Dear Mr. Smith,

The other night, a fellow democrat asked me where all the feminists are in Charlottesville. Since I can not speak for all of them, both male and female, I can only say that I prefer to pick my battles.I have remained quiet during this election process because I did not feel that it was appropriate to be as vocal as I usually am, given my position as campaign manager.

I would not want my positions to get confused with those of the fantastic woman I work for: Joan Fenton.

I am so sorry, however, that you do not believe that women should be equally represented on city council. We are more than half the population after all. I presume that if you were alive eighty years ago that you would not have wanted women to get the right to vote either.

While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, I hope next time you will educate yourself about the necessity of giving women and people of color positions of power in our country, before you speak.

I lecture nationally about issues related to both gender and racial discrimination.

Because of people like you, I've got job security.

God Bless Ya!

Camille S. Cooper (electronic mail, February 22, 2002)