It Did Happen Here: Recollections of Political Repression in America

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. (May)