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From: Jasper
Date: 7/7/03
Time: 11:48:26 AM
Remote Name: 68.73.55.22
John,
Before you go further in your quest to discredit Iago with this idea of yours about African-Americans requiring a racist villain in the O.J. case for “balance,” you should consider a couple of facts about the author and African-Americans in general....
You might see me primarily as an African American. I seem myself as primarily a human being. I am an American. My parents were classified as Negroes. Their Parents were classified as Negroes. My grandfather’s parents were classified as Negroes but my grandfather’s grandmother looked white (fair skin, green eyes, red hair) because her father was a Scottish-American. Two of my grandfather’s grandparents were Cherokee Indians. I had a Jewish uncle on my mother’s side and I admit to having a special problem with Nazis. I hope you won’t hold that against me. I don’t see how anyone in his or her right mind cannot have a special problem with Nazis – or any other group that preaches “racial” supremacy and practices what it preaches.
I spent my childhood in a mixed neighborhood (mostly Polish and Italian) and my K-12 education was in “racially” mixed schools. I knew that racism existed but I had no clue as the to extent of it in the rest of the country until I hit puberty. We didn’t even call it racism back then. We called it racial prejudice. To my friends and me it seemed like a bizarre notion. It still does. We never did choose our friends or enemies by color.
I see myself as a pioneer in automotive design. Some of Ford’s best selling cars as well as some lead-time reduction practices popular in the world today came from my work at Ford, an historical fact that has been wiped from the books along with the accomplishments of nearly every black person who has worked in American automotive design.
This is not a matter of “ego,” it’s a matter of credibility that gets lost whenever I try to explain why I know things about model building (animations) that aren’t apparent to most people. I’m not saying that you doubt my ability because I’m black, but it’s a sad fact that most white people do because they have no frame of reference for black people who can do what I say I can do. It takes a lot to show them and when I do my credentials rise from “bogus” “questionable.” For me it’s old news. Most white people simply assume that I can’t possibly know more than they do about anything that seems obvious or inexplicable to them.
You should also know that I am a proud former member of the United States Army. A big part of me will always be a trooper and I have been fighting the negative stereotypes of Vietnam veterans for decades. Click on the cover of Iago on the startup page and read the last paragraph, My Motivation. Also on the startup page, click the hotspot on the Smartfellows logo of the kid with the green shirt to read more about the guy who gave Smartfellows its name.
When you begin your attack on Iago, remember to read the Foreword. Remember who wrote it – my big brother, a big city police officer for nearly 30 years. –Jasper