(HIS APOLOGISTS AND THEIR ARGUMENTS)
“RACIST QUOTES THAT NEVER WERE”
WAS HARRY ANSLINGER A RACIST?
“THE RACIST QUOTES THAT NEVER WERE”
YET another argument or talking point that Anslinger’s apologists are now brining up is the sad but true fact that many of the racist quotes attributed to him, simply cannot be documented. Meaning there is no way to establish that Harry Anslinger actually stated them in the first place.
And here it is with some no small amount of sadness that I must also concur. Even I am ashamed of how little background research has been done by those quoting and re-quoting various statements found on the Internet (allegedly made by Anslinger). But ones for which no one seems to be able to locate the originating source. --- Specifically listed below are some of these ‘alleged Anslinger’ quotes:
Quotes Attributed to Hearst Newspaper Publications:
“Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.” ---(attributed to) Hearst newspaper(s) 1935Attributed to Congressional testimony quotes:
“(Reefers) makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.” ---(attributed to) Harry Anslinger as per Hearst newspaper(s) 1920’s
“Marihuana is responsible for the raping of white women by crazed negroes.” ---(attributed to) Hearst newspaper(s) 1930’s
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.” ---(attributed to) Hearst newspaper(s) 1930’s
“. . the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races “ ---(attributed to) Harry Anslinger during congressional hearingsAnd there are probably a few more such golden wonders out there being circulated on the Internet, but I trust the reader gets the idea. For the most part they all seem to be quoting themselves with no real (actual) source of origination. A situation which now begs the following;
“Marihuana leads to pacifism and Communist brainwashing.” — (attributed to) Harry Anslinger during congressional hearings (era 1947-48)
“Negro entertainers with their jazz and swing music are declared an outgrowth of marihuana use which possesses white women to tap their feet.” — statements to Congress by Anslinger, FBN - 1937-50:
- WHERE exactly did these (ah) less then reputable quotes come from?
- And HOW exactly did they get started in the first place?
TWO IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
In order to allow the reader to fully grasp the full meaning of exactly what has happened, we should first go over a couple of simple, yet important concepts.
The first one being the ease with which it is possible to spread false (meaning fake) news via the Internet. And once done, having it take root in a very short period of time.
FOR EXAMPLE, some time ago, "Yours Truly" was building up some webpages and needed a photo that depicted just how sinister Harry Anslinger truly was. However, try as I might, I just wasn’t able to find anything that (given the website) would do him justice. So I took an old photo of Benito Mussolini (one which looked about right), and pasted that in instead.
Now, I wish to make it clear, I meant NO EVIL, I just assumed that everyone would be in-on-the gag.** After all, the concept that Anslinger looked an awful lot like Mussolini had been around for a long, long time and was already well established. There was even a well-known derogatory quote being circulated at around that time:
“But when Anslinger died his [manure]* lived on.”
* Not the exact wording, but close enough.
** See the bottom of this webpage for yet another similar gag. Please note that it’s assumed everyone would know the difference right away.
So again, I just figured everyone else would be in on the gag with no harm done. I mean it was like putting a picture of Hitler up instead of Anslinger’s. It’s expected that everyone would know. --- BUT OH-BOY, was I wrong. The next thing I knew, the Mussolini picture (now Anslinger’s) had spread like wildfire from one website to the other. Some had even done various takeoffs such as coloring it in or adding horns to the man, etc. --- AND NOTE, this was ALL innocently done; there was never any evil intentions of any kind.
The second concept is that of a simple statement of fact, THE NARC’S LIE. And it’s OFFICIAL, we don’t even have to call them that, this is what they themselves are saying about themselves. Essentially they claim that the wording of the Federal “Controlled Substances Act” in-effect MANDATES that they do so.
[--Off page website--]
Yeah, you figure, but there’s not much we can do about it. Just keep in mind that, at least at the federal level, some of them can and do lie.
And maybe there’s a third concept that should also be added here. The simply fact that (for whatever reasons) human nature is lazy and quick to jump at things. Or putting it another way, it appears that few of us out there bother to ever do any fact checking. Thus if someone perceived as having the mantle of authority says something, most people swallow it as the gospel truth. And on this point, I believe that Hitler was right, the bigger the lie, the more people swallow it.
DID THE NARC’S THEMSELVES PLANT THE QUOTES?
Thus, many of us might be tempted to come to the very logical but false conclusion that it was the Narc’s themselves (through the use of agent provocateurs and false flag agents), that generated all those false quotes. The idea being to build up a straw man which could be orally demolished at a given time. Thus, in-effect, discrediting the opposition, and here let’s face facts, it is the kind of thing that these guys do.
HOWEVER, as much as it hurts to say this, after quite an investigation into the matter at hand, it appears that the narc’s (for once in their lives) have clean hands. I must also state that I’ve uncovered the exact originating source * of the quotes themselves. And contrary to common logic and reason, No Narc involvement occurred. Simply put, we can put the blame nowhere else but solely on ourselves for having been so gullible. Well actually, maybe not? In any case, it might be best to go (at least) into some of the details of exactly what happened and even more importantly WHY it happened. But please, don’t think that I’m trying to make excuses for the inexcusable, I’m simply pointing out the facts.
To begin with (as already stated), I’ve been able to locate the exact origination point of most (if not, just about all) of these so-called unverifiable quotes. Thus the concept that the Narc’s had any involvement can automatically be ruled out. A situation which in turn, might lead one to falsely try and put all the blame on the originating source; ---But not so fast.
To begin with, the individual in question (now deceased) had a pretty good knowledge of the subject as well as a track record for accuracy. Something that at the time, (mid-1970’s), very few did. --- For instance, before reading any of her works, the very concept that clothing (at one time) was made out of Industrial Hemp as opposed to cotton, was totally unknown to me. As were numerous other antidotes such as the fact that at one time, it was actually AGAINST THE LAW NOT TO GROW Marihuana in this country! All of this originated from her original writings some 50-years ago. Thus this individual – IN-EFFECT- had the mantle of authority from which to speak. And with an accuracy rate of well over 90%, who was going to challenge her words? However, as already stated, these quotes were inaccurate, well actually let’s use the wording, somewhat inaccurate. -- SO WHAT HAPPENED?
* Thanks to the museum which opened up many doors to me.
QUOTES FROM THE HEARST NEWSPAPER CHAIN
Let’s first look into the (so-called) William Randolph Hearst Newspaper Chain quotes, a subject to which I’ve personally devoted numerous hours of research. Here are the facts as I see them:
- First, granted William Hearst owned a chain of newspapers and as such the quotes could/might have been placed in anyone of them. However, as the ‘San Francisco Examiner’ was his flagship paper, I thus made the presumption that they could/would be found (if they existed at all) within its pages.
- However, after numerous hours (so many numerous hours) of going over old ‘S. F. Examiner’ newspaper archives, I found nothing, zilch zero, Nada, no such animal(s).
- Yet the source (who long ago had passed away) had a pretty good track record of accuracy on such matters.
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”Once more (try as I could), I simply couldn’t find this exact quote. So unless this exact quote was hiding somewhere where I couldn’t see it, it simply wasn’t there to be found. Either Anslinger did not make it or (contrary to rumor) it simply wasn’t published by any Hearst Newspaper. Yet the more I (personally) looked the quote over, the more I was sure that I had seen it! It was almost as if my subconscious was coming forward, telling me, it’s there, it’s there. Then it hit me, instantaneously I understood exactly what had happened. These were not direct quotes, but instead they appear to be composites of several statements (not just one) all made at about the same time. Just a quick examination of that one above quote explains all:
(a)- That most marihuana smokers in the America are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. . . Yes he did say that. [See previous (part 2) section]So obviously the above (often used) quotation was in all probability, not a direct quotation at all (certainly not one that I’ve been able to find), but instead a (put-together) composite of various Anslinger statements. But if so, then this begs two very obvious questions; One being, how exactly did it (and numerous other false quotes) make their way unto the Internet as solid quotations? The other being, (assuming they were false) then why didn’t the Narc’s take advantage of this situation to discredit their opponents?
(b)- Leaving the word “Satanic” out, . . Yes he did say that Jazz (meaning Negro) musicians made use of marihuana.
EXAMPLE: -- As per the PennState Harry Anslinger Collection; “. . . the subject, a fair piano player, crashed the keys, and began a series of wild melodies and vulgar variations, that sounded like the night jungles in the dead of night. It has been said that a marihuana smoker originated swing music. That does not indict such music but indicates that the musical mind is far from the notes in front of him. . . .” [1]
Humm! “Vulgar”, “Night Jungles” , --- that’s not exactly Satanic, but in my book, close enough.
(c)- That marijuana causes white women to seek out sex with blacks; --- That part I’m having some problems with. The words were implied by Anslinger, but to my knowledge, any such references he made during the time period, could have multiple meanings (black + white sex) being but one of them.
(d)- The figure “100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S” could not have come from the 1930’s, at least not from Anslinger’s mouth. However such rounded-up-figures were being bounced around by others at the time, and probably at a later time by Anslinger himself (but only) a number of decades thereafter.
IN ANSWER to the first question, we must first go back and remember that the originating source of these quotes had an extremely good track record of accuracy. And this, given the fact that the Narc’s had spent a lot of time (decades in fact) covering up and censoring the history of Cannabis, was NO SMALL THING. However, after examining her writings, I’ve noticed one very important flaw in her works. She seems to do a good job of documenting the fact that numerous historical events had taken place, but in many cases failed to provide exact date, locations, etc. Example: While brining out the fact that at one time, it was actually AGAINST THE LAW, for citizens not to grow Marihuana. Which is true, but there is a lot of vagueness about specific details. What one can term the How, What, Where, When, etc? Thus forcing me personally to spend a lot of time actually looking for the law(s) before finding them.[2] Thus we are both thankful that she set us on the right track, but very unthankful that she documented things poorly. --- It was while pondering this point that it all then came together for me. It all became so clear and obvious what had happened.
There was NO INTERNET, back in the in the late-1960’s early-1970’s (when she had done most of her research). Thus all research done regarding any Hearst Newspapers archives would have had to be done via microfilm readers. A process I can assure the reader that is very slow (especially without an index), requiring may hours (even weeks and months) of painstaking research. And yes, there were photocopy machine-attachments to those microfilm readers back then, BUT the cost of using them I can assure the reader, was impossibly pricey. [In today’s money, maybe a dollar a copy] Thus anyone writing about their research findings (maybe years or decades thereafter) would have been relying mainly on memory, a few selected photocopies and some written notes with which to work from. And memory, as many psychologists can attest too, is not always perfect. Thus it makes sense (in fact it’s very easy to imagine) that several statements could have been grouped together. Just look over a few of Hearst (S.F. Examiner) newspaper headlines on the subject:
“Marihuana Causes New Peril - Weed Drives Fiends to Murder” -- Feb 25, 1928 p2etc. . . but, just to insure that the reader gets the idea of what was happening at the time, let us look at just one such article (one written long before Anslinger rose to power):
“Menace of Marihuana to Be Described by Examiner” -- Nov. 27, 1932 p1
“Marihuana Gain Bared as Grave Problem in East” -- Jan 22, 1933 p44
“2 Mexicans Seized In Marihuana Sales” -- Feb 13, 1930 p21
“Two Shot In Fresno - Marihuana Crazed Youth Blamed” -- Jun 29, 1939p1
“Murder Smoke” -- Feb 27, 1930p4
“Murder Weed is ripe All Over United States -- Nov. 6, 1933p18
March 26, 1928 p13 – SF Examiner -- “DOPE CRAZED GANG ROUTED BY BULLETS”
Five Mexicans Attack Officer Trying to Halt Row; Another Shot and Three Are Beaten
Rioting marihuana-crazed Mexicans and Oakland policemen battled to the death yesterday with guns, knives and clubs. One of the rioters was shot to death by a bullet from Patrolman A.P. Anderson’s gun. Another was shot and perhaps fatally wounded by a second policeman, and three others were severely beaten while being subdued.
SUMMONED BY BOY.
West Oakland, negro and Mexican Community, was the scene of the Riot. Police are ordered to take no chances when disorder occurs in this district, but Anderson, the man on the beat, tried the persuasive power of argument yesterday when a frightened boy summoned him to a house at 1142 Atlantic street.
Three Mexicans struggling on the front lawn had been quieted by Anderson when two other men ran out of the front and attacked the officer. One was Terozo Guteierrex armed with a length of pipe. Terozo crept behind the policeman and gave him a stunning blow. Before he fall Anderson whipped out his gun and shot his assailant through the head killing him instantly.
RIOT CALL
Terozo’s companion, E. Ordeno. Then leaped for Anderson, but by this time Patrolmen William deLong and Larry Tanner had arrived, and Tanner brought him down with a shot. A riot call summoned detectives and additional policemen and the neighborhood was restored to order.
Now, taking all the nice language out of it, but going solely by what the article says happened:
- Two Mexicans were shot dead by police.
- A number of others were also beaten up and arrested.
- No real reason for these actions was given
- It all took place in a colorful neighborhood
Oh those boys were acting real strange . . .
Oh those boys for sure were hopped up on something . . .
Something like Marihuana ---- Why that’s what it was . . .
And here, please accept me at my word for it, that newspaper story after story pretty much reads the same as the one above. Granted, maybe this line of reasoning wouldn’t work today, but unfortunately, it worked great back in the 1910’s all the way up until the early 1960’s. If the victim was a person of color, MARIHUANA THE KILLER DRUG, could be used to excuse almost any act by a police officer, no matter what.
Meaning that if one were doing microfilm research, this is what one could be expected to read, over and over again. And in addition, actual articles about Harry Anslinger started making their way into the ‘SF Examiner’s pages as far back as 1923 while he was on a diplomatic vice council in Hamburg soon after the War (WW1).[3]
Thus one can see how easily it could/would have been (working from memory, decades after the fact) to have mis-remembered a direct quote. NOW PLEASE, this is not an attempt to excuse bad actions, no historian can/should be allowed to get away with such actions. I’m just pointing out the circumstances behind what occurred.
AS FOR THE ALLEGED STATEMENTS MADE BEFORE CONGRESS
I for one cannot understand exactly how any of these blatantly false statements ever escaped. The Congressional Records (for both the House and the Senate) are a matter of public record and as such are open to anyone. --- And granted, while numerous Anslinger quotes (which now grace the Internet) can indeed be found within these records, there are other ones that can’t.
A situation that brings no end of consternation to many a serious researcher and one that today is being taken advantage of by Anslinger apologists to excuse his racist actions. --- HEY PEOPLE OUT THERE, can’t you do your fact checking? I mean it doesn’t take much time to do, and the clear tip-off that something is wrong is the fact that no-one seems to be able to quote the exact Congressional Record’s page number. Something that is (almost-by-definition) a requirement. Of the following quotes (at least to my knowledge) none of these are locatable.
“. . the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races “ ---(attributed to) Harry Anslinger during congressional hearingsGranted, as this website had documented, Anslinger (as a man) was a racist liar, who believed strongly in censorship, and had the scruples of a sand-crab. However, I am personally of the opinion that whatever else he was, he simply couldn’t have made those statements above.
“Marihuana leads to pacifism and Communist brainwashing.” — (attributed to) Harry Anslinger during congressional hearings (era 1947-48)
“Negro entertainers with their jazz and swing music are declared an outgrowth of marihuana use which possesses white women to tap their feet.” — statements to Congress by Anslinger, FBN - 1937-50:
- Yes, Harry Anslinger was a racist pig, however, with regards to the “Degenerate Races” statement, it appears (by implication) that such a statement would have had to been made before congress long after his infamous “Ginger Color Negro” memo. And as noted previously, he simply wasn’t fool enough to repeat the same mistake twice.
- As for the ‘Cannabis leads to pacifism’ statement, he strongly believed that the Communist nations (at that time) were targeting the U.S. for drug sales. However, the statement “as is” simply doesn’t make sense. From everything I’ve been able to gather about Harry Anslinger, he claimed (right to his dying day) that Cannabis incited one to commit violent crimes. Thus if the quote was actually made, it would have had to been done by one of the post Anslinger drug czars.
“Musicians and dancers gather at private parties, the crowd hums, hands clap and dancing begins to weave in sensuous rhythms. Sensuousness the beginning of the thought, marihuana carries the theme through. Unbelievably ancient the indecent rites of the East Indies are resurrected.” [4]NOW ONCE AGAIN, I am not trying to excuse the un-excusable, but in a way, I find a certain form of poetic justice has taken place. You might say that Anslinger the BIG LIAR was now getting some of his own medicine. Which now takes us back to one of our original questions: --- Why didn’t the Narc’s LONG AGO take advantage of this situation and jump on it to discredit their opponents? The answer is twofold but very simple:
- First, the Narc’s, who have access to all the factual material at hand, know the truth and have known the truth all along. As Belita Nelson (a former DEA spokesperson and now Cannabis active volunteer) stated; -- “Cannabis is safe and the DEA knows it!” Thus the last thing on earth, they want to do is stir up any old memories (good or bad) of exactly how the ‘Brown Skin Marihuana’ laws got on the books in the first place. --- Or as Ms. Nelson stated, -- “they want to keep that cash cow fully in place no matter what.”
- Next, because they know that Anslinger (the racist that he was) probably, somewhere along the line, made such statements. Thus (once more) the last thing on earth that they would want is to stir yet more controversy into the matter. After all, the more controversy the more documents get checked over, and given Anslinger’s record, that wouldn’t be a good idea. At least not if you valued the existence of the Marihuana laws.
HOW THE QUOTES GOT STARTED
After examining many of the original written works from where the (said quotes) originated, I’ve come to the following conclusions:
- First, that while true many of the stated quotes found on the Internet attributed to Anslinger are all too factual, many others were not. Or at least we have not been able to trace them down to their originating source(s).
- Next, while the facts clearly establish Harry Anslinger was (what we today would term) a racist pig, who without doubt made use of such wording in private conversations. Still without actual written proof or without verifiable witnesses (peoples whose testimony would stand up in a court of law) who heard him orally speak such words, it is simply possible to authenticate many of the stated quotes.
- However, after examining the original statements (those that lead to the creation of the quotes), it is of interest to note that they themselves were for the most part, not meant as physical quotes, but solely as historical statements.
- However, somewhere along the line (they appear to start somewhere around the early 1980’s), people started referencing them “With Quotation Marks” attached as if they were physical quotes instead of general statements.
- Soon thereafter it appears that everyone was quoting and re-quoting them as if they were indeed the gospel truth. With no one doing any fact checking.
* To the best of my knowledge, it was only AFTER 2014 that any of Anslinger’s apologists first start using this talking point. I make the presumption that these (mostly) ex-Narc’s finally figured they now had nothing to loose.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1]- PennState Anslinger Collection, Box 9 – File 54 -- Musician(s) (around page 21) – Authorship is not given, but can safely be assumed to have been Harry Anslinger himself. [same writing style, etc.]
[2]- http://reefermadnessmuseum.org/chap04/Virginia/VA_IndHempP1.htm [3]- The first that I’ve been able to find being in The San Francisco Examiner - Feb 09, 1923 p1 followed quickly by another mention (May 22, 1923 p22) “Kiel Canal Traffic Increases in 1922” both dealing with Anslinger time as a Vice Consul in Hamburg.
[4]- see footnote 1.
[5]- see Eureka Axe murder (Gore File) Case –
http://reefermadnessmuseum.org/chap04/California/Ca_Fabricated.htm
http://reefermadnessmuseum.org/chap03B/Eureka/EurekaAxeMurder.htm
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