It Did Happen Here: Recollections of Political Repression in America

This historical study of American political repression examines the denial of constitutional rights to individuals who challenge existing social or economic institutions

The tales of political repression compiled here belong to this century and are not confined to the McCarthy era. The government's repression of dissent has relied on an arsenal of techniques, from loyalty tests and punitive grand juries to police violence, paid informers and the FBI's secret, illegal Cointelpro operation against leftist groups and union and civil rights leaders. Among the 34 who speak out here are Leonard Peltier, jailed American Indian activist denied the new trial many feel he deserves, and Margaret Randall, feminist author threatened with deportation because she allegedly advocated world communism. Pete Seeger, Benjamin Spock, Scott Nearing and Ring Lardner Jr. add their testimonies. Other victims of state interference include Wobbly organizer Jack Miller; Minoru Yasui, imprisoned in a WW II internment camp because of his Japanese-American ancestry; and civil rights activist Chuck McDew, jailed in Louisiana under an antiquated "criminal anarchy" statute. This compelling casebook compiled by a pair of Connecticut freelancers effectively makes the point that the assault on constitutional rights is not an isolated or long-vanished phenomenon. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Police gunfire at Wobblies in 1916, the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans, and domestic FBI action in the 1970s all exemplify the political repression the Schultzes argue has been pervasive in 20th-century in America. They present interviews with 33 persons, some familiar (Scott Nearing and Ring Lardner Jr. ) but most whose ordeals are not widely known. These grave abuses ought to be lodged in historical memory; unfortunately, the interviews have been edited into a sameness of voice that detracts from their power, and readers may have difficulty in recalling one from the other. Still, whether or not one sees with Victor Navasky (in a foreword) the danger of a police state, the book is affecting and should be an optional choice for public and college libraries. A sequel is planned.
- Robert F. Nardini, N. Chichester, N . H.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.