Racial Matters: The FBI's Secret File on Black America, 1960-1972

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history. Kenneth O'Reilly's book provides a glimpse into the relationship between President Lyndon B. Johnson, (LBJ), and J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). O'Reilly examined their relationship through the response that both men exhibited to the urban riots that started in the summer of 1964. O'Reilly stated that LBJ, "turned to the FBI for help in managing the politics of the 1960's riots, not because he thought the FBI could be trusted, but because he thought the FBI could be controlled" (92). The Johnson administration was caught off guard when the riots broke out in northern cities because the administration had been totally fixated on the Jim Crow South. The spark that ignited the chain of rioting took place a little over two weeks after LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The impetus for the riots was the shooting of a fifteen-year-old Negro boy by an off-duty police officer in New York City. Over the next several weeks rioting spread through Brooklyn, Rochester, and then to New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. LBJ saw these riots as a threat to all of the hard work he had accomplished with his Great Society programs. More importantly, O'Reilly's research showed that LBJ saw the riots had the potential to become a serious political threat to his re-election. Both the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, and the segregationist George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, who was polling well in early Democratic primaries, had argued against passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Great Society. Both men predicted that they would give too much away to people who would just become lawless, lazy, and would not develop any work ethic. As these riots took place, LBJ envisioned votes slipping away from him in the upcoming November election and he knew that he had to act. LBJ feared that southerners would turn their backs on the Democrats and vote Republican, so he turned to Hoover and the FBI for help, which O'Reilly's research showed to be a monumental mistake. LBJ held a strategy meeting about the riots with Hoover on July 22nd. He told Hoover that he was convinced that Communist agitators and right-wing elements had their hands in these riots, and LBJ asked Hoover to gather and report his findings about the involvement of these subversive elements. LBJ's beliefs about the radical support to the riots were music to Hoover's ears, since he was a rabid anti-Communist. In addition, in a strange twist in politics, LBJ received and used the help of Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948. Dewey became fed up with Goldwater's brand of conservatism. LBJ was happy to receive Dewey's help and used Dewey to finalize and draft the report of the FBI's findings, because Dewey still enjoyed the well-deserved reputation as a crime fighter from his days as New York's district attorney in the 1930's. O'Reill

This books details the relationship of The FBI and its director J. Edgar Hoover with Black America. It is clear from reading this book, that the FBI was the enemy. It only supported Civil Rights because of popular opinion. The FBI investigated the Viola Luizzo and Mississippi murders because whites were murdered and a FBI informant was riding in the car with the murderers of Mrs. Luizzo. This book shows how Hoover used his prestige during the 1960's riots to undermine Lyndon Johnson and help elect Richard Nixon. In addition to the character assination of Dr. King, this book details the harassment of the Black movement in general. The operations against The Black Panther Party are also in this book. This book is worth reading.

To answer the reviewer's question, it's worth the purchase. I read this book when I was a high school student working at a public library. I came across it and read word for word what the author has written. The spearhead of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, were instigators of the civil rights movement, slandering prominent and potent leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and bringing down the Black Panther's Party. As I read this book at the bus station, a sister sitting next to me wanted to know what I was reading. I showed her the book title and the author. Her response was, "You can't believe everything the white man says." If she read this book, she would definitely believe what the author says!