The Bishop's Pawn (Cotton Malone #13)(45)
I counted the photographic images in the files.
245.
And as fascinating and eye opening as most of the pages were, there were a few that genuinely shocked me.
Chapter Twenty-seven
July 28, 1967
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Internal Security-C
For CIP Supervisor Only
A confidential source who has furnished reliable information in the past reports a private conversation with MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. The topic was the ongoing racial riots in Detroit. At present the toll from that riot is 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. KING blamed the situation on Congress, who has consistently refused to vote a halt to, as he described, “the destruction of the lives of Negroes in the ghetto.” He equated the ongoing violence in terms of race saying that “white affluence amid black poverty will never lead to racial harmony.” He pointed out that Negroes know that a society able to plan intercontinental war and interplanetary travel is able to plan a place for them. For Congress and white society in general to do little or nothing is as inflammatory as inciting a riot, so the current state of violence should not be any surprise.
August 11, 1967
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Internal Security-C
For CIP Supervisor Only
A confidential source who has furnished reliable information in the past reports a private conversation that occurred at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, California, between MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. and RALPH ABERNATHY.
KING discussed the American Negro’s present situation and stated that there has never been any real commitment by white people concerning “black equality.” He emphasized that racial injustice is the “black man’s burden and the white man’s shame.” Riots are the natural result of intolerable conditions. Another cause of riots, in KING’S opinion, is Congress, which he considers hypercritical and insensitive. He blames legislatures across the country (and especially Congress) for failing to pass fair housing bills; labor unions for keeping Negroes out of unions; and the white clergy for remaining silent. He warned they should all be careful as “a destructive minority can destroy the majority.”
He also spoke about President JOHNSON, who he says is more interested in winning the war in Vietnam than winning the war on poverty. He stated that Congress is more concerned with rats than Negroes since it at least proposed a bill (which failed to pass) that would have provided aid to inner-city rat infestations, while doing absolutely nothing about fair housing for Negroes.
August 14, 1967
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Internal Security-C
For CIP Supervisor Only
A confidential source who has furnished reliable information in the past reports that MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. has been suffering for the past few weeks from a growing mental depression. The July racial riots in Detroit and Newark weigh heavy on his mind. His diminished mental state has been aggravated by physical exhaustion, the result of nearly constant traveling over the past decade.
KING was not comforted by the fact, as was pointed out to him, that the vast majority of blacks in Detroit and Newark did not participate in the rioting, perhaps demonstrating the effectiveness of his policy on nonviolence. The source reported that KING has stayed quiet and subdued since July, speaking more about the Vietnam War than usual. The source stated that the war, to KING, was now more serious than anything else in the world. He deplores the war for wasting national resources and unnecessarily destroying lives and society. In his opinion the conflict has isolated the United States morally and politically and scarred the image of the nation. Even worse, it has directed attention away from civil rights. KING stated emphatically that attention must be drawn back to civil rights.
The source reported that KING remains concerned about the FBI and Hoover. He knows they are still watching him but hopes that things stay relatively civil. He feels that his relationship with the president, though troubled, is enough to ensure that Hoover will be kept under control. Attorney General RAMSEY CLARK is regarded by KING as both a personal friend and a friend to the entire civil rights movement.
August 25, 1967
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Internal Security-C
TO ALL FIELD OFFICES ONLY
The purpose of this new counterintelligence endeavor program (COINTELPRO) directed at black nationalist-hate groups is to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist hate-type organizations and groupings, their leadership, spokesmen, membership, and supporters, and to counter their propensity for violence and civil disorder.
The activities of all such groups of intelligence interest to the Bureau must be followed on a continuous basis so we will be in a position to promptly take advantage of all opportunities for counterintelligence and inspire action in instances where circumstances warrant. The pernicious background of such groups, their duplicity, and devious maneuvers must be exposed to public scrutiny where such publicity will have a neutralizing effect. Efforts of the various groups to consolidate their forces or to recruit new or youthful adherents must be frustrated.
NO OPPORTUNITY SHOULD BE MISSED TO EXPLOIT THROUGH COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES THE ORGANIZATIONAL AND PERSONAL CONFLICTS OF THE LEADERSHIPS OF THE GROUPS AND WHERE POSSIBLE AN EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO CAPITALIZE UPON EXISTING CONFLICTS BETWEEN COMPETING BLACK NATIONALIST ORGANIZATIONS.