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Has anything really changed in essence since the days of J Edgar Hoover et =
al. ? Not in my opinion -- just more snoops and finks, new tech, and vaster=
pastures. The same apathy and fear-based apathy, on the part of much of th=
is country, regardiing spying by so-called "lawmen", seems much like the ol=
d days. H.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Joanne Gavin <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Monday, February 9, 2015 9:54 PM
Subject: "Ghost Readers on the Sly"?
Books
FBI Monitored and Critiqued African-American Authors for Decades
It's safe to say that J. Edgar Hoover's interest was not literary.
ByAlison Flood / The Guardian
February 9, 2015
Lorraine Hansbury, author of "A Raisin in the Sun"
Photo Credit: via YouTube
Newly declassified documents from the FBI reveal how the US federal agency =
under J Edgar Hoover monitored the activities of dozens of prominent Africa=
n American writers for decades, devoting thousands of pages to detailing th=
eir activities and critiquing their work.
Academic William Maxwell first stumbled upon the extent of the surveillance=
when he submitted a freedom of information request for the FBI file of Cla=
ude McKay. The Jamaican-born writer was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissa=
nce, author of the sonnet If We Must Die, supposedly recited by Winston Chu=
rchill, and Maxwell was preparing an edition of his complete poems. When th=
e file came through from the FBI, it stretched to 193 pages and, said Maxwe=
ll, revealed =E2=80=9Cthat the bureau had closely read and aggressively cha=
sed McKay=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 describing him as a =E2=80=9Cnotorious negro r=
evolutionary=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 =E2=80=9Call across the Atlantic world, and=
into Moscow=E2=80=9D.
Maxwell, associate professor of English and African American studies at Was=
hington University in St Louis, decided to investigate further, knowing tha=
t other scholars had already found files on well-known black writers such a=
s Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. He made 106 freedom of information req=
uests about what he describes as =E2=80=9Cnoteworthy Afro-modernists=E2=80=
=9D to the FBI; 51 of those writers had files, ranging from three to 1,884 =
pages each.
=E2=80=9CI suspected there would be more than a few,=E2=80=9D said Maxwell.=
=E2=80=9CI knew Hoover was especially impressed and worried by the busy cr=
ossroads of black protest, leftwing politics, and literary potential. But I=
was surprised to learn that the FBI had read, monitored, and =E2=80=98file=
d=E2=80=99 nearly half of the nationally prominent African American authors=
working from 1919 (Hoover=E2=80=99s first year at the Bureau, and the firs=
t year of the Harlem Renaissance) to 1972 (the year of Hoover=E2=80=99s dea=
th and the peak of the nationalist Black Arts movement). In this, I realise=
d, the FBI had outdone most every other major institution of US literary st=
udy, only fitfully concerned with black writing.=E2=80=9D
Maxwell=E2=80=99s book about his discovery, FB Eyes: How J Edgar Hoover=E2=
=80=99s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature, is out on 18 Febru=
ary from Princeton University Press. It argues that the FBI=E2=80=99s atten=
tion was fuelled by Hoover=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9Cpersonal fascination with bla=
ck culture=E2=80=9D, that =E2=80=9Cthe FBI is perhaps the most dedicated an=
d influential forgotten critic of African American literature=E2=80=9D, and=
that =E2=80=9CAfrican American literature is characterised by a deep aware=
ness of FBI ghostreading=E2=80=9D.
Princeton said that while it is well known that Hoover was hostile to Marti=
n Luther King and the civil rights movement, Maxwell=E2=80=99s forthcoming =
book is the first expos=C3=A9 of =E2=80=9Cthe extent to which the FBI monit=
ored and influenced African American writing=E2=80=9D between 1919 and 1972=
.Taking its title from Richard Wright=E2=80=99s 1949 poem The FB Eye Blues,=
in which the Native Son novelist writes that =E2=80=9Cevery place I look, =
Lord / I find FB eyes / I=E2=80=99m getting sick and tired of gover=E2=80=
=99ment spies=E2=80=9D, the work also posits that for some authors, suspici=
on of the surveillance prompted creative replies.
Digital copies of 49 of the FBI files have been made available to the publi=
c online. =E2=80=9CThe collected files of the entire set of authors compris=
e 13,892 pages, or the rough equivalent of 46 300-page PhD theses,=E2=80=9D=
Maxwell writes in the book. =E2=80=9CFBI ghostreaders genuinely rivalled t=
he productivity of their academic counterparts.=E2=80=9D
The academic told the Guardian that he believes the FBI monitoring stems fr=
om the fact that =E2=80=9Cfrom the beginning of his tenure at the FBI ... H=
oover was exercised by what he saw as an emerging alliance between black li=
teracy and black radicalism=E2=80=9D.
=E2=80=9CThen there=E2=80=99s the fact that many later African American wri=
ters were allied, at one time or another, with socialist and communist poli=
tics in the US,=E2=80=9D he added, with Wright and WEB Du Bois both becomin=
g Communist Party members, Hughes a =E2=80=9Cmajor party sympathiser=E2=80=
=9D, and McKay =E2=80=9Ctoasted by Trotsky and published in Russian as a si=
gnificant Marxist theorist=E2=80=9D.
The files show how the travel arrangements of black writers were closely sc=
rutinised by the FBI, with the passport records of a long list of authors =
=E2=80=9Ccombed for scraps of criminal behaviour and =E2=80=98derogatory in=
formation=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D, writes Maxwell. Some writers were threatened b=
y =E2=80=9C=E2=80=98stops=E2=80=99, instructions to advise and defer to the=
Bureau if a suspect tried to pass through a designated point of entry=E2=
=80=9D to the US.
When McKay went to the Soviet Union, a =E2=80=9Cstop notice=E2=80=9D instru=
cted that the poet should be held for =E2=80=9Cappropriate attention=E2=80=
=9D if he attempted to re-enter the US. In Baltimore, writes Maxwell, FBI a=
gents =E2=80=9Cparaded their seriousness in a bulletin sent straight to Hoo=
ver, boasting of a clued-in =E2=80=98Local Police Department=E2=80=99 on th=
e =E2=80=98lookout=E2=80=99 for one =E2=80=98Claude McKay (colored)=E2=80=
=99 (23 Mar. 1923)=E2=80=9D.
They also reveal how, with the help of informers, the agency reviewed works=
such as Lorraine Hansberry=E2=80=99s A Raisin in the Sun and Ralph Ellison=
=E2=80=99s Invisible Man before publication.
=E2=80=9CWhat did the FBI learn from these dossiers? Several things,=E2=80=
=9D said Maxwell. =E2=80=9CWhere African American writers were travelling, =
especially during their expatriate adventures in Europe, Africa, and Latin =
America. What they were publishing, even while it was still in press.=E2=80=
=9D In the 1950s, he said, the FBI aspired to =E2=80=9Ca foreknowledge of A=
merican publishing so deep that literary threats to the FBI=E2=80=99s reput=
ation could be seen before their public appearance=E2=80=9D.
The bureau also considered =E2=80=9Cwhether certain African Americans shoul=
d be allowed government jobs and White House visits, in the cases of the mo=
st fortunate=E2=80=9D, and =E2=80=9Cwhat the leading minds of black America=
were thinking, and would be thinking=E2=80=9D.
But, he added, =E2=80=9Cthe files also show that some FBI spy-critics could=
n=E2=80=99t help from learning that they liked reading the stuff, for simpl=
e aesthetic reasons=E2=80=9D.
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<div><font face=3D"Verdana" size=3D"2"><br></font></div><b>
Has anything really changed in essence since the days of J Edgar Hoover et =
al. ? Not in my opinion -- just more snoops and finks, new tech, and v=
aster pastures. The same apathy and fear-based apathy, on the part of much =
of this country, regardiing spying by so-called "lawmen", seems much l=
ike the old days. H.</b><br><br><table width=3D"100%" height=3D"400" id=3D"=
201179" border=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td width=3D"100%" valign=3D"top"><div styl=
e=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helve=
tica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: =
rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7836" dir=3D"ltr=
"><span id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7851"><br></span></div><br> <block=
quote id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7604" style=3D"padding-left: 5px; ma=
rgin-top: 5px; margin-left: 5px; border-left-color: rgb(16, 16, 255); borde=
r-left-width: 2px; border-left-style: solid;"> <div id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_142=
3579936678_7603" style=3D"font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helve=
tica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <div id=3D"yui_3=
_16_0_1_1423579936678_7602" style=3D"font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica =
Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div =
id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7601" dir=3D"ltr"> ----- Forwarded Message=
-----<br> <font id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7600" face=3D"Arial" siz=
e=3D"2"> <b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Joanne Gavi=
n <[email protected]><br> <b><span style=3D"font-weight: bo=
ld;">To:</span></b> <br> <b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span=
></b> Monday, February 9, 2015 9:54 PM<br> <b><span style=3D"font-weight: b=
old;">Subject:</span></b> "Ghost Readers on the Sly"?<br> </font> </div> <d=
iv class=3D"y_msg_container" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7855"><br><di=
v id=3D"yiv1428702760"><div id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7854"><div id=
=3D"yui_3_16_0_1_1423579936678_7853" style=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-fam=
ily: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-s=
erif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id=3D"yi=
v1428702760"><div id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59035" styl=
e=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helve=
tica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: =
rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_=
16_0_1_1423521109223_57558">
<span class=3D"yiv1428702760">Books</span>
</div>
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
=20=20=20=20
=20=20=20=20=20=20
=20=20
=20=20=20=20
=20=20
=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_142352110922=
3_57557">
<h1 class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521=
109223_57556">FBI Monitored and Critiqued African-American Authors for Deca=
des</h1>
</div>
=20=20
=20=20=20=20
=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_14235211=
09223_57555">
=20=20=20=20=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_=
57554"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521=
109223_57553"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_=
1423521109223_57552">It's safe to say that J. Edgar Hoover's interest was n=
ot literary.</div></div></div>
</div>
=20=20=20=20
=20=20
=20=20=20=20=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109=
223_57551">
<i class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_14=
23521109223_59237">By</i> <i class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui=
_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59278"><a class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv14287027=
60yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59277" href=3D"http://www.alternet.org/authors=
/alison-flood" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow" mce_href=3D"http://www.al=
ternet.org/authors/alison-flood">Alison Flood</a></i>
/ <span class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702=
760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59241"><span class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yi=
v1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59240"><span class=3D"yiv1428702760" =
id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59239"><a class=3D"yiv1428702=
760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59238" href=3D"http://ww=
w.guardian.co.uk/environment/" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow" mce_href=
=3D"http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/">The Guardian</a></span></span><=
/span> </div>
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109=
223_57550"><i class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_14235=
21109223_59283"><span class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0=
_1_1423521109223_59282"><span class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yu=
i_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59281"><span class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428=
702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59280"><span class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D=
"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59279">February 9, 2015</span></sp=
an></span></span>
</i></div>
=20=20=20=20
=20=20=20=20
=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_142352110922=
3_57547"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_14235=
21109223_57546"><ul class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1=
_1423521109223_57545"><li class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_=
16_0_1_1423521109223_57549"><br class=3D"yiv1428702760"></li></ul></div></d=
iv>
=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_142352110922=
3_57514"><br></div>
=20=20
=20=20
=20=20
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
=20=20
=20=20
=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423=
521109223_57510">
=20=20=20=20=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_=
57509"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521=
109223_57508"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_=
1423521109223_57507"><img class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_=
16_0_1_1423521109223_57511" data-id=3D"ccf44030-ae83-5b68-da93-1fb3fc73a1c0=
"></div></div></div>
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_=
1423521109223_59225">
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423=
521109223_59224"><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0=
_1_1423521109223_59223">Lorraine Hansbury, author of "A Raisin in the Sun"<=
br class=3D"yiv1428702760"><cite class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yui_3_16_0_1=
_1423579936678_7856">Photo Credit: via YouTube</cite></div></div>
</div>
</div>
=20=20=20=20=20=20=20=20
=20=20=20=20
<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223=
_59226">Newly declassified documents from the <a name=3D"auto-linked-t=
ag" id=3D"yiv1428702760auto-linked-tag" href=3D"http://www.theguardian.com/=
us-news/fbi" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow" mce_href=3D"http://www.theg=
uardian.com/us-news/fbi">FBI</a> reveal
how the US federal agency under J Edgar Hoover monitored the activities
of dozens of prominent African American writers for decades, devoting=20
thousands of pages to detailing their activities and critiquing their=20
work.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_142=
3521109223_59227">Academic William Maxwell first stumbled upon the extent o=
f=20
the surveillance when he submitted a freedom of information request for=20
the FBI file of <a title=3D"" class=3D"yiv1428702760" href=3D"http://w=
ww.poetryfoundation.org/bio/claude-mckay" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow=
" mce_href=3D"http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/claude-mckay">Claude McKa=
y</a>.
The Jamaican-born writer was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance,=20
author of the sonnet If We Must Die, supposedly recited by Winston=20
Churchill, and Maxwell was preparing an edition of his complete poems.=20
When the file came through from the FBI, it stretched to 193 pages and,=20
said Maxwell, revealed =E2=80=9Cthat the bureau had closely read and=20
aggressively chased McKay=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 describing him as a =E2=80=9Cn=
otorious negro=20
revolutionary=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 =E2=80=9Call across the Atlantic world, an=
d into Moscow=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv14287027=
60yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59228">Maxwell,
associate professor of English and African American studies at=20
Washington University in St Louis, decided to investigate further,=20
knowing that other scholars had already found files on well-known black=20
writers such as Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. He made 106 freedom=20
of information requests about what he describes as =E2=80=9Cnoteworthy=20
Afro-modernists=E2=80=9D to the FBI; 51 of those writers had files, ranging=
from
three to 1,884 pages each.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760">=E2=80=9CI
suspected there would be more than a few,=E2=80=9D said Maxwell. =E2=80=9C=
I knew Hoover
was especially impressed and worried by the busy crossroads of black=20
protest, leftwing politics, and literary potential. But I was surprised=20
to learn that the FBI had read, monitored, and =E2=80=98filed=E2=80=99 near=
ly half of=20
the nationally prominent African American authors working from 1919=20
(Hoover=E2=80=99s first year at the Bureau, and the first year of the Harle=
m=20
Renaissance) to 1972 (the year of Hoover=E2=80=99s death and the peak of th=
e=20
nationalist Black Arts movement). In this, I realised, the FBI had=20
outdone most every other major institution of US literary study, only=20
fitfully concerned with black writing.=E2=80=9D</div><div class=3D"yiv14287=
02760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59229">Maxwell=E2=80=
=99s book about his=20
discovery, FB Eyes: How J Edgar Hoover=E2=80=99s Ghostreaders Framed Africa=
n=20
American Literature, is out on 18 February from <a title=3D"" class=3D=
"yiv1428702760" href=3D"http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10321.html" targe=
t=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow" mce_href=3D"http://press.princeton.edu/titles=
/10321.html">Princeton University Press</a>.
It argues that the FBI=E2=80=99s attention was fuelled by Hoover=E2=80=99s=
=E2=80=9Cpersonal=20
fascination with black culture=E2=80=9D, that =E2=80=9Cthe FBI is perhaps t=
he most=20
dedicated and influential forgotten critic of African American=20
literature=E2=80=9D, and that =E2=80=9CAfrican American literature is chara=
cterised by a
deep awareness of FBI ghostreading=E2=80=9D.</div>Princeton said that whil=
e it is
well known that Hoover was hostile to Martin Luther King and the civil=20
rights movement, Maxwell=E2=80=99s forthcoming book is the first expos=C3=
=A9 of =E2=80=9Cthe=20
extent to which the FBI monitored and influenced African American=20
writing=E2=80=9D between 1919 and 1972.<div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"y=
iv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59230">Taking its title from Richard=
Wright=E2=80=99s
1949 poem The FB Eye Blues, in which the Native Son novelist writes=20
that =E2=80=9Cevery place I look, Lord / I find FB eyes / I=E2=80=99m getti=
ng sick and=20
tired of gover=E2=80=99ment spies=E2=80=9D, the work also posits that for s=
ome authors,=20
suspicion of the surveillance prompted creative replies.</div><div class=3D=
"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59231">Digita=
l copies of 49 of the FBI files have been <a title=3D"" class=3D"yiv14=
28702760" href=3D"http://digital.wustl.edu/fbeyes/" target=3D"_blank" rel=
=3D"nofollow" mce_href=3D"http://digital.wustl.edu/fbeyes/">made available =
to the public</a> online.
=E2=80=9CThe collected files of the entire set of authors comprise 13,892=
=20
pages, or the rough equivalent of 46 300-page PhD theses,=E2=80=9D Maxwell=
=20
writes in the book. =E2=80=9CFBI ghostreaders genuinely rivalled the=20
productivity of their academic counterparts.=E2=80=9D</div><div class=3D"yi=
v1428702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59232">The acade=
mic told=20
the Guardian that he believes the FBI monitoring stems from the fact=20
that =E2=80=9Cfrom the beginning of his tenure at the FBI ... Hoover=20
was exercised by what he saw as an emerging alliance between black=20
literacy and black radicalism=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" i=
d=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_59233">=E2=80=9CThen there=E2=
=80=99s the fact that many=20
later African American writers were allied, at one time or another, with
socialist and communist politics in the US,=E2=80=9D he added, with Wright=
and=20
WEB Du Bois both becoming Communist Party members, Hughes a =E2=80=9Cmajor =
party
sympathiser=E2=80=9D, and McKay =E2=80=9Ctoasted by Trotsky and published =
in Russian as
a significant Marxist theorist=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760"=
id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_57499">The files show how th=
e travel=20
arrangements of black writers were closely scrutinised by the FBI, with=20
the passport records of a long list of authors =E2=80=9Ccombed for scraps o=
f=20
criminal behaviour and =E2=80=98derogatory information=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D, w=
rites Maxwell. Some=20
writers were threatened by =E2=80=9C=E2=80=98stops=E2=80=99, instructions t=
o advise and defer to
the Bureau if a suspect tried to pass through a designated point of=20
entry=E2=80=9D to the US.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv142870=
2760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_57500">When McKay went to the Soviet Union, =
a =E2=80=9Cstop=20
notice=E2=80=9D instructed that the poet should be held for =E2=80=9Capprop=
riate=20
attention=E2=80=9D if he attempted to re-enter the US. In Baltimore, writes=
=20
Maxwell, FBI agents =E2=80=9Cparaded their seriousness in a bulletin sent=20
straight to Hoover, boasting of a clued-in =E2=80=98Local Police Department=
=E2=80=99 on=20
the =E2=80=98lookout=E2=80=99 for one =E2=80=98Claude McKay (colored)=E2=80=
=99 (23 Mar. 1923)=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760" id=3D"yiv142=
8702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_57501">They also reveal how, with the hel=
p of informers, the agency reviewed works such as Lorraine Hansberry=E2=80=
=99s <a title=3D"" class=3D"yiv1428702760" href=3D"http://www.theguard=
ian.com/stage/a-raisin-in-the-sun" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"nofollow" mce_h=
ref=3D"http://www.theguardian.com/stage/a-raisin-in-the-sun">A Raisin in th=
e Sun</a> and Ralph Ellison=E2=80=99s Invisible Man before publication=
.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760">=E2=80=9CWhat
did the FBI learn from these dossiers? Several things,=E2=80=9D said Maxwe=
ll.=20
=E2=80=9CWhere African American writers were travelling, especially during =
their
expatriate adventures in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. What they=20
were publishing, even while it was still in press.=E2=80=9D In the 1950s, h=
e=20
said, the FBI aspired to =E2=80=9Ca foreknowledge of American publishing so=
deep
that literary threats to the FBI=E2=80=99s reputation could be seen before=
=20
their public appearance=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760">The
bureau also considered =E2=80=9Cwhether certain African Americans should b=
e=20
allowed government jobs and White House visits, in the cases of the most
fortunate=E2=80=9D, and =E2=80=9Cwhat the leading minds of black America w=
ere thinking,
and would be thinking=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv1428702760">But, he =
added, =E2=80=9Cthe files also show that=20
some FBI spy-critics couldn=E2=80=99t help from learning that they liked re=
ading
the stuff, for simple aesthetic reasons=E2=80=9D.</div><div class=3D"yiv14=
28702760" id=3D"yiv1428702760yui_3_16_0_1_1423521109223_57383"><br class=3D=
"yiv1428702760"></div></div></div></div></div></div><br><br></div> </div> <=
/div> </blockquote> </div></tr></tbody></table>
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