On March 25th, the New York Times published an article about the massive spying operation by the New York Police Department leading up to the Republican National Convention and the protests that were sure to follow. As is becoming increasingly clear, the NYPD infiltrated organizations that had no intent of breaking the law, let alone in a violent manner. Why really should this be cause for concern? Surely, we’ll begin to hear that tired line. “If they didn’t do anything wrong, they have nothing to fear.” Of course, there are people in this world that know better than to trust such a build up of state power.
The day before this article appeared in the Times, hundreds of thousands were gathered in the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were holding a memorial for the estimated 30,000 people “disappeared” by the military dictatorship that ruled this nation for 7 years. The people in the streets of Buenos Aires were calling for punishment of those that led the killing of unionists, student activists, community leaders, and many that were simply accused of being dissidents. At the front of the march were the mothers of the disappeared, the famed Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, still seeking justice for their children.
Such a situation seems absurd to consider in the United States. Our government doesn’t have the will to violently persecute people based on political or social affiliations. But to say that ignores the US government support for the Argentine military government. It would ignore the Palmer Raids. These raids led to the imprisonment and deportation of over 10,000 labor and social justice leaders in the US. It would ignore McCarthyism. It would ignore COINTELPRO and the assassinations of those in the Black Liberation movement.
When we consider the current state of domestic control and information gathering, do we feel any safer? The PATRIOT Act, Guantánamo, NSA phone tapping, and NYPD spying should worry those in any movement that questions the current political environment. This style of expanding state power needs to be resisted. This is not a road that we can afford to go down. Just ask the Madres in Buenos Aires.
The day before this article appeared in the Times, hundreds of thousands were gathered in the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were holding a memorial for the estimated 30,000 people “disappeared” by the military dictatorship that ruled this nation for 7 years. The people in the streets of Buenos Aires were calling for punishment of those that led the killing of unionists, student activists, community leaders, and many that were simply accused of being dissidents. At the front of the march were the mothers of the disappeared, the famed Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, still seeking justice for their children.
Such a situation seems absurd to consider in the United States. Our government doesn’t have the will to violently persecute people based on political or social affiliations. But to say that ignores the US government support for the Argentine military government. It would ignore the Palmer Raids. These raids led to the imprisonment and deportation of over 10,000 labor and social justice leaders in the US. It would ignore McCarthyism. It would ignore COINTELPRO and the assassinations of those in the Black Liberation movement.
When we consider the current state of domestic control and information gathering, do we feel any safer? The PATRIOT Act, Guantánamo, NSA phone tapping, and NYPD spying should worry those in any movement that questions the current political environment. This style of expanding state power needs to be resisted. This is not a road that we can afford to go down. Just ask the Madres in Buenos Aires.
