A report in The New York Times states that a photojournalist whose photos documented many significant moments in American civil rights history was actually a paid informant for the FBI.
Ernest C. Withers, an ex-police officer, was one of the most heralded photographers of his era. His photos captured many important events, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. riding a desegregated bus in in Montgomery, Alabama.
Withers passed away in 2007 at the age of 85, but the results of a two-year investigation have proved that he was, in fact, working in tandem with the FBI. In the ’60s, he was working with two FBI agents to report on the many going-on linked to the civil rights movement.
A clerical error led to the discovery of Withers’ true allegiance. Official FBI documents about the civil rights movement blacked out Withers’ name and informant ID number, but a few of the documents had been left unmodified.
The discovery has been called ”an amazing betrayal,” and civil rights leaders were left with feelings of sadness and disbelief. Here was a man whose photographs helped to define the civil rights movement in America, but it turned out that he had secretly been working with Feds the whole time.
I sympathize with these individuals. They had trusted Withers, and even befriended him. They had allowed him to get exclusive photographs, and basically partake in several historic moments. But unbeknownst to them, he had been relaying this information to the FBI all along. Some were not surprised by this discovery, while others were dismayed – and rightfully so.
Instances like this sometimes heighten paranoia amongst Americans that anyone could be a Fed. Your best friend, a relative, or even a co-worker could be transmitting information about you to the FBI at any time. They could be reading your Facebook profile, your blog, or your Twitter account in order to keep the Feds abreast of your situation, whatever it may be.
And thus, a question comes forth – Who can we trust? This is often a difficult question for us to answer. Civil rights activists thought that could trust this seemingly innocent photojournalist, but more than 40 years later, it turned out that this person was playing for the other team. The X-Files popularized the catch phrase “Trust no one” in the ’90s, and it seems that this catch phrase resonates far deeper than one would imagine, especially in a situation like this one.
You can read the New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14photographer.html?_r=1&ref=us
Related Posts
