President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington DC 20500 September 14, 2012 Mr.

Albert L. Reum PO Box 1014 New Town ND, 58763 Dear President Barack Obama, I am writing to you as my President. I say this because I voted for you in the first term and intend to vote for your reelection. I imagine I am among many similar persons by doing so. However, I had never voted in any presidential election previously. President Obama, I voted for you as my president because you spoke the truth I know which I have never heard publically expressed by a President in my 56 years of life. Sir, I am a multi racial person who is also member of a federally recognized American Indian tri be. Though I possess a fair complexion, I never knew a Caucasian relative until a pleasant but un expected meeting this year. My point is I have not been a person who has personally known entit lements or inclusion. As an American Indian, I have rarely seen justice from the colonial entities who have raped, pillaged and continue to occupy and control all aspects of the original lands and people. I find I do have rights and opportunities according to some American laws. Strangely enough, th ose rights and opportunities vanish into thin air the moment I try to access them. Sir, I know you have a number of books published. The title Dreams from my Father is lovely even though I o nly possess a cursory knowledge of the content. Sir, I nor my immediate and extended family has never been able to realize dreams. My father, my Grandfathers and back to the generations forci bly placed at the point of a gun on Indian Reservations and through to the present generation, hav e not been able or allowed to realize their own dreams let alone the American Dream; for all inte nts and purposes many have given up hope. Then you came along, and to reference another of your book titles, a few of us found The Auda city of Hope again stir in our hearts. That is why you are chosen personally as my President Sir, you know my pain, you know of the broken hearts, minds and lives of those disenfranchised and marginalized seemingly in perpetuity. As you first campaigned for president, my youngest son, then 18, came down with the blood can cer known as Leukemia, you gave me the audacity to hope with the promise of your health care p rogram. Sir that is why you are my president; a man with a heart that knows and demonstrates co
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mpassionate help fellow human beings in need. Some of my peers and cohorts were cynical calli ng me naive saying that you were yet another disingenuous politician pandering to his base. I def ended you Sir because you showed me the bridge to the audacity of hope, because you Sir are m y President. My son received fantastic and benevolent care in Minneapolis, recovered and is now designated as cured. Unfortunately the stress of the health ordeal with my son and other difficult ies resulted in the disintegration of my twenty six year marriage and family. Mr. President, another book title from your writings is Change We can Believe in. Sir, because you are my President, you have given me the audacity to hope and dream that was previously ag ainst all odds, but I am uncertain of believing that America and Americans can or will chang e. The reason I am uncertain sir is the purpose of writing you. I apologize in advance Sir for both ering you with a situation that is largely insignificant in the scope of your duties as President of t he United States of America. But the essence of your core ethics, perhaps your soul, I believe wil l tell you why I bring this issue to you. I live in a Red State at present. The consensus here is largely that of your political foes and cha racterized by the variations of their mocking mantra Keep the Change. I was recently employe d by government defense contractor, Northrop Grumman at their New Town North Dakota site. Circumstances led me to apply for the only position available, a janitor. It was and is the lowest p aying job and the position with the least status in the plant. Frankly, I had never envisioned myse lf working for an employer integrally related to the federal government before. My President, the Commander and Chief that never existed in my life until your arrival in the White House Sir, ga ve me the audacity to think I could succeed in such an environment. My willingness to serving in any patriotic form had never existed until you, as my President, came along. It soon became apparent that some peoples regard for my position was nil and fell into the social stratification usually reserved for losers. Overhearing conversations and interactions with other e mployees confirmed this mindset. This work environment was no surprise to me as Natives are r elegated statistically to the lowest on all scales and measures in America. The centuries long opp ressive methods visited upon natives in the Machiavellian colonization of our minds, lives, childr en and lands generally forcibly placed us, marginalized us in menial positions to fill the needs of farmers and to serve as cannon fodder in American wars. My work ethic is strong, in my employment with Northrop Grumman I persevered regardless of what fictitious agendas and identities people tried to put upon me. I persevered regardless of mali cious, slanderous attempts to vilify and demonize by management and unknown figures. My wo rk at Northrop Grumman resulted in a level of performance that accomplished janitorial duties th at literally had been neglected and over looked for years. I received formal recognition for my w ork from my peers. I received accolades, thanks and praise from a handful of appreciative co-wor kers and lower management. I was not tardy nor absent; I worked overtime several weeks to kee p up moral and assisting production by maintaining a well cared for working/production area. I w

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as only a janitor but forth honest effort. I was cordial with my relationships with co-workers. Still there were problems; I was a laughing stock of sorts and management fanned the flames into hostility by printing letters that were targeted to expressly humiliate myself and the shift I worke d on. These publications occurred on three different occasions. As well I was accused of being a sexual deviant which was soon proven absolutely false with no apology forthcoming. My immediate supervisor, Rodger Schroder, told me I had to be on the winning side and invisibl e. What is the winning side; not Natives in this country! I am all ready invisible! When it comes t ime to recognize, promote or reward, I am unseen. My immediate supervisor is of German decen t as are his other employees. In fact, the area is flooded with generally Aryan peoples. How so? I n the 1920s and around the time the Klu Klux Klan came into existence, the pseudo science of E ugenics which declared Peoples of Aryan nations as being superior imbued with the qualit ies that would create a superior citizenry1. This racist, false science was used to validate a nu mber of ghastly and evil policies such as the involuntary sterilization of minority persons and tho se deemed to be inferior e.g. mental illnesses, poverty stricken etcetera. Later prominent America n figures and giants of Industry supported and promoted Eugenics not only here but also internati onally with the country that would soon become Nazi Germany2. Mr. President, I tried to rise above the bigotry and stigma of being a janitor by applying for a diff erent job at Northrop Grumman which required a college degree. Sir, I have two degrees with al most a perfect GPA. Others previously and presently seated in the same position have no degree at all. I am in the top 8% nationally of natives in educational achievement. President Obama, the jobs with superiority in pay and status are located in an area physically seg regated from the basic menial workers. Sir, the jobs with superiority in pay and status are hel d by Caucasians with one exception. There were two identical positions open that I applied for. These positions were subsequently filled by Caucasians. In talking with long time employees afte rwards, they recall one employee of color in the forty plus years of the existence of the North Da kota Northrop Grumman plant and never a Black person. It seems odd that in the past and certain ly the present economy that not one qualified applicant of color met the job criteria. Mr. President, I eventually was forced to leave my position at Northrop Grumman North Dakota Site. The indignities, the arrogance directed towards me, left little other choice. I was granted an opportunity to speak with the sites management after I left. In that meeting I communicated their actions as Benevolent Racism3. My description of the elephant in the living room of the North
The Nordics propagate themselves successfully. With other races, the outcome suggests that observance of ethn ic law is as great a necessity to a nation as immigration law. President Calvin Cooledge (1925). Facing History and Ourselves - copyright 1997 2012. 2 The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics Edwin Black History News Network. http://hnn.us/articles/
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Blatant, explicit racism in much of the world is now relatively rare. But more subtle modern racism does exi st, whereby people may hold overtly egalitarian attitudes and values while at the same time unconsciously h

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rop Grumman offices was not well accepted. Previously when I expressed concern that my boss and others in his charge may be racist, the Director of Human Resources, Julie Roehrich, stated t hat my speculation was unfounded. I asked Ms. Roehrich if she knew the dictionary definition of racism. She did not reply in a timely manner and I gave her that definition. I am certain that Ms. Roehrich is very proficient wearing her hat in office duties and knows better the administrative p rotocols probably better than any other onsite. However, the reality of her incompetence in matte rs of race as a Human Resources director is self evident. It would be very hard to know what raci sm is or how it manifests when an entity does not know the meaning of the word. Perhaps issues of race are too inconvenient to recognize or address. My immediate supervisor, Rodger Schroder, had told me he was not racist at a few different junc tures. He volunteered proof early on that there was no prejudice in him. This proof came in two s tatements; the first was: Im not racist because I have not lived within a hundred miles a black man. The second statement of proof was: I never saw a Black man until I was six or seven year s old. The definition of racism has nothing to do with the proximity of a Caucasian in time or sp ace, to a person of color. This person had no conscious or working knowledge of the meaning of the word. When I expressed my distain for the American Indian Mascot figure featured in the scope that co vered the majority of a wall in one of the offices, Mr. Schroder felt his duty to explain to me why I should not be offended by the symbol that reduces my heritage, my identity and family bloodli nes to a figure that is owned by Caucasians as a play thing. Other instances of interactions with Mr. Schroder I concluded as tedious, paternalistic attempts to indoctrinate/brainwash me. In my r ealm, I am an elder, not a child. In my realm I am an educated expert in the matters I address. In my realm, I am a father and a Grandfather. Mr. President, I am sure that American Caucasians do not like the reality of a Fighting Sioux any more now than when my Grandfathers wiped out G eneral Custer, any more than the man who writes to you Mr. President as the only acceptable ma nner that a Native American can fight back. Mr. Schroder does not know how to perform the duties his department carries out, so says he. He stated he was not my boss. It seemed he thought himself rather as my father as he would explain the winning side of things espousing his narrow, slanted viewpoint as the only one. There wer e rarely discussions about the actual work, only demeaning idiotic petty things such as leaving a empty bottle after cleaning. He would chastise me as if I were a child needing correction. I was a t Northrop Grumman only to work and not to be talked down to as a lesser human being. Mr. Sch roder conveniently overlooks issues with his other non-Indian employees; even when they mix t wo dissimilar chemicals without a care, not when they store corrosive acid in a vibrating cabinet and it leaks onto expensive electric motors.
aving negative attitudes and exhibiting more subtle forms of prejudice toward members of certain groups. B enevolent racism and sexism consist of attitudes the individual thinks of as favorable toward a group but tha t have the effect of supporting traditional, subservient roles for members of oppressed groups. Copyright 2006 Connie Wolfe, Muhlenberg College http://www.wwnorton.com/college/psych/socialpsych/reviews/ch11.asp

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It is ironic, colonial and revealing that the group and class of persons that have been historically t he perpetrators of racism and genocide in this land are now the same class and group of persons who determine the reality and existence of racist, dehumanizing and prejudicial behavior in the p resent. Racism and prejudice are institutionalized, woven into national and local life with thread t hat is invisible to the benefactors of racism but still oppressively strong. Another topic Mr. President, when I was accused of sexual misconduct, there was an investigatio n which exonerated me from the allegations. When I brought up issues regarding my privacy and being harassed I was told,I didnt know you were that upset about this Albert. I had documentation and witnesses to harassing lies and derogatory rumors spoken against me bu t there was no interest in an investigation. I was told to excuse the person because of a low level of intelligence. Dear President Obama, the management at the North Dakota Northrop Grumman does not want change. They want and enjoy wielding the privilege of entrenched power with littl e concern for any person or circumstance that does not maintain, support and enhance their positi ons. Finally is the Someone said Game which is a method I have named which was utilized for cens uring me about some trivial or petty matter. A person is not told who provided the complaint or i ssue in question. You will never know if we take action says Ms. Roehrich. This is a relationsh ip which puts the management as parents and employees like children. I have no record of violen ce or hurtfulness towards anothers person or property, yet I cant be told who is spreading lies a nd half truths about me? For the record, when my supervisor had a discussion with me regarding grievances with a co-worker, I later overheard him revealing the content of our conversation to th e trespassers spouse. Some confidentiality there! The North Dakota Northrop Grumman manage ment and the environment it created was so juvenile, careless and immature, I am embarrassed fo r them when I address the issues. The title of your book The Audacity of Hope is that which drives me to write you this letter Mr . President. In thinking of the word hope, yes it is a positive powerful form in many ways. In G reek Mythology, after Pandora opened the box and released upon the world all the evils previousl y unknown, the last remaining in the box was hope. I wonder, in some cases, if hope is simply another part of the evils in the box to make one continue believing a positive change can come fr om a negative atmosphere.

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Mr. President, on the eve of your election, I took some colored Christmas lights and laid them on the lawn to spell out your name OBAMA. Before the night was over, someone smashed and scat tered the lighted strings. I replaced them again spelling out your name OBAMA. So strong was my faith sir that you are a man of principles, of ethics, of wisdom so long ignored and trampled u nderfoot in this country. I will again vote for you as I know that you understand that might is not right, that right is not al ways the winning side or the majority. That is what makes you a human being worthy of my sup port. With Northrop Grumman, I doubt that as an entity, they will understand the change I believ e in. They supply goods to your administration in the name of national defense. I thought a personal account of those here running the North Dakota Northrop Grumman site, wo uld be of interest to my President. My best wishes to your family.

Albert L. Reum Hehaka Oiegie Elk Speaker 701 500 5100

cc: Northrop Grumman Corporation, Gary Brouse - Interfaith Center on Corporate responsibility.

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