Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Racism. What would people do without it?

"Gook, chink, sand-nigger, rice-eater, wetback and spic" are just a few names that have resounded throughout my 40+ years. I have grown used to these words as the primary vocabulary of the ignorant and the uneducated. Unfortunately, our society and our world is littered with them. I have heard these slanderous words directed not only towards me but my family as well and I certainly expect it said to my 2 1/2 year old son.
His name is Frederick Acker and he is a supervisor for the SPCA. Now SPCA stands for the Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty of Animals. Does this include people? Recently my girlfriend lost her best friend of 10 years due to cancer. She had found him on the streets and took him in. He was truly loved and cared for. They spent every moment together. He is certainly now in a better place. This past weekend there was a pet adoption held in North Haven, CT. The event was to be held from Friday-Sunday 10 am to 6 pm. Against her hesitance, I was able to convince her to come down with me on Sunday to see if there is any dog for us. We arrived at approximately 4:45. To our disappointed they had closed the tents down and where not taking any more families. I asked a volunteer if I could speak to the supervisor and get an explanation of why they are closing early. When Mr. Acker came over he just blurred out "we are closed!". He wanted no part of questions. He looked at me and said, "You wouldn't get a pet anyway, because you don't fit the part." I was shocked. I returned with, "What do you mean? I am a teacher and my girlfriend recently lost her dog." He so confidently said, "Oh, you are a spic and a child molester." Of all the racist comments I have heard in my life, I couldn't believe it was coming out of this man's mouth. It took every ounce of my soul not to reach over the table, punch this man in the neck and pull his rotten heart out of his throat. Thank God, my girlfriend was there to calm me down. I didn't want to leave until I got this man's name. I was totally surprised when his volunteers would not help. One volunteer, an older white haired lady, came over and said "You would be shot, if you were down south." I had to laugh. "Do you mean people down south are racist and ignorant?" She replied, "Yes, we are rednecks and rednecks rule down south." For some reason, I had to laugh. It didn't surprise me. I am so used to the racism and ignorance from people. Since I didn't leave and I posed a threat to him, Mr. Acker called the police. In his description to the police, he describes me as a "spic" and my girlfriend as "white trash". I couldn't lower myself to his level. With the help of my girlfriend I decided to leave. I have to be the best role-model I can be to my students and especially my son. How would it look if I killed this guy at a pet adoption event? Nobody would believe my story. They would only say that I am playing the race card.
I couldn't sleep that night. I had to find out who this guy was. A person full of racism, hatred and ignorance has to slip up somewhere along the line. I found out his name through the SPCA in CT. I left complaints about him through emails to the SPCA and through Channel 8 News in New Haven, CT. I also did an Internet search and found numerous complaints about this particular bigot. Here is a short list of them...
1. convicted felon of over 80 accounts of animal cruelty.
2. convicted of assaulting a woman, who worked for him. When the police arrived, they saw Mr. Acker with his pants down to his ankles. Was this possible rape? He claimed he was trying to stop her from driving because she was drunk. Wow, I didn't know having your pants down could be so helpful. We should all try that out.
3. The email address and phone number to the SPCA in Monroe, CT does not return any complaints. One client emailed the SPCA in Monroe about how he is looking to adopt a dog to help him with his anxiety disorder. He received an email back saying he is a loser and needs therapy instead of a dog. I wonder if these email were written by Mr. Acker.
4. Another couple made a claim against him for his disrespect and lack of professionalism. Mr. Acker was supposed to do a home inspection to see if the couple was eligible to adopt. He was late. His breath smelled of alcohol. He denied the couple, saying they did not fit the bill.
5. There are numerous claims that Fred Acker is selling only puppies and only for his profit. He recently lost a court case for overpopulating his kennel in Monroe, CT. There where complaints about the conditions of the kennel and the excessive barking from his dogs.

Although the SPCA is a non-profit organization, on his website they do take donations. I wonder where these donations actually go towards. This man continues to work for the SPCA. I do believe in this organization. I am sure the majority of volunteers really care for the animals and the families. This is one man that doesn't. He is only one of many ignorant, uneducated and racist people that walk amongst us. One of many racists that have authority.
Unfortunately, this is our reality show. Stories that are behind the scenes that you never hear about and get swept under society's rugs. As we all know racism plays a big part in all humans, whether we like it or not. We can ignore it all we want but it will always exist. God has blessed us with the ability of sight and color. Is hatred and racism how we return the favor?

11 comments:

  1. To say that I find this behavior shocking and unbelievable would be an understatement, Dutch. I do not know you, but my heart aches for you and your girlfriend that you have to go through this. Now I understand the depth of where your powerful writing comes from. I am truly very sorry for the hatred and anger that is misdirected your way by such close- minded people. I did not realize that bigotry was still so prevalent in our society. Your posts, while hard to read, are very enlightening and powerful.

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  2. Yikes! I am so sorry that you had such an awful time this weekend. This man's behavior was totally uncalled for and unacceptable. I hope some one will hold him accountable. It is unfortunate that during 2009 such disrespectful things are going on in our country.
    Your writing is powerful and carries behind it force that supports the significance of your topics. Your writing makes me reflect on my community, where we have few minorities and could be classified as "yuppieville" by some.
    Thank you for sharing your trials and turbulant adventures. I know a great shelter out of Sterling Ma where I recently adopted a beautiful puppy (my blog is covered with her daily adventures). If you feel like a drive, google Sterling Animal Shelter. They have pictures of their current dogs and were more than happy to hear that I was a teacher and worked "teacher" hours. (I guess they aren't really sure what REAL teacher hours are!!!)

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  3. OK, so it is about a full day since I read your post...needless to say your writing is powerful that it is still stuck in my mind as I drive around on this sunny day.

    I am left with one question, and it would depend on if you feel comfortable or not to add these details to your writing.
    Could you write a descriptive paragraph about what you look like? or what your background is? your writing leaves me wondering more.

    Ex. you could paint the scene while you are waiting like what you look like getting out of the car (height, build, hair color, confidently walking etc)

    Just a thought!

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  4. Some powerful stuff Dutch. You are able to show the effects of bigotry and hypocrocy in some people. You are right in summing up the senseless name calling as shear ignorance. The themes you use and personal experience can lend to some powerful writing. We can only try to understand why some choose to be degrading an inhumane, but we don't have to like it. Good comments from your group.

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  5. This is horrendous. I'm sorry you were treated this way. What a disgrace! His court date for that assault case has been scheduled for August 11th in Bridgeport. FYI

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  6. This guy is a well known dirtbag in our state. You should have been on the phone to the NAACP a long time ago. I sugget you call them, PETA and any other organization that will listen and have them protest the next adoption event in Stamford on August 14-16. He is also a known felon who was convicted for Fraud and is currently dodging having to pay his judgements to the tune of over $700,000.00. Now ask yourself, do you think this guy would be honest about the temperment of his dogs? Many of his dogs have attacked their new families and have been put down in municipal shelters and he will not stand behind his dogs because he can't. He knows very little about them so he has no idea if they are really good with other dogs. Fred Acker will be in jail soon enough. He goes on trial August 11th for assaulting a young woman he claims he was trying to stop her from drunk driving. What a crock!

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  7. Acker is NOT a member of the SPCA. He is the owner of the SPCA of CT which is NOT connected with the ASPCA or any other organization. He used to call his "rescue" Animal Adoption Network, but calling it SPCA brings in more money becuase people think he is part of a alrger organization. Fred Acker IS the SPCA of CT and it is not a legitimate rescue - it is one more of his schemes to make money for Fred Acker

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  8. I am sorry you went through this with this sorry excuse if a person. to make a long story very short, Mr. Acker is suing me for $3500.00 for a dog I had the misfortune of adopting through the Monroe SPCA. I had the first hand experience of hearing him talk about people who were not white. I got a dog, can you guess what race I am? I refuse to settle with him on principle, he is dishonest and a poor excuse for a human being. If you would like to appear as a character witness please reply back here, through your site. Best of luck to you and your girlfriend.

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    1. Hello. I am not sure when this is dated or of this reaches you. I am curently being sued for 5,000 as well for a similar situation. I am trying to build a network of cumunication to avoid giving this monster a dime. Please anyone help.

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  9. I also had a horrible experience with Mr. Acker. He threatened to send the police and the fire department to my house to reclaim a dog. Long story, but I can't recall ever having this kind of experience with anyone over anything - even schoolyard bullies. He just pushes his way through life and takes no prisoners. Except dogs. Someone needs to stop this man. Can you hear us national chapter of ASPCA?

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  10. Even a "good" experience with Fred is a bad experience. He was pleasant to us, but the dog we adopted had clearly been neglected and abused. He had ear infections in both ears, tested positive for more than one kind of worms (we could see them all throughout his feces), had an eye infection, Lyme disease, and was clearly not socialized. It took us about 3 - 6 months of constant training and socialization, and $1,500 in vet bills, before he began to act like a "normal" dog.

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