I read this article today about some actions/remarks by the FBI, JFK, and J. Edgar Hoover in regards to Martin Luther King Jr. While I've never considered myself to be naive about government practices, some of this stuff, if it's accurate, is still quite... disillusioning.
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Many of the Bush administration's worst excesses are against reforms enacted in response to COINTELPRO and similar programs.
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: I didn't see anything about JFK-- only Bobby Kennedy.
Quite right. My mistake. Somehow I transposed Bobby Kennedy to JFK, even though I clearly read "Attorney General Robert Kennedy". All I can say in my defense is... 'derp'.
quote: But then, what do you expect to read about the FBI in that era?
I haven't studied the era enough, at least not in context of what the FBI did and didn't do. I always liked to think that such things were simply conspiracies that weren't based so much of fact, but instead on paranoia.
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Nope, Hoover really was as bad as everyone was afraid that he was. As more documents are released over time, it will only get worse.
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quote:Originally posted by SteveRogers: I wonder if there were similar steps taken to observe Malcolm X?
I'm certain similar steps were taken by the FBI to dredge up dirt on Malcolm X.
There's a scene in the movie Malcolm X by Spike Lee where they show FBI agents bugging Malcolms room and while listening to the transcripts of his conversation one says to the other, "compared to King this guy's a monk."
I doubt that comment was actually said but I always liked it.
As for the stuff about King, it's all pretty old news, though I do not agree with the reporter who suggested that the FBI's threat was that King needed to commit suicide. I think the FBI was in essence saying, "Quit now, or else we will leak the details of your marital infidelity to the media."
Certainly it's not any redemption for the FBI at that time, but remember it was a new institution probing territory never probed before. We're still trying to sort out exactly what it can and cannot do.
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quote:Originally posted by SteveRogers: I wonder if there were similar steps taken to observe Malcolm X?
I'm certain similar steps were taken by the FBI to dredge up dirt on Malcolm X.
There's a scene in the movie Malcolm X by Spike Lee where they show FBI agents bugging Malcolms room and while listening to the transcripts of his conversation one says to the other, "compared to King this guy's a monk."
I have yet to see the film, but I read his autobiography. He's a very interesting character. I think history books have ripped him off and painted him as this super racist and violent monster. When that was hardly what he was. Especially towards the end of his life.
He was a much more complicated and endearing figure.
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quote:Originally posted by SteveRogers: I wonder if there were similar steps taken to observe Malcolm X?
I'm certain similar steps were taken by the FBI to dredge up dirt on Malcolm X.
There's a scene in the movie Malcolm X by Spike Lee where they show FBI agents bugging Malcolms room and while listening to the transcripts of his conversation one says to the other, "compared to King this guy's a monk."
I have yet to see the film, but I read his autobiography. He's a very interesting character. I think history books have ripped him off and painted him as this super racist and violent monster. When that was hardly what he was. Especially towards the end of his life.
He was a much more complicated and endearing figure.
Malcolm X had an extremely powerful and intriguing story. It's hard to read about his entire transition and not be moved.
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That book has honestly had quite an impact on me. Probably one of the most important books I've read thus far in my life. I've been encouraging other people to read about him.
What irks me is when my history teacher makes incorrect claims or statements about Malcolm X and his role in the Nation of Islam. Even after I did a project on him.
I'm hoping when we talk about the Civil Rights era more in depth that I can do another project on him and set some of the things she has said straight. She's indoctrining my classmates with incorrect information.
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