Existing comment:
BACK ROOM AT THE RECORD SHOP
Using the metaphor of a record shop, Herblock contrasts the patriotic and law-abiding statements made by long-serving Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover (1895–1972) with the unauthorized wiretapping of African American leaders. During boxer Muhammad Ali’s trial (b. Cassius Clay, 1942–2016) for refusing military service, government officials admitted they had taped his conversations with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., (1929–1968) and Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad (1897–1975). Ramsey Clark (b. 1927), who had served as President Lyndon Johnson’s (1908–1973) Attorney General denied authorizing the wiretapping.
Back Room at the Record Shop, 1969. Published in the Washington Post, June 8, 1969. |