Response to Cash Michaels

Mr. Michaels,

As always, I appreciate your sincere, well thought and passionate response to our post. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and perspective with us, and our readers. While I agree with a number of the points you make, I am disappointed that you have chosen to extrapolate the content of what was presented, and what was intended, to reach some of your conclusions.

What we presented offered no conclusions, no commentary, and no words of our own. For you to conclude that we offered Mr. Harris Johnson's words as a blanket assessment of the mindset of all Durham voters requires your own jump. This conclusion of yours does not at all reflect our feelings. Obviously, Mr. Johnson's is an extreme viewpoint, as you note yourself. His words, regardless of whether they were intended to or not, commit the offenses you accuse us of perpetrating.

Our post simply presents Mr. Johnson's words, and notes the contrast between his words and the heroes that gave their lives fighting for his voting rights. We offered nothing more and nothing less.

In any event, we agree wholeheartedly that the loudest voice in the Black community, not only on election day, but also over the past few months, has been silence. We intend to opine on this conclusion as soon as hard data is available from the Board of Elections. We have never presented the opinion that the Black community in Durham is in love with Mike Nifong. I believe that is an accusation we have reserved for Bob Ashley.

Your assessment that we speak only from the perspective of outsiders is also an unfair conclusion that you draw on your own. Nearly half of our number currently reside, or have resided in Durham. We are not unfamiliar with the community, nor with the circumstances and sentiments you cite as examples.

Your suggestion that we cannot attack Black racism, while leaving White racism alone is duly noted. To that end, we have been diligent, on both the blog, and our message board to delete the hateful messages posted in both directions. In fairness, please accept and acknowledge that LieStoppers does not condone race bashing or baiting in any direction on the pages of the blog.

Quite frankly, as is pertinent to the discussion of the Hoax, LieStoppers is inundated daily with messages of hatred and bigotry mostly in one direction, and thus we respond accordingly. A day has not passed over the past three months without me being called a racist, either by comments on this blog, or via email. On a personal level, these vile accusations have given rise to considerable introspection.

Admittedly, in my nearly forty years on this earth, I have never been exposed to racism and bigotry so directly. Whether by willful ignorance or protective parenting, I have treaded this world oblivious to the reality that racism is alive and real. For me, racial hatred has been a notation in a History book, an oddity limited to extremist and terrorists, and not a deep seeded reality surrounding me. While I now understand that my perspective was naive, to say the least, the awakening compels me to examine this racism and bigotry. Given the context of the current injustice that I feel equally compelled to speak out against, this examination is very finely tuned.

Cash, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I've never been exposed to racism or bigotry. No Hispanic in this country lives their life without some exposure to it. Realistically, though, it has been mild. Sure, I've been called "nigger" and "spic" on occassion. But, I can recall only one instance as a child when those words were uttered while being physically assailed (I still wear proudly, 28 years later, the scar on my forehead from that one incident) and one other occasion when a rock with a note, as vile as those hurled now by email in reverse, was thrown through our window. But those random occasions have been few and far between. Not only have they been random, but they've also been long past and mild in comparison to what we witness now.

For the most part, my experience as a minority has been uneventful and positive. I have never once felt impeded or hindered by my heritage or the color of my skin. I find it difficult to imagine that my perspective is unique although I do concede that my Anglo last name and, relatively, light complexion might be a factor. I am proud of my heritage, do not apologize for attending a university on a minority scholarship and intend to continue to speak from the perspective that racism and bigotry, in any direction, is an extreme, to be chastised, and not the norm to be accepted or feared.

I do not see the world through race colored glasses and struggle to understand those who do. For this reason and the relevancy to the Hoax, I find myself compelled to examine further the complexities of the blatant racism as expressed by individuals such as Mr. Johnson and community leaders in the context of the Hoax. I am aghast at the deception that has fueled the Hoax and firmly believe that, in no small part, the fears and preconceptions of segments within the Black community of Durham have been preyed upon. With this in mind, I fully intend to continue my examination of racism from the perspective of a minority who is offended by other minorities saddled by their own hatred, and those who seek to advantage themselves of such.

You may choose to argue against me in this regard, or you may decide to continue to offer direction and advice, or you may opt to join me in crossing this divide. Regardless of what you decide, my path remains firm. In any event, I do sincerely appreciate your response and will be pleased to make it available to our readers.

Best regards,

Philip Wood