LET’R RIP

Price: The Readers Testify



Kudos to Laura Miller for her thoroughly professional investigative piece on John Wiley Price (“The Hustler,” March). There was not one ounce of malice in the article, only a factual representation of arrogant, unbridled bigotry.

John Wiley Price’s greatest fear is a colorblind society. His self-serving ambition depends on the fires of racism burning out of control, enabling him to replace reason with irrational and dangerous behavior. Price is among the 97 percent of politicians who make it lough on the 3 percent who are honest.

I find it amazing that various Dallas media, which supposedly have crackerjack investigative shock troops, have exhibited cowardice in investigating Price.

Thank you, Laura Miller and D Magazine

C. C. RlSENHOOVER

HENDERSON STATE UNIVERSITY

ARKADELPHIA, ARK.



At last someone has the guts to stand up and let it all hang out regarding John Wiley Price. It seems in the past his exploits have been suppressed by the press. Laura Miller deserves the respect and support of all Dallas County residents for her outstanding courage in reporting his actions. This should open the eyes of his many supporters to the fact that he isn’t faultless. D Magazine should continue to give no haven to the ones who cross the line.

R. L. MOORE

AVERY



Ruth Fitzgibbons’s Editor’s Note was greatly appreciated and the perfect complement to the well-written article on John Wiley Price by Laura Miller. The issue epitomized the role of a city magazine.

The clearly stated allegations were the focus of the story. This presentation was in contrast to the Robert Crandall and Glenn Box articles which received so much intense criticism, not from the allegations but from the snide and hateful style which overshadowed the material. Such sophomoric innuendo will always bring superficial complaints. Your “painstakingly documented” stories in the March issue should only bring constructive challenges and dramatic dialogue.

Your brave and honest examination of an explosive subject is inspirational when so many of the other sectors of the community are running for cove

DOUGLAS NEW

DALLAS



This man seems to have held police, media, politicians, and the public in fear by intimidation. His constant threat to cry out “racism” when it suits his own purpose seems to be holding truth and justice as well as freedom of speech to anyone (excluding him and his supporters) out of reach.

The city of Dallas and its people owe you a debt of gratitude for your journalistic integrity and determination to assist in providing the information necessary to keep them informed of the complete story.

ANN ROBERTS

DESOTO



Laura Miller’s name on the cover was enough for me to buy my first D Magazine. But her hard-hitting, venomous style was noticeably absent from her article on John Wiley Price. It was as if she drank from M.C. Hammer’s Coca-Cola. I guess she saves her Pepsi-Colas for articles on the police, Ross Perot, and North Dallas. A story needs the writer’s style; else no matter how exciting the material, it falls flat.

CLINTON R. STONE

PLANO



Laura Miller did some unique research for this article and there is no need to doubt the veracity of this writing, as the content has clarified issues that go back a few years in several sectors of importance, one being in engineering by minority companies. When our troops are through in Iraq they should come to Dallas for our equivalent of Saddam Hussein.

JIM MORRIS

PLANO



If I were rich, I would buy and send copies of D Magazine to every black man, woman, and child who believes John Wiley Price is their friend, savior, and Martin Luther King clone so they can read he is instead their enemy, user, and all-time cad.

Laura Miller’s story is a classic. Her expose really worried me in that I couldn’t imagine one man doing so much harm to so many people without retaliation. How can one man frighten so many into silence for so long?

The man is not only anti-white but anti-black too. I don’t even think he likes himself. Who could?

CLAIRE B. PUTNICKI

DALLAS



I realize that you are in the advertising business and selling your magazines increases the value of those advertisements. However, I can’t help but think there is yet another reason for printing such a malicious and obvious attempt to destroy the well-earned credibility of Mr. Price, thereby helping to preserve and secure the racism and white supremacy that Dallas is in such fear of losing.

You knew Commissioner Price would sue! And you are apparently prepared to suffer the consequences. My question to you is: “Who is financing this blatant butcher job, the legal fees, and the potential settlement that you are so aptly prepared to pay, and why?”

I submit to you that Commissioner Price is the one who was raped, by your magazine. And your magazine is the true hustler.

P. BLACKWELL

DALLAS



D Magazine’s sales must be at an all-time low. You will stop at nothing and stoop to anything to rectify your problem. This is merely symptomatic of an already existing illness here in Dallas. That illness is racism, and rather than being a part of the solution, you choose to contribute to the problem.

You preface your article with David Fox and his grief over the loss of Commissioner Price. Who is David Fox? I do not have any idea as to who he is, reason being, he has never done anything for me. However, when I needed help at my place of employment due to harassment, Commissioner Price was there. When my daughter needed someone to speak to her organization at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, not once but twice, Commissioner Price was there. When I was offended by WFAA and did not know where to turn, Commissioner Price was there. The list goes on and on. Many times I have been in the presence of the commissioner alone and have never felt threatened or uncomfortable. Quite the contrary, the commissioner is a gentleman at ait times. Even on the picket lines his concern is for the safety of his African-American sisters. We always feel respected and protected.

CASSANDRA MIMS

DALLAS



I sincerely hope Commissioner Price sues your magazine for every dime you all have. The audacity of your racist magazine to publish such rubbish and try to discredit Mr. Price simply because you feel that he is a threat to the white power structure in this city! You soon forget that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was treated the same way, and you all killed him.

If you think that black people in this city are as stupid as the article written by Laura Miller, then you all are blind, crippled, and crazy.

Miller must have not done any serious investigating into Mr. Price because the only person that truly knows a black man is the black woman who washes his dirty drawers and sleeps in his bed at night. Laura Miller, are you one of these women? If not, shut up or put up.

Even if Mr. Price is guilty of any of these allegations, is this any more wrong than the whites robbing the S&L industry blind? You created Watergate. You enslaved black people for well over 300 years. We worked without a day’s pay. Will you pay black people for this? Hell no, because white people have always been thieves and will continue to do so.

LINDA HODGE

DALLAS



Images of black men as rapists, as dangerous menaces to society, have been sensational cultural currency for some time. The obsessive media focus on these representations is political. Your article is no exception. The role it plays in the maintenance of racist domination is to convince the public that black men are a dangerous threat who must be controlled by any means necessary, including annihilation.

Why do white people, especially feminist white women, feel better when black people, especially black women, disassociate themselves from the plight of black men in white supremacist capitalist patriarchy to emphasize opposition to black male “hustling?”

People should learn how to distinguish between hostile critique that is about “trashing” and critique that’s about illuminating and enriching our understanding. As a native of Dallas, loyal Cowboys fan, and alumnus of St. Mark’s School of Texas, I am moved by that style, vision, and, yes, even “death-wish” as you call it, of John Wiley Price.

REV. MICHAEL W. WALKER

ADMINISTRATIVE MINISTER

MESSIAH BAPTIST CHURCH

BROCKTON, MASS.



As a somewhat recent transplant from the East, I’m not that familiar with Dallas politics, but it’s hard not to notice how segregated the area is and how pervasive racial tensions are in this city. It’s sad, though, to find that people are rallying behind a sleaze like John Wiley Price.

ORNA SAMUELLY

DALLAS



I have personally watched John Wiley Price’s personality fracture over the six years I have been attending commissioners’ court meetings on county juvenile matters. So many African-Americans say that he does not speak for them, and it is high time that these people are represented by a sensitive approach to race relations. Hopefully, your article will lead to his replacement.

JEAN ANN HOLT

Dallas



Sensitivity Training



It would be an understatement to say that Betty Culbreath’s choice of words (“The Hustler,” March) sent shock waves through the Jewish community and probably hit a nerve in many other people. To say that John Wiley Price will “Jew ’em down” when describing his negotiating style, offends all who believe that stereotyping, slurs, and the like are to be combatted in all ways, verbal language included.

Incidents such as this remind us that an affront to one group is an affront to all groups. It makes it that much more surprising to hear of such a remark from one who should be especially sensitive.

BARBARA N. LEE

JEWISH COMMUNITY

RELATIONS COUNCIL

Dallas



Betty Culbreath’s use of the racial slur “Jew ’em down” shows how deeply racism is embedded in our society. Assuming she shares her boss’s sensitivity to these issues, it is surprising and sad that she would use this expression without examining its implications. Does she honestly think this is an acceptable synonym for “bargained?”

B. RACHEL SCHULSON

Dallas



It sure seems awfully niggardly of John Wiley Price to try to “Jew everybody down” on everything he tries to buy, but I guess that is how he makes that commissioner’s salary go so far.

MARCH. RICHMAN

DALLAS



The word “Jew” means a person who worships one God or is of Jewish descent. “Jew” is not a verb, nor is it an adjective to describe unethical or cheap behavior.

I am equally offended when I hear any derogatory term used for African-Americans to describe someone who is lazy or uneducated. I’m sure Ms. Culbreath would agree.

CAMILLE WARE KRESS

Dallas



Passion And Ignorance



I was puzzled by Chris Tucker’s sudden, flippant backpedaling at the end of his otherwise outstanding commentary on Shelby Steele’s book, The Content of Our Character (“America: Guilty as Charged?,” March). In case nobody noticed, he wrapped up with a couple of dazzling cliches and a lame joke: “We need a national town meeting. We need thoughtful, bold leadership. Somebody call Ted Koppel.” It was as though, having caught himself in the midst of a sincere and intelligent moment of reflection, Tucker was suddenly embarrassed and compelled to disown the whole piece. Don’t take this seriously, guys, I’m really a cynic at heart. To be intelligent and care is definitely not in fashion; it points to a kind of wimpishness that could probably get you excluded from all the best parties. Meanwhile we leave it to the ignorant to be passionate about things, and run the country as they see fit.

SARITO CAROL NEIMAN

Dallas



Meeeowwww!



I found the perfect place for Steve Reed’s article “Cat-22,” March. I ripped it up and put it in our cats’ litter box.

JENENE M. JUSTICE

DALLAS