I sent this letter to Gary Frago today-please feel free to copy it and email it to Mr. Frago yourself at:
gfrago@atwater.org
“Mr. Gary Frago,
I am deeply concerned and hurt about the revelation of your
racist actions and unpatriotic leanings. Your complacence in the face of society’s worst
tendencies shows a lack of moral strength and a vacuum of judgment.
After you have participated in such slander and hate-language, you have compromised your ability to serve America in worthy fashion. America is the land of the free and home of the brave-not a country where we can allow racist actions from our leaders.
“Out of many, one.” Says my dollar. America has always and will continue to flourish because of our rich heritage. Your actions reflect an unpatriotic vision of America, one that would never be able to survive.
We true Americans and people of faith know that all God’s people are beautiful, worthy of dignity, and deserve equal treatment under law.
I am a California resident, Christian, and patriot. Our country deserves better than
your being complicit in racist messages. Atwater governance must assure that all of its officials can readily serve all Californians.
I am requesting that you step down from your position immediately and that a full apology and commitment to racial justice be made by Atwater’s government. We Californians need to know that Atwater is ready to serve all Americans without bigotry and prejudice so as to not stand in the way of justice and equal treatment under law.”
Frago’s contact information:
Gary Frago
City Council Member
750 Bellevue Road
Atwater, CA 95301
209-357-6300
209-357-6302
Joan Faul, Atwater’s Mayor Contact Info:
Joan Faul
Mayor
750 Bellevue Road
Atwater, CA 95301
209-357-6300
209-357-6302
jfaul@atwater.org
July 17, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Great letter.
July 17, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Here is the email address of Atwater’s Chamber of Commerce. Who wants to visit a town where their family, friends, and loved ones aren’t welcomed warmly by the leadership?
chamber@atwaterchamberofcommerce.org
When vacation money is tight, its going to go to a place where all people are welcomed.
chamber@atwaterchamberofcommerce.org
July 18, 2009 at 1:10 am
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/180/story/957192.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwxq=1321265#Comments_Container
July 18, 2009 at 1:16 am
An open letter to Atwater Chamber of Commerce:
Dear Atwater Chamber of Commerce:
I and many thousands of others are looking to the brightest of
Atwater’s leaders to quickly rectify the actions of Gary Frago.
Having a town’s official openly and unapologetically engage in racist actions does not bode
well for a city’s tourism and business.
Please use your power, influence, social networking to achieve these goals:
A) The immediate release of Gary Frago from his duties and responsibilities or at minimum placed on suspension until this can be achieved.
B) Joan Faul make an official statement of redress to Americans of color, and assurance that all peoples are welcome to visit and spend their hard earned dollars within Atwater.
C) An investigation into other city officials who may have also passed along racially derogatory emails with the intent of disciplinary action.
We know that Frago is not representative of Atwater or the businesses therein. However, as of today the silence from normal
governmental sources is deafening and we must leverage moral and faithful business people of Atwater to make change.
July 19, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Ryan, I don’t agree with Frago’s actions, but since when is it the responsibility of one town to be “ready to serve all Americans without bigotry and prejudice to stand in the way of justice and equal treatment under the law”? The next time “all Americans” come to my town, then so be it, but until then, the rest of “you” Californians need to know no such thing.
And besides, I think what you SHOULD have written was, “ready to serve all Americans without bigotry and prejudice SO AS NOT to stand in the way of justice and equal treatment under the law,” because what you DID write makes no sense.
July 20, 2009 at 10:42 am
Jim:
Thanks for your comment! A lot of people have been looking at mindflowers’ posts about Mr. Frago which makes me think that our activity here is but a small representation of great national attention.
So thank you for taking the time to comment!
Of course ‘race’ (though an arbitrary social construct) remains a giant basis for injustice and all levels of violence in our nation. As it has been said, ‘race does not exist, but racism does’. This being the situation in our nation and world, there is much non-violent and righteous justice making to be done.
In my haste to place my voice among those struggling for racial justice, I wrote some odd sounding (if not ungrammatical) sentences.
I had meant to convey that while bigotry and prejudice are allowed to exist in our leaders unexamined and opposed, law and justice are endangered. I have updated the post to reflect your correction. Thank you.
I am sorry again if I was unclear about the way I perceive Atwater’s responsibilities. I do not see Atwater as unique in the requisite ability of their adhering to American law. I believe that all cities are held under the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This way, no matter who may visit Atwater, decide to work and live there, or worship there, etc., they may rest assured that they will not be in an environment that is hostile to them based on their religion, skin color, abilities, etc.
We as a nation have been through the crucible to bring consistency and law throughout the Union. Laws that reflected local and state cultures of injustice (Jim Crow) were struck down in the spirit of all Americans being fully free no matter where they traveled.
Frago’s actions are the sort that threaten justice. When an environment of hostility is allowed within a city’s leadership, I would argue that it begins a movement away from the Constitution that our soldiers swear to protect.
It has begun to not only be about Frago’s actions. Atwater’s website as of Monday July 20th has no statement (at least that was readily accessible-I searched but could not find anything). So there has been a silence (or perceived silence) from Atwater that certainly is appearing to not take seriously the racially hurtful actions of Frago.
That is where you and I come in, Jim. Not just you and I, but people of good conscience from all over the States and world. We can end racial injustice-I believe that truly. It will only require that we go beyond not agreeing with those who misuse power and speak back with peaceful action to those in power. This means broad grassroots alliances, motivating faith communities, boycotts, letters and phone calls, etc.
Judging by the traffic our Atwater posts have been getting, there are many who are participating in the struggle. For this I am glad. However, I am wary too. I spoke with Atwater’s City Government switchboard while I called to speak with Mayor Faul and I was told that they have been receiving hateful calls. This breaks my heart. The operator I spoke to was kind, polite, and sympathetic to my message. I apologized for the hateful tone of calls they had received. Hate, vitriol, and impatience has no place in justice work. Love, compassion and righteous hope do however.
I am also wary because this is not about Frago singly. There are systems of injustice in place and while we must react to individual’s actions, we must keep the culture of white privilege and racial discrimination in sight.
Again, I write out of a spirit of hope. I wish not to sound condemnatory towards Frago, Mayor Faul, the people of Atwater, nor anyone else. I write with hope that good will come from this situation.
So I thank you again, Jim for your comment. I hope that though the letters of my message may at times be imprecise, the spirit of my message is clear.
Yours, Ryan McGivern
July 21, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Ryan,
Your thorough response to this matter, coming from a resident served by and belonging to the Atwater community is insightful. Although I’m not a member of your immediate community, I am a citizen of California, and have lived in both the large urban centers of the state and in the agricultural areas of the San Joaquin Valley.
What prompted me to respond was your concern about “Democrats’” hypocrisy regarding Frago. I didn’t know Mr. Frago was or wasn’t a Democrat, nor do I care, but I do know that these kinds of ugly, racist comments and mailings have often come from the most conservative members of the Republican Party. Sorry, but it’s true.
I would hope that as a member of the Atwater community you will do the responsible thing and press for Mr. Frago’s resignation or dismissal from the city council. No matter what political party he claims membership in, he is NOT a positive, constructive respresentative for Atwater.
July 21, 2009 at 3:11 pm
My apologies, Ryan. My comment/response was meant for Jim Kayser’s comment, not yours! Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
July 20, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Hello Ryan:
Thank you for taking the time for a thoughtful response. This whole issue is really getting under my skin (no pun intended), but for entirely different reasons.
One, it is painting my home area in a bad light. I do not actually live within the city limits of the City of Atwater, but I do have an Atwater address. Regardless, our whole area is being branded as an area full of redneck, racist, backcountry hillbilly fools, and that is just not true. My wife and children included (and myself, for that matter), we have a wonderfully diverse, ethnically rich population.
Two, I have seen literally hundreds of posts on message board after message board that absolutely slander conservatives in general, Republicans specifically (I am partially the former, but not the latter) over this, and again, that is just not true. Frago is a Democrat!!! What hypocrites! Once it is pointed out that Frago is a Dem and not a Repub, it’s AMAZING how quickly the polical affiliation issue suddenly is no longer an issue at all (as it shouldn’t be).
Even more hypocritically … how about this statement: “They ALL look like that”. Sounds like something you think Frago would have said about blacks, doesn’t it? (And by the way, sorry, but I don’t do political correctness. If black people are African Americans, then I’m a European American, and I’m sorry, but that’s just plain stupid. We’re all AMERICANS, dammit) Well, try this on for size: “They ALL look like that” is something I have read on at least THREE different occasions on different message boards regarding Frago and Republicans (again, mistaking the fact that Frago is a Republican rather than the Democrat that he is). These people are so damn pious, and yet they are no better than the prejudiced bigots they so caustically lambast! Again, HYPOCRITICAL!
This whole issue has darn near consumed me since I read about it last Friday. I was up until nearly 4 a.m. last night reading through message boards, trying when possible to at least slightly defend my home turf. Damn Gary Frago for the shame and ridicule he has brought upon my town, and damn the piss-ant liberal Democrats for their misplaced, and oftentimes bigoted, statements.
July 21, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Please see above, I mistakenly posted my response to your comments under Ryan’s comments instead. My apologies.
July 21, 2009 at 8:28 am
Jim:
You’ve hit the nail right on the head, as far as I see it.
I am sorry that like you’ve said, one person’s actions are being taken to be reflective of a town’s spirit. To that, I would challenge folks who are slandering Atwater’s populace by asking them where the emails Frago sent went. Did the emails come from and go only within the city limits?
But folks do like to finger point. Its my feeling that when folks choose a city or group of people (Republican, ‘conservatives’) to blame, they may be motivated by a want to feel exempted from their own junk. (There’s a saying about one’s own ‘plank in their eye’ I think is insightful. Judging others frees us from having to face the monsters in our own closet.)
The folks who are on the message boards pointing fingers at ‘conservatives’ (another largely arbitrary social tag) or Republicans are far from the mark and are not helping anyone.
The saddest part of that kind of messaging is that the systems of racism escape unchallenged.
I will also say that from my experience and from what I have heard from justice seeking people of color, ‘white liberalism’ often operates as a fly in the ointment. What I mean by that is that white folks from the middle class who have the right bumper stickers and inflated senses of importance can often look on from a safe distance (and down from their high horses) at injustice and work counter to their stated aims. White liberalism may be present in the Frago outrage we see in the message boards: people who will play the ‘shame, shame!’ and ‘blame game’ and end up acting just as callous and bigoted as the folks they are judging. I feel that if just a quarter of those white middle class folks who are up in arms about racial justice actually committed to solidarity and alliance with people of color, we’d have a different kind of world.
(I’m sorry I’m on a tangent…)
Anywho, I and other sensible people that Frago does not represent Atwater. He made bad decisions and he should be personally held responsible for them. I wish him the best-which means I hope that compassion and understanding will come to him and he will join our cause for justice. I also hope that the leadership of Atwater will separate themselves clearly from his actions, and use their influence to make the best of this situation. The eyes of tens of thousands are looking to them (Faul, City Council, etc) to see how they will redeem this series of events. Rather than the glare of false piety, I pray that the true indefatigable light of justice will shine from us all.
Thanks again Jim for writing and for your input!
Yours, Ryan McGivern
July 28, 2009 at 8:28 am
Mr. Frago apologized and claims he’s not a racisit. He did not create the tarnished e-mails, just sent them off as humor. Can we not laugh at ourselves? Those in public office must rise to a higher standard. Nixon saw Watergate as a 3rd rate burglary gone awry, and believed it was just his enemies using it to get him. Wrong, it was the cover up. Mr. Frago needs to be more repentent than an apology. Does he really see what is wrong with these jokes degrading fellow mankind even in humor? Besides an apology, he needs to take an active role in crusading against such jokes being sent on the internet. That would show he really understands his actions, not just words.
July 28, 2009 at 11:37 am
Thanks for writing Al!
We appreciate your comment. I really agree with your statement “Those in public office must rise to a higher standard.”
I will ask: How did not only Frago but all of Atwater’s officials react? Did they react slowly, or not at all? Their actions (or inaction) will be reflected next election cycle, I am sure.
Like Edmund Burke said, all evil needs is for good people to do nothing. I feel as you do, that apologies are empty if not backed up by actions of good conscience and solidarity.
I believe that if Frago and Atwater’s officials commit to standing against oppressions associated with race and class, they will chang Atwater for the better. And they themselves will most likely be transformed in positive ways.
Thanks for your comment, Al. I hope that religious leaders in Atwater share your feelings and activate their faith communities to confront racism in all its forms in Atwater.
The healing in Atwater will take a long time. It will be a process. I pray that we will stay strong and stay with this story to redeem what has been such a hurtful series of events.
Yours, Ryan McGivern
July 28, 2009 at 9:07 am
Mr. Frago,
What an embarrassment Mr. Frago is as our politicaL representative. I can’t beleive that the rest of the city council isn’t demanding his resignation. It makes it appear that they also have their heads in the sand. What a pity to the citizens of Atwater. Mr. Frago’s apology isn’t enough and neither is the letter of disapproval from the city council the only thing that will make a difference is if the council demands his resignation. It makes one wonder what type of representatives do we have in our city council as he is a reflection of this board.
July 28, 2009 at 11:28 am
Thanks for writing, D. Apodaca.
I’ve been reading on racial justice recently and the most common theme is how ‘apology’ is not enough. This is not to say that I believe that Mr. Frago was insincere, but I do believe that the pain and trauma inflicted in others’ hearts will not be rectified or ameliorated by words alone.
I must also say that Mr. Frago himself most likely is still in need of healing. For one to have such a blind and hardened heart as to pass along emails of that nature says something about his stance in the world. Without psychoanalyzing him it seems plain that his stance in the world is one of disharmony.
Yes, I agree with you. His resignation would have been preferable. Aside from that, pressure or legal process from the City Council would have been also helpful.
Our nation will never achieve the greatness our Founding Fathers intended if such actions as demonstrated by Frago are met with shrugs, shallow words, and such passivity of our elected officials.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll be working on a post about racial justice soon-
With thanks, Ryan McGivern