Racial Matters: The FBI's Secret File on Black America, 1960-1972 [Paperback]

Kenneth O'Reilly (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 1, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0029236827 | ISBN-13: 978-0029236826 | Edition: 1st Free Press Ppbk Ed. 1991

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In thousands of civil rights skirmishes, FBI agents stood by passively as protesters were beaten by Ku Klux Klansmen and segregationists. In this searing expose, O'Reilly ( Hoover and the Un-Americans ) argues persuasively that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to destroy the civil rights movement made headway because the Kennedy and Johnson administrations tolerated it. With information from declassified FBI files and other documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, O'Reilly, who teaches at the University of Alaska, demonstrates that the FBI deployed an army of some 7000 "ghetto informants" to spy on black political groups. A zealous FBI campaign helped destroy the Black Panther party; electronic surveillance, break-ins and mail-openings extended to black student groups. Among the 1191 names on the FBI's "Agitator Index" was that of Jesse Jackson, who was subjected to wiretaps and other forms of surveillance. Under Nixon, FBI programs directed against blacks continued, according to O'Reilly. This important book complements Herbert Mitgang's Dangerous Dossiers.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This book is essential reading for every American concerned not simply for the vision of a just and equal society, but also about the way the nation's central law enforcement agency, the FBI, set its energy and organizational commitments against the civil rights movement. Driven by his own racism, J. Edgar Hoover turns out, in O'Reilly's account, to be as central a figure in the opposition to the movement as any Klansman. From his earliest days in the Bureau through the events of 1963 and 1964 and after, Hoover waged covert war not simply against Martin Luther King Jr. but all black activists. The book is a powerful, necessary corrective not only to the recent film Mississippi Burning but to a generation and more of myth-making about Hoover and his (white) G-men. It is an important addition to civil rights literature.
- Henry Steck, SUNY Coll. at Cortland
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 468 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st Free Press Ppbk Ed. 1991 edition (April 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029236827
• ISBN-13: 978-0029236826
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's worth the purchase. October 6, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

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!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A insight into Cointelpro October 9, 2002

By rodog63jr

Format:Paperback

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.

4 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A whole lotta nothin September 4, 2007

By K. D. Potts

Format:Paperback

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.