Good O' Boy Roundup Report - March, 1996


11. 1990

The first widely acknowledged racist behavior at the Roundup occurred in 1990. We estimate that approximately 575 persons attended the Roundup, with approximately 370 persons officially registered and with perhaps as many as another 180 either local law enforcement or guests at some point during the weekend. [ / Beginning in 1990 computerized registration records were kept and we were able to obtain these records from Rightmyer's computer hard drive. We also obtained the bank records of registration checks to compare against the computer records. Although meal tickets were distributed, there were no effective controls over beer consumption yet so the number of unregistered "guests" was probably still very high. ] We identified 399 of the attendees; of these, 5 were DOJ employees, and 54 were employed by some federal law enforcement agency, approximately 10 percent of the total. We identified two Native Americans who attended the Roundup as well as a Filipino attendee. Of those attendees identified, 42 were from Canada, 129 from state and local law enforcement agencies, and 174 were not employed by any law enforcement agency. When the local guests are factored in, the majority of people at the 1990 Roundup were not employed by any law enforcement agency.

Attendance by Affiliation
1990

Fig. 18

In establishing the facts about racist conduct at the 1990 Roundup, OIG interviewed in person or by telephone 165 persons who attended this event and reviewed the statements of another 36 interviewed by Treasury OIG or other agencies.

1990 T-shirt
Fig. 19

The Redneck of the Year was a civilian who told funny stories to earn his title. The official T-shirt had pictures of rafters on the front and the question, "Where the hell is Ocoee, Tennessee?" on the back. A Birmingham, Alabama, police officer who had been Redneck of the Year in 1989 was elected president.