Book Description
From Kennedy to Nixon, the FBI unwillingly found itself at the center of the struggle for racial equality and justice. Kenneth O'Reilly tells the shocking story of how political loyalties, priorities, and prejudices turned a government agency into an adversary, instead of a protector, of civil rights.
Customer Reviews:
A whole lotta nothin.......2007-09-04
I bought this book thinking that it would reveal personal secrets and details of prominent blacks like MLK, Malcolm X, etc. This book reiterates the same thing over and over, The FBI was bad, and Hoover was a racist. Too many names and titles were interjected thruought the book. As soon as the author touches on an interesting topic, he leaves it and goes to something else thats very dull. I kept reading, waiting for the good stuff to come. It never came. Don't waste your money on this one, Its boring and dull.
The FBI and the politics of riots.......2007-07-27
This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.
Kenneth O'Reilly's book provides a glimpse into the relationship between President Lyndon B. Johnson, (LBJ), and J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). O'Reilly examined their relationship through the response that both men exhibited to the urban riots that started in the summer of 1964. O'Reilly stated that LBJ, "turned to the FBI for help in managing the politics of the 1960's riots, not because he thought the FBI could be trusted, but because he thought the FBI could be controlled" (92). The Johnson administration was caught off guard when the riots broke out in northern cities because the administration had been totally fixated on the Jim Crow South. The spark that ignited the chain of rioting took place a little over two weeks after LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The impetus for the riots was the shooting of a fifteen-year-old Negro boy by an off-duty police officer in New York City. Over the next several weeks rioting spread through Brooklyn, Rochester, and then to New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. LBJ saw these riots as a threat to all of the hard work he had accomplished with his Great Society programs. More importantly, O'Reilly's research showed that LBJ saw the riots had the potential to become a serious political threat to his re-election. Both the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, and the segregationist George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, who was polling well in early Democratic primaries, had argued against passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Great Society. Both men predicted that they would give too much away to people who would just become lawless, lazy, and would not develop any work ethic. As these riots took place, LBJ envisioned votes slipping away from him in the upcoming November election and he knew that he had to act.
LBJ feared that southerners would turn their backs on the Democrats and vote Republican, so he turned to Hoover and the FBI for help, which O'Reilly's research showed to be a monumental mistake. LBJ held a strategy meeting about the riots with Hoover on July 22nd. He told Hoover that he was convinced that Communist agitators and right-wing elements had their hands in these riots, and LBJ asked Hoover to gather and report his findings about the involvement of these subversive elements. LBJ's beliefs about the radical support to the riots were music to Hoover's ears, since he was a rabid anti-Communist. In addition, in a strange twist in politics, LBJ received and used the help of Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948. Dewey became fed up with Goldwater's brand of conservatism. LBJ was happy to receive Dewey's help and used Dewey to finalize and draft the report of the FBI's findings, because Dewey still enjoyed the well-deserved reputation as a crime fighter from his days as New York's district attorney in the 1930's. O'Reilly's research showed just how paranoid LBJ was over the riots. During the summer LBJ was making so many phone inquiries, that he had a direct phone line installed into the bedroom of Cartha D. DeLoach, the Assistant Director of the FBI, who was serving as the FBI's liaison to the White House. One of several actions that the FBI took in September at LBJ's behest, was to leak to the media the FBI report that Dewey had drafted, which "was intended to defuse Goldwater's law-and-order politicking and to recapture those lost votes" (94). LBJ was even able to get Hoover, a staunch conservative, to support the War on Poverty in the report. Unexpectedly, Hoover and Dewey were both restrained in the report when it came to placing blame for the riots on Communist or radical agitators. They agreed that the riots were not started by these radical elements, but only received some support from them after they were initiated. This aspect of the report turned out to be quite accurate. The report came as a total surprise to conservatives because it emphasized poverty and discrimination as the causes of the riots, and not race or radical agitators. In addition, in a stunning rebuke to the charges of the Goldwater campaign, the FBI report supported Johnson's Great Society programs as the best response to the riots. The FBI report served the purpose for what LBJ intended. It was not written to stress any public policy, but was effectively used by LBJ to help stymie Goldwater's presidential campaign. The interesting question that O'Reilly answers is "at what price?"
Although LBJ was elated with both Hoover's and the FBI's support, history has proven that Hoover's acquiescence to LBJ would ultimately come at a high price to the Johnson administration, as well as the American people. "Only Hoover had it both ways. He managed to tell the president what he wanted to hear...and also to expand his bureaucracy's surveillance responsibilities" (98). After LBJ's re-election, he was continually plagued with riots across the country, and in response, he turned to the FBI to train local and state police in anti-riot tactics at the FBI academy. Once again, this rebounded to Hoover's advantage in increasing his budget and bureaucracy. During the summer of 1967, over 150 disturbances, from arson and looting to major riots and shootings, broke out in Black neighborhoods across the country. This activity caused conservatives to blame yet again LBJ's Great Society programs as the cause. LBJ's reaction was to press Hoover and his FBI to dig up information on radical elements within the civil rights movement, which again, Hoover was happy to oblige. He demanded an ever-increasing budget to correspond with the increase in responsibility of having to use FBI agents to infiltrate civil rights organizations. Unbeknownst to LBJ, by 1968 Hoover also started to funnel information to the Nixon campaign on radicals within the various civil rights organizations.
Thus, LBJ proved to be another in the long line of presidents who turned to Hoover and the FBI for illegal involvement in domestic political matters. LBJ, the consummate politician of his time, thought he could control Hoover; however, Hoover outmaneuvered him and succeeded in pursuing his own bureaucratic and political agenda. O'Reilly's article serves as one of the many examples why Hoover so skillfully held onto his job for so long.
Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history.
A insight into Cointelpro.......2002-10-10
This books details the relationship of The FBI and its director J. Edgar Hoover with Black America. It is clear from reading this book, that the FBI was the enemy. It only supported Civil Rights because of popular opinion. The FBI investigated the Viola Luizzo and Mississippi murders because whites were murdered and a FBI informant was riding in the car with the murderers of Mrs. Luizzo. This book shows how Hoover used his prestige during the 1960's riots to undermine Lyndon Johnson and help elect Richard Nixon. In addition to the character assination of Dr. King, this book details the harassment of the Black movement in general. The operations against The Black Panther Party are also in this book. This book is worth reading.
It's worth the purchase........2000-10-06
To answer the reviewer's question, it's worth the purchase. I read this book when I was a high school student working at a public library. I came across it and read word for word what the author has written. The spearhead of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, were instigators of the civil rights movement, slandering prominent and potent leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and bringing down the Black Panther's Party.
As I read this book at the bus station, a sister sitting next to me wanted to know what I was reading. I showed her the book title and the author. Her response was, "You can't believe everything the white man says." If she read this book, she would definitely believe what the author says!
how about an on-line review of the book so that we can deter.......1999-11-03
determine if its worth purchasing or no
Product Description
Al Kuettner was a young, white Southern reporter when the civil rights struggle began in 1952, the year he was assigned to cover it by the wire service United Press. During those turbulent years that followed he traveled extensively throughout the U.S., talking with hundreds of people, black and white, witnessing the events that transformed American race relations. Kuettner covered all the key events the integration of the South's public schools and universities; Rosa Parks and her famous bus ride; the great civil rights marches on Washington, D.C. and Montgomery, Alabama; the passage of the landmark Supreme Court rulings and civil rights and voting legislation; the assassinations of Evers, King, and Kennedy. He knew and interviewed all the key players from Martin Luther King, Jr., whom he first met and interviewed in 1955 as a young preacher dressed in a blue work shirt and denims in the Sunday school room of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church; to John Lewis, now a congressman, who in 1965 was attacked as he led marchers from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.; to Medgar Evers, who paid with his life for his work in the black voter registration campaign. He knew them all. Now in this book, Kuettner retraces his steps, reexamining the history he witnessed in the making, and questioning blacks and whites about the legacy of change. While he traces the events he witnessed, his vision is informed by the future and by his own determination to present the events honestly. This book is dedicated to the UPI reporters and photographers who covered the civil rights story.
Customer Reviews:
March to a Promised Land: The Civil Rights File of a Whote Reporter 1952-1968.......2007-03-16
As a child of the 70's, I studied the Civil Rights Movement in high school. This book takes the facts, events and people out of the text books and brings them to life. Reading about what happened behind the scenes and getting a insiders perspective makes me want to learn more about this time in the my Country's history. I recommend this book to any one interested in where this movement has brought us as a nation and for anyone interested in where we need to go.
A Hero Remembers His Civil Rights Days.......2007-02-02
Most people don't think of those who report the news as heroes, but Al Kuettner truly was as he traveled the U.S. for UPI getting the real story about all the major events that shaped the Civil Rights Movement. In this book he makes you feel like you are there with him, witnessing the integration of schools and universities, and interviewing the leaders,the lawyers, and the marchers who were determined that African Americans would no longer be second class citizens. In March to a Promised Land, Al Kuettner shows us why we should not take freedom for granted. It's an eloquent tribute and a fascinating story.
Customer Reviews:
Can't believe I'm the first to review this..........2007-04-28
I'm absolutely, positively NOT an expert on this topic. I'm interested in the topic for its own sake, and I'm also interested in cultural and environmental factors that foster creativity. I have kept this book in my car for the last couple weeks, and I find myself reading a passage or two here and there. I've been reading it along with Abdul-Jabbar's recent book. There are quite a few books out there on the Harlem Renaissance, and the last 100 years of African-American history. I'm not familiar with most of them.
Here's why I loved THIS book.
The writing is superb. The passages are about 1-4 pages each, and they confront the reader with the snap, crackle and pop of concise, crisp journalistic prose. The authors have a knack for deepening knowledge while causing the reader to want to know even more about the topic. The portraits tend to be descriptive without being judgmental, which adds credibility to the passages and force to the general topic. At the same time, the authors seem psychologically savvy, providing internally consistent life histories in many instances. There's a phenomenal amount of information here about remarkable people and places. The scholarship appears to be quite good, with helpful references following each passage.
This review is a work in progress, so stay tuned.
Customer Reviews:
Library of Sonya Armfield.......2007-07-09
This book was interesting because it offers a different perspective of Malcolm X. Its good to read this book with the autobiography of Malcolm X.
Sonya Armfield
A useful book, the product of much research exposing the FBI.......2002-07-05
Carson is a well-known Black scholar whose most important work has been organizing and opublishing from the Martin Luther King Papers. This book was an effort on his part to expose how the FBI followed Malcolm X from the time he wrote to a radical youth group for information, long before Malcolm X joined the Muslims until his death, a death Malcolm more and more expected would come from the FBI/CIA. Along the way the FBI has preserved speeches and letters and views of Malcolm as they evolved throughout his life. Anyone who treats Malcolm X as some sort of prefabricated god, and not a man whose views developed over time, over experience, and particularly after his exposure to the struggles of the civil rights movement, and the anti-imperialist struggles ongoing in Cuba, Africa, and Vietnam at the time, is in for a rude shock as this book shows how his ideas changed and grew.
I recommend Pathfinder Press's series of books by Malcolm X. Malcolm selected Pathfinder to publish his speeches before he died. The first book Malcolm X speaks was selected while Malcolm was living, though published after he was murdered. Every book has been published in cooperation and with royalties to Malcolm's family. Pathfinder has gone as far as the jungles of Guyana to find every speech or interview available with Malcolm particularly in the last years of his life.
The book was informative...........1999-08-06
The book was informative however the foward by Spike Lee was out of place. It breaks my heart that so many people profit from the life and death of Malcolm X other than his family. Although this is a good book do your self and Malcolm justice by getting this book from your public library!
Average customer rating:
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Encyclopedia of African-American Politics (Facts on File Library of American History Series)
Robert C. Smith
Manufacturer: Facts on File
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
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ASIN: 0816044759 |
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From the Briarpatch File: On Context, Procedure, and American Identity
Albert Murray
Manufacturer: Pantheon
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Binding: Hardcover
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Trading Twelves: The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison and Albert Murray
ASIN: 0375421424
Release Date: 2001-11-13 |
Book Description
In From the Briarpatch File—a gathering of erudite, provocative, and iconoclastic essays, reviews, and interviews—Albert Murray approaches contemporary America through its artistic expressions of itself and through the inventiveness of his own thinking and experience. He writes about New York in the 1920s and about the beginnings of his career as a writer. He gives us profound assessments of the achievements of Duke Ellington and William Faulkner. He outlines the responsibilities of the black educated elite and discusses the near-tragic, near-comic essence of the blues. His subject is no less than the life of America today; the clarity and the singularity of his vision, thought, and language are no less than stunning.
Book Description
Using a wide arrangement of visual tools, this atlas offers a detailed overview of the experiences and important events surrounding Americans of African descent. The atlas provides a comprehensive historical overview of what is known as the African diaspora-the spread of African people and culture throughout the Americas. It is the perfect addition to any African-American studies collection. Photographs, line graphs, charts, chronologies, box features, and maps help explore the cultural, historical, political, and social history of African Americans. Coverage also profiles key events and issues in their homeland, especially those factors that influenced their movement to the United States.
Customer Reviews:
For any serious Afro-American reference book collection.......2001-09-12
This excellent atlas of facts should be in the holdings of any serious Afro-American reference book collection: Atlas Of African-American History uses black and white and color photos, almost seventy maps, and numerous graphs to provide a visual understanding of Afro-American history and events, both boxed highlighted topics making it easy to browse and read
about special topics. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- This should be mandatory reading for anyone who thinks they can trust our government blindly
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Black Americans: The FBI File
Kenneth O'Reilly
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Pub
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0786700270 |
Customer Reviews:
This should be mandatory reading for anyone who thinks they can trust our government blindly.......2005-09-01
How J Edagar Hoover was allowed to be in charge of the FBI for as long as he did and under many presidents is astonshing. This book explores one part of the terror Hoover unleashed during his reign. The author notes,"although Bureau agents in the 1930s walked through submachine gun firestorms when going after John Dillinger,agents in the 1960s wouldn't take a baseball bat from a Klansman,even as the bat turned red with the blood of the person(black or a sympathizer)being beaten".FBI started the 60s passivly observing racist violence and ending by egging on racists.
The book documents the FBI's war on civil right well and I highly recommend.
Average customer rating:
- Not up to academic standards but ok for a basic reference
- not impressed
- An invaluable research tool.
- great
- Nice AEGYPTUS
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Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (Facts on File Library of World History)
Margaret Bunson
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The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt
ASIN: 0816045631 |
Book Description
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANCIENT EGYPT is the first single-volume reference guide to the remarkable culture that flourished on the banks of the Nile from the predynastic period, 3200 B.C., to the fall of the New Kingdom in 1070 B.C.
Illustrated with more than 175 line drawings, maps, and time charts, over 1,500 entries span all the gods, rulers, cities, and themes important in ancient Egypt, including:
-Art and Architecture
-Pyramids
-The Sphinx
-The Military
In addition, several extensive essays on such key topics as astronomy, mortuary rituals, agriculture, further illuminate this fascinating period of civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Not up to academic standards but ok for a basic reference.......2002-10-23
There is no bibliography or footnotes or any citations at all in this book and that is always a bad sign. Sure the pictures are cool to look at, there are ok timelines and tables, and just having an alphabetical source of Egyptian terms is wonderful. But this should not be somone's primary source for Egyptian information especially if you are doing anything academically like writing a school paper or giving a talk on Egypt. I'll tell you this for certain, it is not worth [the money]...
not impressed.......2001-11-22
Having done much research of Ancient Egypt from credible resourses, I found the Encyclopedia to be lacking. Many of the "articles" had little usable information or even incorrect information. Some of the information in this Encyclopedia was the same as that found in the 1880's Manual Of Ancient History that I own. This information, I must add, has been disproved by many new discoveries. I was very disappointed by this book. In my opinion, it wasn't worth the ... I spent on it. There are many other more credible books available that are more worth the money.
An invaluable research tool........2001-06-03
For anyone who has a passing interest in the ancient Egyptian culture, to those who need information for school reports or so forth, this book is incredibly useful.
All the entries are listed alphabetically for easy reference and cross referenced as well, so if you wanted to know about a certain queen or Pharaoh, there will be entries listed with more information on subjects pertaining to that particular entry.
Combined with the reference book Who's Who in Ancient Egypt, you have an invaluable set of resource books.
great.......2001-03-31
this book is worth 10 stars. there is so much info. this book has everything in it, including all the pharaoh's from ramesses the great to den. this book talks about the the queen's of egypt from Nefertiti to a'at. the every day things, different cities, religious in egypt, including gods, their spiritual ideals,are all in this book. If you have ever wondered about the armarna, period how many wives ramesses the great had, what egyptian men and women dress was, how dwarf's were looked upon, or what egyptians used for pillows this is the book for you. it's the best book i'v bought and i'm sure that you will love it as much as me.
Nice AEGYPTUS.......2000-01-27
This is a very useful book for young students or beginners, but in Japanese standard it is not an encyclopedia but a mere guide or handbook of the ancient Egypt. The reason is evident. For example, in the item of THOTH we can not find his Egyptian name DHWTY , & nobody can find pharaoh's name written in hierogriph encircled with cartouche. When we edit a dictionary or encyclopedia, if the item is Greek noun, we add Greek alphabet spelling after Japanese name indicating each vowel is long or short, et Latin alphabet aussi & at the end of every item, sources or reference texts.
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