Guy Saperstein, one of America’s leading long-time Civil Rights attorneys, who founded the largest private plaintiff civil rights law firm in America and successfully prosecuted the largest sex, race and age discrimination class actions in American history, and most relevant here, former long-time President of the Sierra Club Foundation, wrote the the above response to Michael Brune’s blog about John Muir back in July of 2020, followed by his “update” on September 14, 2021.

From: Guy Saperstein
Date: Tue, Sep 14, 2021 at 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: John Muir
To: Michael Brune & Sierra Club Board of Directors

To the Sierra Club Board: A year and a half ago, I stated my objections to the gratuitous trash job the Sierra Club had done on its founder, John Muir. Since then, the scholarship supporting Muir’s legacy has only gotten stronger and the attack on his name weaker. The Sierra Club’s attack on him appears even dumber than it did then.

The fight for racial justice in America is important. Indeed, I spent my career fighting for racial and sexual justice in the workplace and, among other things, successfully prosecuted the largest race discrimination in employment case in American history. But race justice is not more important than fighting the destruction of the planet. Race justice is important for the Sierra Club to practice, but it is not its mission. Its mission is to protect the environment. There are many fine organizations in America whose primary mission is fighting for racial justice. They are not tasked with fighting climate change.

The Sierra Club has lost sight of its mission and I can no longer support it.

I had a very successful career and then have been very fortunate in my investments, mainly in clean energy. The Sierra Club was slated to receive my estate before this gratuitous melt-down. Now, it will receive nothing. There are many fine environmental organizations fighting climate change who are more focused on their mission and more deserving of my support.

Best Regards,

Guy T. Saperstein

From: Guy Saperstein
Date: July 29, 2020
To: Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director

Dear Michael:

I applaud your efforts to make the Sierra Club more inclusive and to reflect the diversity of America. As you know, I created the largest plaintiff’s civil rights law firm in American history and for 25 years worked almost exclusively to force large American corporations to do exactly what the Sierra Club is doing today voluntarily. I saw first-hand how opening up employment opportunities to all races, all genders, all ages and all disabilities made companies stronger.

But I am appalled at the hatchet-job attack by you and the Sierra Club Board on John Muir’s legacy.

Muir may have made ill-considered comments about Native Americans and blacks as a young man, but he became enlightened about both races after living with black families on his walks in the South and living with Native Americans in Alaska. How many of his era were even open to living with different races? He decried the unfair treatment of blacks, and he expressed understanding and appreciation for Native Americans, while denouncing how whites had abused them with alcohol. Muir also joined the Sequoia Society, an organization dedicated to promoting Native American rights. He described the campaign of Indian extermination and displacement as “mean brutal policy” and confronted the senior US Cavalry officer in charge of the west for following “immoral orders” on this. Later in life, Muir helped raise money and contributed his own to organizations working for the betterment of Native Americans. Rather than the low-life racist you and the Board portray him as, Muir was high in the ranks of enlightened men of his time. Your attack is political correctness run amuck.

But the lowest blow is your guilt-by-association attack on Muir for associating with Henry Fairfield Osborn, who helped found the American Eugenics Society years after Muir’s death! Eugenics, of course, is a loaded topic because of how the Nazi’s distorted it. But you were willing to smear Muir with that association even though Muir had been dead for 20-40 years between the time he had those associations and the time of the Nazi atrocities. I have seen thin cases, but this is one of the thinnest, most unfair, cases I have ever seen. Muir never advocated eugenics, he never practiced eugenics, he never joined or supported any organization promoting eugenics. Near as I can tell, he is a total blank slate on the topic of eugenics.

And missing from your attack on Muir’s legacy is the most obvious and most commendable accomplishments of his life: Muir’s work directly and by inspiration spawned the protection of more than 250 million acres of public lands and over 11,000 miles of wild rivers for the enjoyment of all Americans, regardless of race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, status and/or income. Muir left a treasure for all to enjoy and we are all better people for the opportunity to enjoy nature and Muir’s captivating writings about nature and his adventures.

The Sierra Club has much to be proud of. Without the Sierra Club, there would have been dams in the Grand Canyon, forest clear cuts in Olympic National Park, geothermal development in Yellowstone, oil and gas fields in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, a giant ski resort in Mineral King, a nuclear power plant in Bodega Bay on an earthquake fault, a jet port in the Everglades and much of this great work was inspired by John Muir. Which is why I have supported the Sierra Club for 40+ years and why I am so upset about this attack on Muir’s legacy.

Best Regards,

Guy T. Saperstein
Former President, The Sierra Club Foundation

Guy Saperstein