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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER
The views, opinions, and commentary expressed in the Badger Flats Gazette
are solely those of Gene Forte and do not necessarily reflect the views
and opinions of Badger Flats, LLC. Forte
is currently a plaintiff in the case of Forte vs. Monterey Herald, et
al., Case No. C06-03948-JW, Forte
v. Lichtenegger, M70711 & M58208.
Back Issues are available for $10.00 plus postage by calling
(209) 829-1116, or write P.O. Box 989, Los Banos, CA, 93635.
Copyright 2009 The Badger Flats Gazette.
All rights reserved. Material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without
written permission.
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Tuesday,
August 11, 2009 Mr.
Julian Bond, Chairman NAACP 4805
Mt. Hope Drive Baltimore,
MD 21215 Re:
Troubling Racism/Double Standards Dear
Mr. Bond:
I write this letter to introduce myself and regrettably a very troubling
and disturbing matter of national importance that we hopefully can resolve very
quickly and amicably. I am being
called a racist publicly by Mr. Corey Pride, of the Los Banos
Enterprise/McClatchy Newspapers to support the statement of African American
Mayor Tommy Jones saying that he knew for a fact that I was a dangerous member
of the Ku Klux Klan.
My name is Gene Forte and I am of Italian/Portuguese descent from a small
country town, Los Banos near Atwater, California in Merced County.
Atwater Councilman Gary Frago has been publicly chastised and resigned as
Pro-tem Mayor due to his forwarding emails with words ascribed to be racist
comments. It has been a national
news story.
I personally have been a member of a black family from Queens, New York
for forty years. Mr. George
Galloway, Sr. held me in his arms on Thanksgiving Day when the news came that my
father had died of a sudden heart attack in California.
The Galloway brothers, Carl, Tommy, Elliot, Clinton, and Glenn with their
sister Lois have always considered me one of their brothers.
Clinton was my best man when I wed my Chinese American wife twenty years ago.
Carl passed away in my arms in April 2008.
It was both my honor and privilege to be the one by his side.
I have never met a man that I truly respected and loved more than Carl.
You will find attached a memorial piece I wrote about Carl called, “Angel
Whispers,” and published in my publication, the Badger Flats Gazette.
With the above as a foundation, I now inform you that I had announced at
the Los Banos City Council meeting on August 5th, 2009 that I was
forwarding a package of information to Mr. Jon Grissom of the Los Banos NAACP.
Within the package was a DVD of excerpts from several Los Banos City
Council meetings whereat discussion took place about my saying the “N” word
and in what context it was said. The
City Council voted to expend legal fees for the City attorney to research
issuing a public condemnation of my purported racist act.
Councilman Manuel Tom Faria said that he had been contacted by members of
the NAACP that told him he was on the “right track” for seeking public
condemnation of me. I have requested
for the City Attorney to provide the names of the NAACP reprsentatives so that I
may speak with them.
The cover letter within the package to Mr. Grissom explained that I
wished for the NAACP to review the material and the context in how I had used
the ‘N’ word. I also requested
the NAACP to determine that I was not a racist from both my writings (Ex.
#11: The Cookie Crumbles),
and the way I have and do live my life. I
have declared publicly that in many ways I was closer to my black brothers than
my Italian/Portuguese brothers.
I asked the NAACP to use the same scale of justice that they did Atwater
Councilman Gary Frago. Frago is a
public official who forwarded emails with racist comments and for such; he was
publicly chastised and forced into a very uncomfortable position.
Mayor Jones, a much higher public official, has stated that he knew for a
fact that I (a citizen) was a dangerous member of the racist group the KKK and
he said it to another black man, Mr. Clinton Galloway, that has filed a
sworn declaration under penalty of perjury.
Why did Jones tell such a lie that he knew to be false?
It was because I, as the publisher of the Badger Flats Gazette wrote
about his arrest for crack cocaine in 1999 when he was a city councilman.
I broke the
story about Jones breaking FPPC disclosure laws by not disclosing loans
from a major real estate developer, Mr. Greg Hostetler, and then voting on
annexation of Hostetler’s property.
Today, the
package from the NAACP was returned to me unopened.
It had been received at their P.O. Box, and then refused.
I have every reason to believe that Mr. Grissom had become aware of the
contents of the package and my request, and in order to skirt the issue, sent it
back.
Not a very good thing to do at all….not at all.
Therefore, I am delivering the letter and its attachments directly to you
so that you can bring resolution to this grave and somewhat defining moment for
the NAACP. From the reading of your
bio, it would certainly seem that you could appreciate my position as a person
that is willing to take the knocks (literally) to speak the truth.
You will see I sincerely believe in going the extra mile and have stood
away from the crowd many times. I
have always been a defender of the rights of black people.
I hope the NAACP will stand up for me now, and let my adversaries know,
although they are African Americans, that I am not a racist and Mayor Jones and
Mr. Corey Pride should be held publicly accountable by the NAACP as they did
Atwater Councilman Gary Frago.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to dialogue between either you or
your assistant as soon as possible. Sincerely,
Enclosures: V is for Recall (Truncated edition of the article “Angel Whispers” distributed at July 1st,
2009 City
Copy of the returned priority mail package showing that it was refused. Letter and its attachments sent to the NAACP (previously in the care of Mr. Grissom of the
Los Banos, California office which he refused.)
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