An Excerpt From Christopher J. Dorner's Manifesto

Its all over the news now. Christopher J. Dorner, a former police officer, is on a deadly rampage taking his revenge out on the LAPD for allegedly being vilified and wrongfully terminated. Initially, I thought the guy was total a whack job until I read his manifesto. I really feel for the guy and even more so after reading this passage.

Journalist, I want you to investigate every location I resided in growing up. Find any incidents where I was ever accused of being a bully. You won’t, because it doesn’t exist. It’s not in my DNA. Never was. I was the only black kid in each of my elementary school classes from first grade to seventh grade in junior high and any instances where I was disciplined for fighting was in response to fellow students provoking common childhood schoolyard fights, or calling me a nigger or other derogatory racial names. I grew up in neighborhoods where blacks make up less than 1%. My first recollection of racism was in the first grade at Norwalk Christian elementary school in Norwalk, CA. A fellow student, Jim Armstrong if I can recall, called me a nigger on the playground. My response was swift and non-lethal. I struck him fast and hard with a punch an kick. He cried and reported it to a teacher. The teacher reported it to the principal. The principal swatted Jim for using a derogatory word toward me. He then for some unknown reason swatted me for striking Jim in response to him calling me a nigger. He stated as good Christians we are to turn the other cheek as Jesus did. Problem is, I’m not a fucking Christian and that old book, made of fiction and limited non-fiction, called the bible, never once stated Jesus was called a nigger. How dare you swat me for standing up for my rights for demanding that I be treated as a equal human being. That day I made a life decision that i will not tolerate racial derogatory terms spoken to me. Unfortunately I was swatted multiple times for the same exact reason up until junior high. Terminating me for telling the truth of a caucasian officer kicking a mentally ill man is disgusting. Don’t ever call me a fucking bully.

First off, I do not condone violence. I've never been a violent person nor someone who bullies those who I see as weaker or different. Like Michael Jackson said, "Paul, I think I told you, I'm a lover not a fighter." I embrace the differences that God has blessed us with. It is a gift from the heavens to give us variety like 31 flavors. This excerpt from Dorner's manifesto however, is something I believe all Asian-Americans or recent immigrants, regardless of ethnicity, should abide by when facing racial insults or mockery. Its just uncalled for. If we're friends, that's one thing, but if I don't even know you and you're spewing out racial epithets, then you deserve a critical beat down. As human beings we cannot change that aspect of our physical appearance. In case you might have forgotten, we are born this way and it is completely immutable so why even take it there?


As a child, I was made fun of for being Asian on too many occasions. At one point, I had internalized all sorts of resentment and borderline hatred for not being born white. I'd get those sickening gestures every Asian person is all too familiar with of pulling back the eyes, clapping both hands together, bowing and following up with the ridiculing "me so sorry" line. Whenever I heard the words "chink", "jap" or "gook", it made me cringe and over time, my blood boil also. But because my parents raised me not to get into fights because I could get suspended from school, I avoided them at all costs. I believe this is huge parenting mistake. If someone calls your child any of those racial slurs they deserved to get fucked up. It's called self-respect. In fact, the perpetrator is giving your son or daughter the green light. "Please punch my fucking lights out...PLEASE!"

Now that I'm an adult, its not so easy to get into a physical altercation and walk away without any risk of serious repercussions. Who knows who's strapped? Who knows who'll snap? Dorner is an example of a law abiding citizen gone astray. As much as Dorner should be punished for his retaliatory actions, we should also use this tragedy to invoke and promote a healthy dialogue as to how we can be more accepting of other people and take a positive stand against this sort of thing.

I feel for Dorner, the law abiding police officers and the innocent bystanders who've fallen victim to this horrible tragedy. May God Bless Us All.

"Sometimes humans feel a need to prove they are the dominant race of a species and they inadvertently take kindness for weakness from another individual. You chose wrong."  

-Christopher Dorner