The price of dissent : testimonies to political repression in America

Bud and Ruth Schultz's vivid oral history presents the extraordinary testimony of people who experienced government repression and persecution firsthand. Drawn from three of the most significant social movements of our time--the labor, Black freedom, and antiwar movements--these engrossing interviews bring to life the experiences of Americans who acted upon their beliefs despite the price they paid for their dissent. In doing so, they--and the movements they were part of--helped shape the political and social landscape of the United States from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century. The majority of the voices in this book belong to everyday people--workers, priests, teachers, students--but more well-known figures such as Congressman John Lewis, Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), Abbie Hoffman, and Daniel Ellsberg are also included. There are firsthand accounts by leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World, active early in the century; Southern Tenant Farmers Union of the 1930s; Women's Strike for Peace, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Berkeley's Free Speech Movement of the 1950s and 1960s; and the Hormel meatpackers' Local P-9 in the 1980s. Lively introductions by the authors contextualize these personal statements. Those who tell their stories in The Price of Dissent, and others like them, faced surveillance and disruption from police agencies, such as the FBI; brutalization by local police; local ordinances and court injunctions limiting protest; inquisitions into beliefs and associations by congressional committees; prosecution under laws that curbed dissent; denaturalization and deportation; and purges under government loyalty programs. Agree with them or not, by dissenting when it was unpopular or dangerous to do so, they insisted on exercising the precious American right of free expression and preserved it for a new century's dissenters. Focuses On The Activists In Three Of The Most Dramatic, Sustained Social Movements Of The Twentieth Century: The Labor, Civil Rights, And Antiwar Movements. Provides An Overview And Brief History Of Each Of These Movements. Activists In Each Of These Movements Recall The Courage Needed To Stand Up To Resistance From The Police And The Government (from The Fbi To Congress And The White House), And The Struggle To Overcome Violence And Accusations Of Treachery And Subversion. The Unrelenting Campaign Against The Industrial Workers Of The World / Fred Thompson -- African American Sharecroppers: Repression As A Way Of Life / George Stith -- Prewar Red Scare: Holding Militant Teamsters At Bay / Harry Deboer And Jake Cooper -- Postwar Tests Of Loyalty: Attempts To Silence An Auto Workers' Spokesman / Stanley Nowak -- Imposing Cold War Orthodoxy: A Teachers Union Under Attack / Mildred Grossman -- The Purge Of The Left: Expelling International Unions From The Cio / Ernest Demaio -- A Pittsburgh Story: Two Rank-and-file Labor Leaders And A Labor Priest / Margaret (peg) Stasik, Charles Owen Rice, Joseph (sonny) Robinson -- The Local P-9 Meatpackers, Strike, Austin, Minnesota / Local P-9 Strikers And Supporters: Cecil Cain [and Others] -- Eradicating A Powerful, Defiant Voice From The American Consciousness / Paul Robeson, Jr. -- Facing Up To Southern Terror / Walter Bergman, John Lewis, Fred Shuttlesworth -- In The Midst Of The Storm / Anne Braden -- The Crucible Of Lowndes County, Alabama, And Emergent Black Power / Johnny Jackson, Kwame Ture (stokely Carmichael) -- The Assault On The Black Panther Party: The Murder Of Fred Hampton / Ron Satchel, Akua Njeri (deborah Johnson), Flint Taylor -- Undercutting African American Elected Officials / Mervyn Dymally -- Huac And The Irrepressible Women Strike For Peace / Dagmar Wilson -- Berkeley's Free Speech Movement: A Prelude / Jackie Goldberg -- Harassing Antiwar Demonstrators / Norma Becker -- Huac, The Police, The Fbi, The Courts: Containing An Extraordinary Generation / Abbie Hoffman -- Retribution For Acts Of Conscience / Daniel Ellsberg, Samuel Popkin -- The Shootings At Kent State / Roseann (chic) Canfora And Alan Canfora -- The Fbi And The Committee In Solidarity With The People Of El Salvador / Jack Ryan [et Al.] -- Holding The Chicago Red Squad Accountable / Chicago Red Squad Targets: Richard (rick) Gutman [and Others]. Bud Schultz, Ruth Schultz. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 435-454) And Index. This oral history presents the testimony of people who experienced government repression and persecution firsthand in America. The interviews are drawn from three of the most significant social movements of our time - the labour, black freedom, and antiwar movements.