Reading the COINTELPRO documents made me think. It made me wonder, why would the government go through such great lengths to hinder organizations with seemingly righteous causes? Why instead of attempting to help these groups and improve the status of African Americans throughout the country, would they seek to "disrupt, misdirect, [and] discredit," these organizations?
First let's examine the language:
disrupt: 1. to throw into disorder 2. to interrupt the normal course of unity
misdirect: 1. to give wrong direction to
discredit: 1. to refuse to accept as true or accurate 2. to cause disbelief in the accuracy or authority of 3. to deprive of good repute: Disgrace
Based on the definitions of these words, which come directly from official COINTELPRO documentation, it is clear that the government set out to sabotage Black and/or Civil Rights Organizations, and leadership.
It seems to me that if instead of creating programs to interfere with the goals of these organizations working toward the advancement of African Americans, the government could have created programs which championed the objectives of organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Then, maybe the need to "counter their propensity for violence and civil disorder," would not have been necessary.
So... as I was reading this document, I reached goal number two of this particular COINTELPRO initiative, to "Prevent the rise of a 'messiah' who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement." This particular statement caused my mind to travel to areas of thought that may be uncomfortable even for me (I promise I'm not a conspiracy theorist).
I thought of President Obama, and a question came to mind... Is President Obama the quintessential Black leader?
While his presidency is probably the greatest accomplishment in African American history to date, I don't think I can classify President Obama as a Black leader. Not in the same sense that Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King, Jr. were Black leaders. Don't get me wrong, I SINCERELY love Mr. Barack Obama, his existence makes me smile, and what he represents is absolutely astonishing, however his goals can not simply be the advancement of Blacks in American. After all, he is the whole president. He is responsible for the well being of all Americans, black, white, brown and so forth.
So... this is where my thinking gets a little crazy (but I promise I'm not a conspiracy theorist)...
I was thinking, has the government gotten over on us again?... Is the election of President Obama --a Black man-- just a ploy to make us believe that the need for Black leadership is no more. Is the government trying to confuse us? I mean, clearly, it's not a stretch of the imagination, just look at the goals of COINTELPRO (this statement came directly from the documents: "When an opportunity is apparant to disrupt or neutralize black nationalist, hate-type organizations through the cooperation of established local news media contacts or through such contact with sources available to the Seat of Government, in every instance careful attention must be given to the proposal to insure the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited through the publicity and not merely publicized. ").
I don't want to discredit the American people, because I do believe that we have made great stride toward overcoming racism in this country, and I know that the election of President Obama gave many a renewed sense of faith in our country. But, it was obvious that before the election, during the campaigns, that the media was biased toward a certain candidate (I'm just saying).
I guess my thought process lead me to this conclusion:
According to the National Urban Leagues State of Black America 2009, Blacks are twice as likely as whites to be unemployed and tree times more likely to live in poverty. So we must continue to develop leaders within our community who will champion our causes. And we must continue to hold the government responsible for the living conditions of all Americans. And we must challenge our government to help us to improve our place in society, regardless of who is in the white house.
Sincerely,
TSH
*To read the entire COINTELPRO document click here.
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