stern such as "When do welfare checks come out?".
I delivered to you factual documentation of the Klu Klux Klan hate messages
being broadcast by Westinghouse and CBS to 25,000,000 listeners even as
you read this letter and you, Mr. Mfume, send me a form letter that reads,
"Please bear in mind that it may take some time to look into the issues
that you have raised."
With the above in mind, I remind you, sir, that, as with justice delayed,
"action delayed is action denied."
Your predisposed forewarning that "... it may take some time to look
into the issues that you have raised." simply tells me that the NAACP
has other priorities and that Howard Stern's racist broadcasts fall somewhere
on your priorities list between fund raising and trying to nail Jell-o to
a tree.
What could be more important than addressing the almost daily racist broadcasts
made by the nation's largest commercial broadcaster?
If this is the best that the NAACP can do to confront Westinghouse and
the Klu Klux Klan then I suggest that, you, yourself, have perpetuated xenophobia
and racism in America by turning a deaf ear to Howard Stern and his perennial
guest, KKK recruiter Daniel Carver, in their assessment that "niggers"
are a lesser group on the evolution tree than apes and that "... female
Niggers have even been known to successfully breed with apes and produce
little porch monkeys."
I would be willing to bet a ten-dollar food stamp that if Mark Furman or
"Jimmy The Greek" had a radio program and broadcast this very
same racist material, your African-American, NAACP ass would be on the street
right now carrying a sign and calling for a boycott of his advertisers.
I would also be willing to bet a Cadillac payment that if TEXACO was one
of those sponsors, you and the other Officers and Directors of your "Colored
People" organization would be in the front row of the "We are
not a racist company and here's some money to prove it" cash settlement
meeting.
Your corporately crafted and politically correct, piece-of-lawyer-deferral,
no-action, contrite, shuckin' and jivein', back-of-the-bus-garbage form
letter simply tells me that I care for my 'brother' more than he cares for
himself.
As we look around Black America in 1998, we see that, as an outward, albeit
minimalistic, representational facade of their commitment to their African
heritage, many African-Americans have found it stylishly fashionable and
terminally-hip to change their given Christian name to one of African tribal
origin. You know, "get rid of that white massa' slave name",
thing.
But, I suggest to you, Mr. Mfume, that it is not merely changing one's
name that pronounces one's commitment, it is the swiftness of one's action
and the resolve of one's response when called to action against the likes
of Westinghouse, CBS and Howard Stern that is the real test of one's commitment
to their African heritage.
Your 'action' and 'resolve' to have this matter reviewed by your "Legal
Department" speaks volumes.
Needless to say, I will not be sending another penny to the NAACP nor will
I ever again elicit your assistance in the battle against Westinghouse,
CBS and Howard Stern's racism or, for that matter, racism on any level and
I will encourage others not to support your organization as well.
You have shown yourself to be little more than a 'Negro Nero' who fiddles
with an orchestra of attorneys while racism burns all around you. The insincerity
and ineffectual effort contained in your form letter has compelled me to
shout the NAACP's lack of action against Westinghouse' racism to all who
will listen.
Lest the cause be completely abandoned, I will continue to financially
support civil rights organizations whose leadership stands tall to eliminate
racism, rather than the limp-wristed NAACP whose President speaks from the
bowels of a Xerox machine while occasionally peeking out from behind the
veil of a "Legal Department".
Dr. King didn't need no "Legal Department" but, then again, Martin
Luther King was a man who was actually committed to the cause. He was a
man more concerned with taking action than contemplating consequence.
As a younger man, I literally walked peaceful miles with black leaders
like Dr. King and I engaged in less than peaceful actions with radicals
like Huey Newton and the Black Panthers and, from Mississippi and Macon
to Jim Crow and Howard Stern, the only time I have ever questioned my actions
. . . was when I read your form letter.
I feel betrayed by the NAACP, an organization that I have supported for
the past 30 years. Thirty years of fighting your battle and I get a form
letter containing a 'Our attorneys will get back to you on that" response.
While your Legal Department, as you state, "reviews my previous correspondence",
black America continues to be assaulted, insulted and ridiculed by Westinghouse,
CBS and Howard Stern.
But, you know what, Mr. Mfume, if you don't care, I don't care either.
You see, Mr. Mfume, Howard Stern's racial hatred has no real impact on
me or my family because I'm a white man. I fight for the cause of civil
rights only because it's the right thing to do, not because of the color
of my skin.
You will note that I have delivered a copy of this letter to more than
25 prominent African-Americans, including Mrs. Coretta Scott King and Charles
Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader, Medgar Evers.
I have also sent a copy of this letter to African-American entertainers,
musicians, politicians and others, all of whom, no doubt, financially support
the NAACP.
I believe it is more than appropriate to inform these people of the flame
in my heart that has been doused as a result of receiving your form letter.
You have proven that the Xerox machine is mightier than the sword for your
form letter has terminated my desire to continue to fight against racism.
As it has always been, racism is your problem and I grow weary helping
you to help yourself!
In closing, let me suggest that you assist the movement in a quantum fashion
by stepping aside as the President of the NAACP and returning to the legislative
branch of government from whence you came. I suggest that African-Americans
all across the nation would be better served by your return to a more familiar
$450 per hour arena where lawyers and "Legal Departments" fight
on the self-serving battlefields of litigious mumbo-jumbo.
It is well known that, under your direction, the NAACP's bank account has
gone from red to black and that fund raising may be your only legacy to
"the cause". Should you decide to continue to be a member of
the NAACP I suggest that you stick to what you do best . . . begging for
money, because your form letter emphatically shows your personal inability
to fight racism in any meaningful fashion and simply reinforces the old
addage of sending a boy to do a man's job. Fortunately for the cause of
the NAACP, you are "in-charge" in today's environment. Your form
letter action is a clear indication that, had you been in charge during
the early days of the struggle, Woolworth's would still be in business and
the NAACP would not.
Your form letter witnesses that you are missing the requisite vertebrae
to stand tall in the fight against Westinghouse, CBS and Howard Stern and,
as such, you lack both personal courage and moral conviction.
Simply stated, Mr. Mfume, you are ill prepared and poorly equipped to stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with real men and women who fight on the everyday battlefields
of racism. As Howard Stern's KKK buddy, Daniel Carver, might say, you are
not a credit to your race. I feel confident that Mr. Carver, Mr. Crow and
Mr. Stern will take great delight in your form letter and, collectively,
they will sing a unified chorus of "I told you so."
We have marched too many marches.
We have walked too many miles.
We have shed too much blood.
We have been beaten too many times.
We have seen too much injustice.
We have sung too many songs.
We have listened to too many speeches.
We have felt too much pain.
We have died too many deaths.
And, we have ridden in the back of the bus for too many years to continue
to be led by the likes of Kweisi Mfume.
Please step aside and move out of the way. We have much more to accomplish
and many more roads to travel. You, your form letter and your "Legal
Department", Mr. Mfume, are nothing more than speed bumps on the road
to freedom!
As I mentioned to you in previous correspondence, I have written to the
leadership of the NAACP more than a dozen times prior to my August 24th
letter to you about this matter of Westinghouse, CBS and Howard Stern's
racism. Your August 28th form letter was the first response I ever received
regarding this issue. Under the heading of "Too Little, Too Late",
I have enclosed a check to cover your 32 cent stamp and I can assure you
that it is the last check you will ever receive from me.
On the subject of money, your form letter leads me to wonder if you own
any stock in Westinghouse or, if you are affiliated in any way with Baltimore
radio station WJFK-AM or WJFK-FM in Washington, D.C.
Some may read my thread of correspondence to you and your organization
and feel that I have been too harsh while others may feel that I have "told
it like it is", been more than "right-on" and "called
a spade a spade". I trust the real leaders in the NAACP will come
down on the latter side of the fence.
I amusingly await the response from the NAACP's "Legal Department".
I just hope it ain't signed by Algonquin J. Calhoun!
A form letter, indeed!
Although your form letter was funnier than Howard Stern's "nigger"
jokes, it was equally as frightening as Howard Stern's Klu Klux Klan hate
messages. And for that alone, Mr. Mfume, you should be ashamed of yourself.
/ signed /
______________________________________
Al Westcott
Post Script:
It is more than ironic that this very weekend we witnessed the "Million
Youth March" in New York and the "Million Youth Movement"
in Atlanta. In listening to the seemingly hundreds of speeches given by
countless young black men and women, we heard an overall message of a radical
call to arms. We heard the voices of young African-Americans who, literally,
called America's black youth to take up arms and bear down violence upon
the nation.
We heard Malcolm X, Louis Farrahkhan, Elijah Muhammud and Stokley Carmichael
echo in their voices of solidarity, common sense and frustration.
We heard the call of revolution coming from millions and millions of our
militant children and grand-children. And, they are militant because, as
we have seen in the Westinghouse, CBS and Howard Stern issue, the 'old line'
organizations like the NAACP will not addressed even blatant racism to any
satisfactory degree.
Although I do not condone violence, at least these African-American men
and women are ready, willing and able to take action against racism and
in all of the speeches I heard this weekend, I did not hear one voice speak
of a form letter or of a "Legal Department".
In hearing your words, "Please bear in mind that it may take some
time to look into the issues that you have raised.", I can only paraphrase
the old Negro spiritual to say, "We might overcome, someday".
cc: via email
The Final Call - The newspaper of the Nation Of Islam
webmaster@finalcall.com
cc: via United States Postal Service
Coretta Scott King
234 Sunset Ave., NW.
Atlanta, GA 30314
Charles Evers
1018 Pecan Park, Dr.
Jackson, MS 39209
Louis Farrahkhan
4855 S Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60615
Maya Angelou
104 B Wingate Hall, PO Box 7314
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas
United States Supreme Court Building
One First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543
General Colin Powell
1663 Prince St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
Armstrong Williams
2029 P St., NE
Washington, DC 20033
Halle Berry
1122 S Robertson Blvd., #15
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Lawrence Fishburne
5200 Lankershim Blvd., #2600
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Morgan Freeman
2472 Broadway, #227
New York, NY 10025
Whoopi Goldberg
5555 Melrose Ave., #114
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Levar Burton
13601 Ventura Blvd., #209
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Bill Cosby
P O Box 808
Greenfield, MA, 01301
Andrea Crouch
20265 Wells Dr.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
Angela Davis
269 Moultrie St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Quincy Jones
3800 Barham Blvd., #503
LA, CA 90068
Michael Jordan
980 N Michigan Ave., #1600
Chicago, IL 60611
Louis Gossett, Jr.
P O Box 6187
Malibu, CA 90264
Samuel L. Jackson
5128 Encino Ave.
Encino, CA 91316
Joe Greene
1 Falcom Pl.
Suwanee, GA 30174
Bryant Gumbel
524 W 57th St.
New York , NY 10019
Evander Holyfield
310 Madison Ave., #804
New York, NY 10017
Mike Tyson
6740 Tomlyasu Lane
Las Vegas, NV 89120
Eddie Murphy
152 West 57th St., 47th Fl.
New York, NY 10019
Scottie Pippen
2320 Shady Lane
Highland Park, IL 60035
Sidney Poitier
1007 Cove Way
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
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