(The White Plains Journal, the newspaper ostensibly dedicated to covering Texaco's hometown in Westchester County, New York, refused to run the following ad on its pages. The agency that tried to place the ad was told that the ad "shows no purpose" and that it would not allow its pages to be used by those wishing to attack Texaco.)

White Plains Journal

BADGE OF SHAME

For years, Texaco has told us to "trust the man who wears the star." That may be a safe practice if your skin is white. But people of color have learned to be very wary of Texaco. If you drill just beneath the surface of Texaco, you'll find pools of racism that run deep, have a long history and continue today.

Texaco, you may remember, was the company which was forced into a record settlement in 1996 when it was charged with racial discrimination against its own minority employees. The company had denied all charges until secret tape recordings revealed Texaco executives spouting their racism. African-American employees were referred to as "black jellybeans." Texaco promised a new day in race relations as it paid $176 million dollars to its exploited employees. But at the very time of the settlement, the company was engaged in fighting a massive lawsuit that reveals just how dangerous and deadly corporate racism can be.

The truth is when Texaco drills for oil where white people live, they do it safely and according to industry practice. What Texaco does where non-whites live is tragic. Beginning in 1971, Texaco began drilling in Ecuador, in the headwaters of the Amazon River. Every place else in the world, Texaco and other companies used an established and safe method of drilling: toxic-laden water brought up during the drilling process is re-injected back deep in the ground, protecting the surrounding environment and its inhabitants.

The lawsuit against Texaco alleges that in Ecuador, Texaco dumped this poisonous water produced by drilling, on the ground, in nearby rivers and in streams and ponds. Two million gallons of water loaded with known carcinogens were dumped each day, with callous disregard for those who'd lived and fished and thrived in the area for centuries.

Now, just a few years later, death, disease and forced migration have reduced the numbers of the indigenous people who once flourished in the region. Women report a marked increase in spontaneous abortions. Of those who remain, many, including children, suffer from a pre-cancerous dermatological disease. In one village, the number of cancer cases already far exceeds expected norms.

What happened in Ecuador is the equivalent of three Exxon Valdez disasters. But unlike the Exxon Valdez, this devastation was deliberate. Today, Texaco faces a judgment in a court of law of billions of dollars to redress the damage it has caused, and to provide health care for those whose lives are in danger. But until Texaco accepts responsibility for its actions, the star that adorns every Texaco truck and service station should be seen for what it is: a symbol of racial and ethnic discrimination.

Paid for by the Committee for the Defense of the Amazon (Frente de Defensa de la Amazona).