FBI Was Probing Howard Zinn For Criticizing Them
I've always admired Howard Zinn, but it seems the radical historian wasn't all that popular with the FBI. Via Raw Story:
On Friday, the FBI released a 243-page file on Zinn, who died in January at age 87. The release describes the historian as "radical." The documents show the bureau taking an active interest in Zinn since the late 1940s, when he was a student at New York University. The interest continued through the 1950s, as Zinn worked on his PhD at Columbia University.
When the FBI again took an interest in Zinn in the 1960s, documents show the bureau evidently tried to have the historian fired from his job as professor at Boston University.In a document from the Boston FBI office (see PDF file here), an FBI "source," whose name was redacted from the publicly released documents, was quoted as being outraged over Zinn's comment at a protest that the US had become a "police state" and that prosecutions of Black Panther Party members were creating "political prisoners."
The bureau's Boston office then indicated it wanted to help the source in his or her campaign to unseat Zinn. "[The] Boston [office] proposes under captioned program with Bureau permission to furnish [name redacted] with public source data regarding Zinn's numerous anti-war activities ... in an effort to back [redacted] efforts for his removal."
The bureau's response to the request does not appear to have been included in the released documents.(Raw Story reporters will continue to mine through the documents for more details. If you want to help, you can view the FBI files here, here and here (PDF). Send us what you find to tips@rawstory.com.)
The FBI notes that its investigations of Zinn -- three in total, over 25 years -- "ended in 1974, and no further investigation into Zinn or his activities was made by the FBI."Zinn had harsh words for the FBI during his academic career. In a paper published not long before his death, Zinn said the best thing the public could do to curb the FBI's powers was to "continue exposing them."
Of the FBI, he said, "They don’t like social movements. They work for the establishment and the corporations and the politicos to keep things as they are. And they want to frighten and chill the people who are trying to change things. So the best defense against them and resistance against them is simply to keep on fighting back, to keep on exposing them."
What do you think your file contains, Madrak?
"They don’t like social movements. They work for the establishment and the corporations and the politicos to keep things as they are. And they want to frighten and chill the people who are trying to change things. So the best defense against them and resistance against them is simply to keep on fighting back, to keep on exposing them."
You might say that about the media too since they (with some exception) are little more than a propaganda arm of the dysfunctional status quo.
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
J. Edgar Hoover's death was a breath of fresh air for this country. He was the original thought policeman. If there is a hell, I hope Hoover went straight to the 9th level. Howard Zinn, like so many others that Hoover persecuted, was no more a threat to national security than my cat. It was pure paranoia on Hoover's part.
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
IMO, Hoover used extralegal ploys to propagate his personal prejudices.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
IMnsHO Allen Dulles was even worse. He arranged the overthrow of entire Central American governments to protect his and his brother's interests in the United Fruit Company. The Dulles brothers were two of the worst traitors the US has ever known.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
I have several of his books, including the American History for Young People two volumes. I let kids read those whenever they show interest in learning the truth.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
Are they the bug-eyed critters in the whirly-thingamabobbers?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The only FBI file I could access was the one from the Boston FBI office. The other 3 have either been removed from foia.fbi.gov, or else access has been restricted.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
eom
me-oww!
"If you want to help, you can view the FBI files here, here and here (PDF). Send us what you find to tips@rawstory.com.)"
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
Hoover had way too much power , he was a dangerous man . The Soviet Union's KGB and Hoover's FBI had a lot in common .
JFK, MLK, Malcolm X, RFK, Paul Wellstone, Gary Webb, and JFK Jr.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
How big is Glenn Drek's file? How many Tea-Baggers are they following? How about the anti-choice and other hateful groups? I guess it's more important to watch the intellectuals, rather than the really dangerous people.
Yeah. Truth telling in this day and age IS pretty damn radical.
me-oww!
"The Truth is an offense, but not a sin" ~ Bob Marley.
People are more afraid of the truth today than they are of the lies and fraudulent elections. Take the Anthrax for example.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
The only thing radical is a historian who distorts the truth -- which is sadly the majority in America.
Even more radical is a national police force that "work[s] for the establishment and the corporations and the politicos to keep things as they are." While that might be OK in a monarchy or a totalitarian dictatorship it is by definition antithetical to the idea of a democracy. If the electorate doesn't want things to remain the way they are the government has no business standing in their way.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
Hoover was notoriously paranoid. He died in 1972 and it probably took a couple of years to rid the place of his acolytes.
I have friends who are still reeling from his death.
Howard Zinn loved America
...and what America stands for. Howard Zinn wrote with the passionate revulsion of a witness to criminal horrors perpetrated by some "americans" against American people, principles and institutions.
Those critical of Zinn display a visceral hatred for real history, and those who would dare to reveal the sociopathic forces and elements that have, at times, shaped parts of American history.
"Facts are stubborn things" John Adams reminded. This included the fact that systematic oppression of Native Amercans, African Americans, Female Americans, Working Americans, Children of Americans, Latino Americans, Chinese Americans, GLBT Americans, and on and on, among a host of peoples--whose facts that do not comfortably fit the distorted versions of history that thugs and neo-fascist opportunists would have us believe.
"Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it"
Zinn wrote with fervent hope that America would be wise enough to learn from its mistakes.
Thank you, Howard Zinn for shining a light on things we need to know.
Comments are closed on this entry