"Mention extortion again, and I'll have your legs broken."
Posted on 10/17/2013 5:35:18 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
If Rufus McDonald were white, you'd already know his name, and he'd be on the path to pushing George Zimmerman aside as the most hated man in America. But because he is black, you probably have never heard of him, unless you live in Chicago. You see, Mr. McDonald was cleaning out an attic and discovered some papers. As Kim Janssen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday:
Hidden in a dusty trunk in an abandoned and looted Englewood home, the papers of Harvard's first black graduate, Richard T. Greener, had long been thought lost to history. (snip)
Several museums and Harvard University itself expressed a keen interest in the historically significant 140-year-old Greener documents. An excited Gates, who leads Harvard's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African-American Research, even said the discovery gave him "gooseflesh."
But now McDonald says the irreplaceable collection could go up in flames - literally.
McDonald - who recently sold just two of the documents for $52,000 to the University of South Carolina, where Greener also studied and taught - is threatening to torch the rest unless Harvard offers him more cash.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
he didn’t loot the house...I heard the story on the radio this morning...he purchased the house and all it’s contents at auction...The papers were appraised at $65,000. Harvard offered $7,500...Barely 1/10th the appraised value...
Will you sell me your car at 1/10th the appraisal????
You’re basing your strong opinions on a short article? And you’ve already decided Harvard is in the wrong?
It’s the FR way.
Guess they're not goose-pimple inducing enough for any of them to reach into their own pockets for a change.
I thought so, too. However, if I had the chance to screw over Harvard, I'd certainly take it. Look how they've screwed us over.
Well, as far as I'm concerned, let the free market take its course. They seem to be his property, so I don't care if he wraps them in a Koran, pisses on them both, and then burn them
well God is supposed to provide.......
I doubt if he gets money he will invest it an IRA. He will buy a Mercedes and ride around trying to pick up women
Who cares? If he is the legal owner then burn them. His threats prove that they have no meaning other than money to him as a black. Why should anyone else care? It’s all about ‘mo money’ anyway, it always is.
The radio story this morning stated he is an elderly gentleman...
well he thinks like an extortionist
Oh - don’t ruin the opportunity for some good old fashioned class envy. Harvard is BAD. The wonderful man who found papers in an abandoned building is good.
"Mention extortion again, and I'll have your legs broken."
An extortionist????
Harvard offered little more than 10 cents on the appraised dollar for his property!!!!!
How about you sell me your property for 10% of the value???
if I did demand a certain buyer purchase it and the buyer said well we really are not interested but I’ll give you 10% and I said then I’ll burn it, whadya bet they would say hey, it’s yours to do with what you want go right ahead?
the dude has no right to try to force a particular buyer to pay his price
obviously, Harvard isn’t interested
Agreed. The threat to burn them is extortion. Legal extortion, since he owns them, but burning them would be a crime against history.
One issue here us that there are two parts to the value of the papers. One is that they are verifiable physical originals. The other is that they contain unknown (?) content. Once the content is known, they really just become prestige pieces for a collection.
If I were him I wouldnt burn them but rather threaten to auction the things slowly, one at a time.
According to the radio story earlier this morning. When the man made it known what he posessed, Harvard approached him...They said they really wanted the documents and diaries...They have been in discussion over this for some time. There is more to the story than just this lame piece from American Thinker...
I don’t blame the man...he purcheased the house and all its belongings...The papers were there and are now his property...If Harvard wants them like they claim and they approached him, he can ask any price he wishes or do with them as he wishes... It’s what is known as private property rights.
Fool’s gold. Inherently worthless. Only value comes from someone who says the first black guy’s paperwork is worth something. When this fascination with black history as such is over, the papers will again be worthless. Better get what he can get while the getting’s good.
Collector’s items are only worth what someone else will pay for them. Plenty of beanie baby owners figuring that out the last couple years...
Really?? WTF?? Says who? He may fail to get his price, but to say he has no right to try? Sheesh.
I’m basing my “strong” opinion on the existing marketplace for historical documents.
Harvard is like most elites: very, very cheap.
And your views are based on experience? You went to Harvard?
Why don’t someone just get in touch with Obama? I heard he can have historical documents made.
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