My Multi-year "Friendship" with a White Supremacist

[DarterBlue]

This represents the fourth of a handful of posts I intend to make before, I sign off till summer. It discusses an unlikely relationship that lasted some fifteen years.

CP joined my employer in the fall of 1992. Fresh out of FSU, he was born in southeastern Alabama and grew up in a small town in Florida's Panhandle. An only child, his father had made his living managing and later on, co-owning, trailer park sites, before buying a distributorship in his later years . The move to Orlando must have been somewhat traumatic, and certainly eyeopening for him. For while my move to Orlando two years earlier from NYC was eyeopening, it was a big step down in terms of city size, but to him, Orlando was a huge cosmopolitan city with all these strange people, not only from many parts of the USA, but all these foreigners, too. 

CP had his share of adjustment issues, and six months into the job had developed a less than stellar reputation, not so much with respect to the quality of his work, but to his temperament and interests.  To many he was this rather strange, country redneck, who adored Rush Limbaugh before he went mainstream. In short, he did not fit well into the rather genteel spirit of camaraderie that management of the local office tried to instill. He was assigned to work for me on a three month project at that time.

 Before agreeing to work with CP, I had a long discussion with our scheduler about the possible downside of a "hood Jamaican" supervising someone from CP's background. The response I got was that he was on a fairly short leash and the assignment was made with the intent of seeing whether he was going to remain with the firm or not. With that said, I somewhat reluctantly agreed to work with him. 

The assignment progressed relatively smoothly from the client's perspective as the deliverable was on time and on budget. During the course of the time, while we did not converse much outside of what was needed to get the job done, we did learn a little about each other. Thus, I provided some information about NYC and the opportunities with the firm there. I also gave him some insights into what it was like growing up in a Third World country and the adjustments I made when I moved to the USA. I learned a bit about his background, as well as the fact that we shared two mutual interests: Astronomy and the Stock Market. He also disclosed that the first time he voted he had supported David Duke's failed run for the Presidency in 1988. I was very offended by this disclosure and let him know in no uncertain terms that if this was an attempt to intimidate or upset me, I was not going to stand for it. After that, not surprisingly, I think we were both just glad to complete the project and not have to subject ourselves to the discomfort that working in close proximity engendered. 

But for an interesting turn of events, the above assignment may have marked the beginning and end of our relationship. However, two months later during the annual evaluation process, there was one individual in particular that wanted him terminated who not only gave him a scathing evaluation, but backed it up with some very uncomplimentary comments in the annual meeting of office management. I found myself in the rather unanticipated role of coming to CP's defense based on the quality of work he had done for me. I can't say I saved his job, as the firm usually gave new professionals 18 months before they concluded that it was not going to work out. However, I certainly did help his case in terms of compensation, as well as the willingness of others to work on assignments with him. 

Despite the fact that the substance of meetings held to discuss junior staff were supposed to be confidential and usually were, somehow word of what transpired was leaked, as a week later he offered to buy me lunch and while we were eating he thanked me for standing up for him. I told him I had done so because objectively I thought he did good work and I was not going to let our differences politically, socially or racially, affect the way I evaluated his work. After that, we would regularly discuss the market and other matters of mutual interest with an unspoken truce with respect to politics.

I left the firm (for the first time) two years after the event transpired. However, we kept in touch as I had started publishing an investment newsletter on the side and he was my first paying subscriber (this venture lasted 5 years and maxed out at about 170 subscribers, so it was never a a large source of income, but broke even and gave me a chance to put my thoughts on paper for some monetary compensation). In 1998, just as he was heading out the door to take a job with a large multinational company headquartered in the Orlando area I rejoined the firm. So, we again had a two month overlap of employment with the same firm. A couple years later, when he had moved back to the Panhandle to manage and run his father's distributorship he stayed at my house for two nights when he had returned to Orlando for a wedding. After explaining a bit about him to my wife, she was at first reluctant to have him as a house guest. However, for the most part, aside from his reluctance to try Jamaican food, it worked out all right.

In 2003, we again ended up at the same employer when a mutual acquaintance we had a relationship with hired me in a professional capacity and entered into a sub-contractual arrangement with him. This lasted through 2007 when I separated from that firm under somewhat strained circumstances. By that time, it occurred to me that I had known CP pretty well over the past 15 years and, if judged by the extent of contact, had been a friend of his for most of that time. Our friendship did not really survive my departure from the firm, in part because of the nature of my separation and in part by the fact that by then he was recently married and spending a lot of his time working on the relationship, as well as navigating his in-laws. 

In retrospect, I can't say CP was ever a very close friend. However, we did have a lot of mutual respect for what we each brought to the table, and upon reflection, I did respect his relative honesty in disclosing who he was. In that sense, he was, perhaps, more like an educated version of OldRabidOne and less like some of our current posters.  

[rockinl]

We all have more in common than not. Most peoples biases and prejudices are not based in fact, but mainly on how we were raised and the environment we grew up in. 

 

[zulu1128]

Even KISS has only had three Farewell Tours. 

[DarterBlue]

2 hours ago, zulu1128 said:

Even KISS has only had three Farewell Tours. 

I would not expect more from you. Not even sure why you decided to click on the topic. But whatever, my man. 

[RedZone]

7 hours ago, DarterBlue said:

I would not expect more from you. Not even sure why you decided to click on the topic. But whatever, my man.

zulu1128 is only here for the FREE forrest trump gear that crying concha passes out daily!!!

[LiberalDonaldTrump]

16 minutes ago, RedZone said:

zulu1128 is only here for the FREE forrest trump gear that crying concha passes out daily!!!

 

[zulu1128]

8 hours ago, DarterBlue said:

I would not expect more from you. Not even sure why you decided to click on the topic. But whatever, my man. 

I was curious if you were challenging anyone else to a fistfight, and if Chip had started fluffing you yet. 

 

[RedZone]

2 hours ago, zulu1128 said:

I was curious if you were challenging anyone else to a fistfight, and if Chip had started fluffing you yet. 

 

Pipe down, crying concha will be here shortly to give you another maga cap.

Relax...

[NorCalRuss]

7 hours ago, zulu1128 said:

I was curious if you were challenging anyone else to a fistfight, and if Chip had started fluffing you yet. 

 

I thought this was going to be about Darters friendship with Cajun. Cajun, the known racist who drops N Bombs befriends the hypocrite Darter who always talks about the white hate on this mb. 

[World Citizen]

1 hour ago, NorCalRuss said:

I thought this was going to be about Darters friendship with Cajun. Cajun, the known racist who drops N Bombs befriends the hypocrite Darter who always talks about the white hate on this mb. 

Darter?  I think you have him confused with someone else.  I have never heard him talk like that.  

[DarterBlue]

3 hours ago, World Citizen said:

Darter?  I think you have him confused with someone else.  I have never heard him talk like that.  

Individuals like those either deliberately twist anything that does not fit their agenda or they have a reading comprehension problem. I would guess it's primarily the former. I stand corrected if I am wrong. 

[NorCalRuss]

6 hours ago, World Citizen said:

Darter?  I think you have him confused with someone else.  I have never heard him talk like that.  

Come on man. He mentions white hate on here often. Almost as much as Cajun... Imagine that.

Just an hour before this post... “I have decided you, hateful pricks, deserve a "brawta" post.“ just another example of his liberal hypocrisy....

Dudes been getting weird. I use to respect his posts til he’s fell off the deep end in the last few months. 

[dan in daytona]

Darter, "F" all these right wing A-holes. Like Trump their a dying breed. Idaho and Montana can only hold so many of them. When Texas and Florida go blue (and you know they will) that's all she wrote. 

[DarterBlue]

6 hours ago, NorCalRuss said:

Come on man. He mentions white hate on here often. Almost as much as Cajun... Imagine that.

Just an hour before this post... “I have decided you, hateful pricks, deserve a "brawta" post.“ just another example of his liberal hypocrisy....

You are totally misrepresenting my quote. I was referring to the pricks on this board, you all know who you are, that constantly attack and belittle everything I have to say though you have never refuted any of it with reasoned argument.

Show me where I have ever attacked whites as a group? I never have because that is not my demeanor, nor does it reflect who I am as a person. As a multi-racial man, I have love for all of humanity something that you obviously have a hard time understanding.  

[AztecPadre]

My man, I really enjoyed heading this. Sorry others only have hate in their hearts.