WAS HARRY ANSLINGER A RACIST?
--- HELL YEAH, AND A BIG ONE AT THAT
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SUMMARY: Yes Harry Anslinger was an out and out racist in every sense of the word, and the evidence clearly states so. |
EDITORIAL NOTE: Granted, due to the subject matter at hand, some of the following has to be opinion with a bit of speculation thrown in. However, the reader can rest assured that as far as is humanly possible, every effort has been made to remove human prejudices and allow the facts to speak for themselves. In effect we’ve followed where the facts lead.Was Harry Anslinger (orchestrator of the Reefer Madness Hysteria Campaign) a RACIST PIG?
This is a question of no trivial importance for many today. Especially as many are now beginning to question the very nature of our present day Drug War; ---In effect calling it a “War On Blacks” instead. Thus the origins, especially of the ‘Brown Skin Marihuana Laws’ as well as the mind-set of those who had a role in creating them, take on an ever-growing significant importance. Surpassingly enough, there are groups of his defenders that are now openly stating the very opposite. They claim that Anslinger himself WAS NOT A RACIST at all, but instead (so we are asked to presume) simply a man doing his job. And to establish their case, these individuals point to the following:
- That other than the now infamous, ‘Ginger Colored Negro’ memo, there is no other solid proof to establish that Anslinger ever even said anything derogatorily about blacks. Some of his apologists even go so far as to imply that Anslinger himself had nothing to do with the memo, but instead it was simply the work of a desk clerk somewhere. Thus his only crime being not having read the memo properly before signing off on it.
- That many of the racists quotes attributed to him cannot be documented. Meaning there is no way to establish that he actually stated them in the first place.
- That Anslinger, acting as head of the DEA (then known as the Bureau of Narcotics), in effect hired black agents into his bureau LONG BEFORE Martin Luther King’s name had even been heard.
- That (as shocking as this sounds), Anslinger had little or no role in the Reefer Madness campaign itself. That (in effect) it was simply something that was going on around him at the time he became commissioner of Narcotics. --- Thus he didn’t have anything to do with the creation of the movie ‘Reefer Madness,’ nor did he help create the hysteria campaign, etc.
- As well as a myriad of other minor/oddball excuses for Ansligner’s racist behavior. Everything from his role in the film ‘Reefer Madness’, to fake excuses about what was known about Cannabis at the time, etc.
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(a)- That research (into Marihuana) at the time was scant and contradictory, so it was easy to believe the worst.
(b)- That marijuana quickly became associated in the minds of the public with violent crime. Again with Ansligner playing no role in this; ---he just had the unfortunate timing of being commissioner at the time.
(c)- During that period, defense attorneys began using marijuana intoxication as a mitigating factor in violent-crime cases.
(d)- Thus it was Congress, not Anslinger that insisted on Marihuana being brought under Federal Control.
“In the early 1930s, marijuana was limited to itinerant Mexican workers along the southwest border, jazz musicians and those of Bohemian lifestyle. But by the mid-1930s, there was a rapid spread of marijuana use, particularly among young people. . . As part of his campaign, Anslinger dramatized newspaper accounts of the violent criminal prosecutions in which the marijuana defense had been introduced. But it backfired. Horrified parents demanded the federal government do more. And with much of the marijuana originating from Mexico, Border States clamored for the federal government to take charge. “ [1]So Anslinger apologists claim (or would have us believe) that Harry Anslinger himself had little or nothing to do with the hysteria campaign that led to the creation of the ‘Brown-Skin-Marihuana’ laws. Thus how could it be said that he is a racist pig? --- In reply the answer is simple, BECAUSE HE WAS A RACIST PIG, THAT’S WHY. This article (book addendum actually) seeks to establish this as a fact.
But so as to clarify the situation, we should also state that NOT ONLY was Anslinger clearly a racist, but that he was also a LIAR, and a man without scruples or remorse of any kind. You might say that a good Christian he wasn’t and here we will allow the facts to simply speak for themselves.
Section 2
WAS HARRY ANSLINGER A RACIST?
“THE GINGER COLORED NEGRO MEMO”
AND OTHER DOCUMENTS
Perhaps the best way to address the apologists and their arguments is to cover (or go through) their arguments and talking points one by one:
That other than the now infamous, ‘Ginger Colored Negro’ memo, there is no other solid proof to establish that Anslinger ever said anything derogatorily about blacks. Some of his apologists even go so far as to imply that Anslinger himself had nothing to do with the memo, but was instead, simply the work of a desk clerk somewhere. Thus his only true crime in reality was not to have read it more carefully before signing off on it.NOT TRUE, just plain not true. But first let us look at just what the Ginger Color Negro memo really was. Especially as these statements, for whatever reason, are always made in such a way so as to imply that this was just another memo. One of thousands, so what’s all the fuss about it?
Therefore the reader might find it of interest to see what President Roosevelt’s own staff had to say about the matter at the time.
Department of JusticeSo the memo itself at the time written was no minor nothingness. And needless to say, Black People weren’t all that happy either. As per the Pittsburgh Courier (Black Press - Dec. 22, 1934):
Washington D.C.
December 17, 1934
My dear Mr. Howe:
The enclosed copy of a letter is self-explanatory. I want you to call the attention of the President to it, and have him know that an avalanche of protest against Mr. H.J. Anslinger is headed toward the White House.
There is absolutely no excuse for this type of official communication going all over the United States. It is not only an insult to colored people, but it has a tendency to lead colored people to believe that this is the type of treatment they may expect from the Roosevelt Administration. Or, it may also evidence the attitude of this particular Federal Officer toward colored people. In any event, the President gets the “black eye”, and this is what must not happen.
I am reliably informed that the recent narcotic raid was not so genuine and effective as the publicity it received indicates.
Sincerely yours,
Robert L. Vann.
THE PITTSBURGH COURIER – Dec. 22, 1934 Pg. 2
“ROOSEVELT ASKED TO OUST OFFICIAL WHO INSULTED RACE”
Washington, Dec. 20---It is reported here that the President of the United States will be called upon to ask for the resignation on one H.J. Anslinger, Commissioner of Narcotics, attached to the Bureau of Narcotics in the Treasury Department of the United States. This request will be based upon an official letter, being Circular Letter No. 324, dated December 4, 1934, and sent all over the United States by this man Anslinger, who has recently sought a great deal of publicity by reason of a nationwide raid against narcotic addicts and peddlers. The real truth about this raid will probably be told in another story, but the colored people of this country, it is said, will ask the President of the United States, as well as the Secretary of the Treasury to dismiss Mr. Anslinger for the insulting official letter sent out by him to all District Supervisors in the United States. The letter complained about was sent out as one of the official circular letters and reads as follows:
Treasury Department“The N.A.A.C.P. has been requested to protest to the President of the United States against allowing such a man to remain in office. It is known that a letter has already been sent to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the White House calling attention to the letter quoted above.
Bureau of Narcotics.
Washington, D.C.
Circular Letter No. 324
December 4, 1934
To District Supervisors and other concerned.
The following named informer is not to be used since he is neither trustworthy nor satisfactory:
EDWARD JONES
Colored
Age---about 30 years, possibly younger.
Weight---about 140 pounds.
Height---5 feet 7 inches
Color---Medium and might be termed a “ginger colored nigger.”
Appearance --- well dressed, and fairly intelligent.
Inclined to be boastful, “fresh” and sarcastic.
Absconded with advance funds from District No. 2, New York City, New York. Notify Mr. Frank L. Igoe, Suite 584, 641 Washington Street, New York, N.Y., if he appears in your district.
H.J. Anslinger,
Commisioner.
“As to Mr. Anslinger, himself it is known that he comes from the Altoona and Hollidaysburg District of Bleir County, Pennsylvania and most of the protests will probably arise among Pennsylvanians, who can more justly criticize Mr. Anslinger than anybody else. Senator elect, Joseph F. Guffey, will be asked to request the removal of Mr. Anslinger because of the insulting letter sent out by him.”
Okay, point being made; --- This was no mere memo, or as a Klingon from Star Trek would say, “THIS IS NO SMALL THING.” Especially as (this one little error in judgement) almost cost Anslinger his job. So a question for everybody; --- Do you really believe that Harry Anslinger, the man who orchestrated the Reefer Madness campaign and master of propaganda that he was, would be such a fool so as to allow himself to make the same mistake twice? Obviously, logic and reason dictate that no future (racially charged) documents and/or public statements would be forthcoming. Thus statements from his defenders, such as; ---His opponents can find no other such racially charged mentions . . . simply don’t hold water.
As for the argument made that he (innocently enough) simply signed off on what a desk clerk somewhere had typed up? The problem here is that, by every yardstick of measurement, Harry Anslinger was a total control freak. One whose personality was such that no such memo (with his signature on it) would have gone out without him fully knowing what was in it.
HOWEVER, THIS BEGS THE QUESTION; -- WHAT ABOUT BEFORE THIS INCIDENT?
What about previously (Dec 1934) written documents or oral statements made before he started guarding himself? Were there any racially charged words spoken then? The answer is YES, but first let us recall that Anslinger only came to power in late 1930 and the ‘Ginger Color Negro’ incident occurred in late 1934, thus we have a limited span of time to be able to look at. [as an aside, I would love to one day look at Mr. Anslinger’s statements as a diplomat during the 1920’s, but that would have to wait for another day.] Here let us look at just this one little piece of golden goodness [2], from a document Anslinger had sent to the United Nations (then known as the ‘League of Nations’):
Memorandum forwarded by the representative of the United States of America.Now let’s look at what’s specifically being stated, and keep in mind that Anslinger is sending this out “officially” to the United Nations.
LEAGUE OF NATIONS O.C. 1542(c) Addendum – Nov. 10th 1934
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON TRAFFIC IN OPIUM AND OTHER DANGEROUS DRUGS
(SITUATION AS REGARDS INDIAN HEMP)
“Extent to which crimes of violence have been traced to the abuse of cannabis. [p4 of Addendum]
Reports from narcotic officers who have consulted the police in various cities of those States in which the abuse of cannabis is most widespread, are to the effect that marihuana addicts are becoming one of major police problems. While it is admitted by those officers that marihuana offences do not show up directly in many cases, they state their estimate to be that fifty per cent of the violent crimes committed in districts occupied by Mexicans, Turks, Filipinos, Greeks, Spaniards, Latin-Americans and Negroes, may be traced to the abuse of marihuana. “
“. . .Fifty per cent of the violent crimes committed in districts occupied by Mexicans, Turks, Filipinos, Greeks, Spaniards, Latin-Americans and Negroes. . .”We can only presume that Greeks and Turks (which included Arabs and Hindu’s back then) were included primarily because of their historical geography --- ala, Marco Polo and the ‘Old Man of the Mountain’, etc. But whatever; simply put, does this sound like something that would have been said by anyone other than a racist? Where are the Swedes, the Norwegians, the . . . . etc?
Now granted (in all fairness to Anslinger), this kind of wording was being openly expressed by numerous others all across the nation. Example:
“The list of holdups, sex crimes, murders and suicides by marijuana addicts could be multiplied indefinitely. In some districts, inhabited by Latin Americans, Filipinos, Spaniards and Negroes, half the violent crimes are attributed to marijuana craze. Dr. Lee Rice of San Antonio reports that eighty per cent of all the murders committed by Mexicans are done while the killers are drugged by marijuana.” ----The Christian Century - June 29, 1938But still, it is indicative of Anslinger’s own (openly expressed) mindset and racial views; –BEFORE THE MEMO. However, here (without a doubt) the counter argument can/will be used that Harry Anslinger himself was born (1898) into a world where expressions such as: “I just ‘JEW-ED’ someone on a business deal”, or “That man is paying niggardly wages” were in common use. And as young people often repeat what their elders are saying, we must expect that young Anslinger probably also said as much. Thus given the word usage of the time period, such things were normal and to be expected. --- Maybe so for a young Anslinger (say 21 years of age and under), but can this be said for an older Anslinger now in his mid-thirties?
Here this is no place to go into a discourse of Natural versus Man made laws, so I will simply state that some actions (by definition) are wrong (meaning they did harm) and should not have been done. By slandering and demeaning whole population groups (on official documents no less), Anslinger in-effect crossed the line, or actually just exposed what he was all along.
DEALING WITH POST INCIDENT MEMO’S:
Now let’s examine some of the bureau’s post-1934 internal memo’s and documents. This following memo, I personally found of interest simple because it took me so long to locate one of the mentioned incidents. [3]
CRIME
WEST VA.
Negro raped a girl 8 years of age
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2 Negros took a girl 14 yrs old and kept her for two days in a hut under influence of marihuana. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis
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Negro, charged with burglary so impressed jury with his story of people jumping out of their [gams] and grabbing him that he got a hung jury. He admitted that he was a marihuana smoker.
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GRANTED:
(a)- Anslinger himself did not write these words, one of his field agents did.
(b)- It can also be said that the memo’s writer was simply reporting the facts, which as the reader can surmise (in all three cases) were not cool. Therefore the memo (of-and-by-itself) is not racist, it simply reports the facts.
Therefore, why (it can be argued) is poor innocent Harry Anslinger getting the blame? In answer, because (using modern-day language) of his allowing/permitting a culture of racism to exist in his office, that’s why. The same can be said for the following (again) internal memo:
Which reads: - “Colored students at Univ. of Minn. Partying with female students (white) smoking and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result pregnancy.”
An internal memo, which again (a) was NOT WRITTEN by Anslinger, (b) was meant solely for internal Bureau use, and (c) could be interpreted as nothing more than a field agent simply writing down some facts that occurred. --- Factors, which no doubt, his apologists will be quick to point out. However, I for one have no doubts about the true meaning of those memos.
Referencing the ‘University of Minn.,’ Memo, just ask yourselves, what if the reverse was true. To my knowledge, there are no ‘Bureau of Narcotic’ memo’s anywhere describing how some white guy (under the influence of Marihuana or not) made a black gal pregnant, etc. And the more I read over the West Virginia memo, the more I’m convinced of the racist meanings behind the memo. Again, simply ask yourselves; are we expected to believe that ONLY black people were doing these sort of things? Yet (at least to me) that seems to be the intent of the memo writers.
And as for the arguments that Anslinger cannot/should not be held accountable for such memos which were not even written by him, etc., I for one say, “How could he not be held responsible?" Anslinger was the head of the Bureau of Narcotics and as such he could have simply sent out a memo of his own, telling his field agents to please (at least) use nicer language or something like that. I mean it was obvious what was going on, and from a racial viewpoint, it wasn’t all that nice. He didn’t. Why? Well we know why. --- BUT IN ANY CASE, the only point being made here is that THERE ARE IN FACT OTHER DOCUMENTS, that showed Mr. Anslinger’s personal feelings on the matter.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1]- “The real myths about marijuana” Harry Anslinger is being demonized by legalization zealots by Charles H. Lutz, a federal narcotics agent for 32 years, has done extensive research on Harry J. Anslinger -- https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/03/20/lt-div-class-libPageBodyLinebreak-style-webkit-user-select-none-gt-Real-myths-lt-br-gt-about-marijuana-lt-br-gt-lt-div-gt/stories/201403200057 -- Quotation is paraquoted but not taken out of contex.
[2]- Box 9, File 42 ; Anslinger Collection, PennState University library
[3]- Anslinger Collection, PennStateU, Marijuana Related Arrests, 1931-1947 Box 9 - File 07
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