[Excerpt] "This is not a black union, white union, red, brown, or green. This is a union of workers who, over the past 50 years or so, have struggled to make life a little easier for future members of this great union. These workers have had to put up with the likes of the Chicago Board of Education, the City of Chicago, the Chicago Park District, and the Cook County Commissioners. And, we must be prepared to continue this struggle." As a black man, as a former union organizer in both the North and South, and now as a local President, I know about white racism. I know what to expect and I'm ready for it. But racism from every side — sometimes subtle, sometimes explicit — is more difficult to deal with. Sometimes you confront it directly, sometimes you have to ignore it. Sometimes you make a point and move on. Always, you agitate and organize.