e) OIG findings regarding minority attendance
at the Roundup
Initially, the demographics of the Southeastern law enforcement community played a significant role in establishing a pattern of all-white attendance. As this community became less homogeneous, an array of personal and social factors retarded movement toward full integration of the Roundup. One factor was the perception of some minority agents that they could not attend without a personal invitation. Others were personally invited but chose not to participate. Generally, the decision not to participate was reportedly based not on any actual or perceived racism at the Roundup, but rather on personal preferences for how to spend off-duty time. Some minority invitees, however, avoided the Roundup because of perceptions they would not be welcome. Such perceptions were corroborated by Rightmyer's offer to "protect" prospective minority attendees, which cast the Roundup to them in a threatening light instead of a welcoming one, as Rightmyer claimed to have intended.