Reasons to Keep Hope Alive in the Face of the FBI’s Report on Black Identity Extremists
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report on “Black Identity Extremists” (BIE) leaked in October 2017 details the supposed dangers of these so-called extremists for law enforcement. The report is highly alarming, not because these alleged identity extremists pose real threats to police officers, but because this report is disturbingly reminiscent of the ways in which the FBI has historically targeted racial justice organizations with the goals of demise. Nonetheless, there are many reasons to maintain hope and to keep fighting. As a scholar who studies anti-racist social movements and nonprofits, I have examined a variety of organizations—from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to #BlackLivesMatter (BLM)—that can inspire hope in the face of potential repression. A robust network of nonprofits, community-based organizations, and social movement organizations are undertaking a range of strategic actions to address racial bias in law enforcement.
In the report, BIEs are defined vaguely, “as individuals who seek, wholly or in part, through unlawful acts of force or violence, in response to perceived racism and injustice in American society and some do so in furtherance of establishing a separate black homeland or autonomous black social institutions, communities or governing organizations within the United States.” The report offers no substantial evidence that the perpetrators in the handful of cases of police killings described were motivated to do so primarily for reasons tied to their identity. What’s more, under such a broad definition, any individual who or group that is characterized as black and in pursuit of justice could be targeted as a BIE.
As others have noted, this report harks back to the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), which violently targeted civil rights activists and organizations seeking racial justice in the 1950s through the 1970s. COINTELPRO expressed explicit goals to target, discredit, neutralize, and destroy black faith-based and civil rights organizations including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panther Party. The FBI program is responsible for the harassment, intimidation, or murder of black leaders, including Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. COINTELPRO did not only focus their attention on the black liberation movement; it also targeted the Puerto Rican independence movement and the American Indian movement. FBI operatives also harassed and intimidated prominent groups of the Chicano/a movement. It is no surprise that the report on alleged BIEs has caused alarm among racial justice activists and advocates, as well as among the broader public.
Jeff Sessions, head of the Justice Department, recently fielded questions about the BIE report when testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. When questioned by Representative Karen Bass, Sessions claimed to have little knowledge of the report. He admitted neither to having read the report, nor to having requested its publication. Despite these troubling facts and distressing history, there are reasons to have hope and many ways to continue to fight for racial justice.
Many anti-racist organizations have clearly studied the US’s fraught racial history and tailored their work accordingly. This is reason for hope. Organizations have chosen leadership structures and organizational practices that seek to circumvent the surveillance, harassment, and violence inflicted by the US government on earlier generations of freedom fighters. For example, many organizations falling under the movement for black lives have implemented democratic decision-making structures; they have sometimes described their movement as “leader-full.” For example, Pastor Michael McBride, who is the director of People Improving Communities through Organizing’s (PICO) Live Free campaign, explained to me, “The building up of local leaders is a huge part of our work. It’s not just that we have these super heroes floating around that everybody looks to, but we make sure that the power is in the people.” At least one organization even keeps its leadership secret from non-members. Another organization only discusses organizational strategy in face-to-face meetings and collects members’ cell phones at these meetings so as not to be surveilled. These practices are in part direct applications of lessons learned from studying the history of “neutralizing” black movements and the systematic targeting of black leaders.
In addition to the ways in which organizations have adapted their structures and practices, many organizations recognize that the problem of racialized surveillance cuts across social cleavages and are forging important alliances. The issue of racial profiling overlaps with issues of Islamophobia and surveillance connected to the war on terror, as well as xenophobia and the racialized practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). For its part, BLM centers intersectional praxis; BLM takes seriously the call to merge questions of racism with those of class bias, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia, to name a few. Many organizations have advocated for local policies that prevent or terminate local law enforcement collaborations with ICE. Perhaps most visibly, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) focuses in particular on the plight of black immigrants, and connects this work to the criminalization of immigrant communities more broadly. A movement that actively seeks to connect the various streams of racialized oppression and criminalization is reason for hope.
Organizations can also give us hope because of the creative ways they are inspiring young people to be civically and politically active. Americans aged 18 to 29 years are the cohort least likely to be politically engaged. Through organizing, creative civil disobedience, mass public protests, shrewd social media campaigns, and partnerships with celebrities, among other strategies, anti-racist organizations are speaking to young Americans. They are inspiring them to get involved. Several organizations, for example the Black Youth Project 100 or Hands Up United are led by young people of color.
We should maintain hope because these organizations are doing far more than disrupting business as usual to get their message out. Various kinds of organizations are involved in work around racially biased policing in particular, and racial justice more broadly, and as a result a diversity of strategies and tactics are being implemented. Training is one such tactic. Inspired by the work of racial justice organizations and the movement for black lives, university campuses across the country have held #BlackLivesMatter teach-ins. NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp offers free trainings to inner-city youth about their rights when interacting with law enforcement. Organizations such as Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP) and Critical Resistance (CR) have held trainings to teach community members alternative options to contacting the police during emergencies. For example, CR has partnered with health workers to train community members in de-escalation and in deciding whether or not it is necessary to call 911. When 911 must be called, they advocate preparing the person who is in crisis, experiencing trauma, or injured by asking questions about criminal history and immigration status. With the person’s consent, they suggest, for example, giving a fake name or holding the person’s ID if they are undocumented.
Organizations are also doing important policy work and participating in local politics. For example, the ACLU of Northern California successfully partnered with diverse California-based organizations as well as state legislators to draft the Racial Profiling and Identity bill, which was signed into law in the fall of 2015. This law expands the definition of identity profiling to include “actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability in deciding which persons to subject to a stop or in deciding the scope or substance of law enforcement activities following a stop.” It also requires that California law enforcement agencies collect data and release regular reports on race, ethnicity, and other identity markers of persons stopped by law enforcement. Some racial justice organizations encourage members to show up for city council meetings or contact elected officials about matters related to racially biased policing. Others are cultivating and encouraging members to run for office. These are just some of the organizational activities that give us reasons to maintain hope.
While maintaining hope is important, you can also get involved. There are many ways to support organizational efforts and participate in achieving racial equity. You can support local, community-based, or grassroots racial justice organizations monetarily; though the holidays have come and gone, donate to an organization in someone’s name and get a tax deduction while you’re at it. Become a dues-paying member of a racial justice organization or volunteer your time. Continue to learn America’s history (and other countries’ histories) of racial domination, and talk to people, particularly those with diverging viewpoints, about what you know. In addition to talking, share your message more widely by tweeting about it, blogging about it, or writing an op-ed in your local newspaper. Lastly, call your local, state and federal elected officials, and demand they make racial justice a priority.