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I can't even imagine how muted the Civil Rights era would have been had the FBI had this power back then.

by LarryDarrell 6y ago

ta1234567890 6y ago
You don't even need to imagine it, that's the reality we are living in right now.
- monadic2 6y ago
  Seriously. The FBI was watching Black Lives Matter activists for a while as “black identity extremists.” For merely saying “black lives matter” in the street.
  - duxup 6y ago
    Similar things were happening during the Civil Rights era.
jimbob45 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_lette... Let's not pretend that things are materially worse than they were back then. We certainly aren't blackmailing civil rights leaders into suicide anymore within the FBI.
- eiji 6y ago
  No. We just try to jail them or their children. E.g. Michael Flynn.
  - maerF0x0 6y ago
    You're being downvoted. Can you please explain what you mean, how it relates and link to sources?
- cwkoss 6y ago
  How do we know they aren't? King letter only came to light because citizens stole it from an FBI office. Maybe the FBI just has tighter security now.
  - ta17711771 6y ago
    Ding-ding-ding.
- nabnob 6y ago
  That's actually not true, and that's a really big assumption to make without evidence or direct experience. Radical activists today still face state suppression. I know of a communist in Austin who had an FBI file because he led lots of actions, which (I think) he discovered through FOIA requests. In 2018, the Austin PD colluded with two people who claimed this guy assaulted them while he was armed, which was completely false. He's in prison now.
duxup 6y ago
During the Civil Rights era things were pretty terrible. I don't know how you measure the two but I think your vague implication here is pretty wrong / represents a real misunderstanding of what the government was up to in the civil rights era...

I can't even imagine how muted the Civil Rights era would have been had the FBI had this power back then.

ta1234567890 6y ago

You don't even need to imagine it, that's the reality we are living in right now.

monadic2 6y ago
Seriously. The FBI was watching Black Lives Matter activists for a while as “black identity extremists.” For merely saying “black lives matter” in the street.
- duxup 6y ago
  Similar things were happening during the Civil Rights era.

jimbob45 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_lette... Let's not pretend that things are materially worse than they were back then. We certainly aren't blackmailing civil rights leaders into suicide anymore within the FBI.

eiji 6y ago
No. We just try to jail them or their children. E.g. Michael Flynn.
- maerF0x0 6y ago
  You're being downvoted. Can you please explain what you mean, how it relates and link to sources?
cwkoss 6y ago
How do we know they aren't? King letter only came to light because citizens stole it from an FBI office. Maybe the FBI just has tighter security now.
- ta17711771 6y ago
  Ding-ding-ding.
nabnob 6y ago
That's actually not true, and that's a really big assumption to make without evidence or direct experience. Radical activists today still face state suppression. I know of a communist in Austin who had an FBI file because he led lots of actions, which (I think) he discovered through FOIA requests. In 2018, the Austin PD colluded with two people who claimed this guy assaulted them while he was armed, which was completely false. He's in prison now.

duxup 6y ago

During the Civil Rights era things were pretty terrible. I don't know how you measure the two but I think your vague implication here is pretty wrong / represents a real misunderstanding of what the government was up to in the civil rights era...