Privilege and Privacy
I just realized that the shock, SHOCK, I tell you that our government has been spying on it's citizens is a kind of privilege.
See, I've known since college that the FBI probably has a file on me, because of my Dad. My Dad was an activist, and a large "scary" black man. He received death threats from the Klan while living in VT (bet you didn't know the Klan had active chapters there) when I was a child, then again when I was in college. He also testified before congress at least once, and was connected with several politicians, and famous black men (most notably Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Cosby) and some quietly powerful black men.
I recall calling him a number of times, and the phone calls would get hung up with subtle clicks and the like before he would pick up. After a period of about a year or so, they stopped again.
After I was stabbed by the skinhead, and nothing was happening, Dad called the former Governor of VT, and he called the mayor of Boston, and got a hate crime team on it. No one was caught, of course, but my phone was tapped again for a bit.
I know that I have been surveilled on an off for a period of at least 20 years, and it's fallen off since Dad died.
So, no, I was not "shocked" at the extent of the NSA spying "scandals". For people like me, that's just life, that's not shocking, that's the way of the world. The government spies on you.
It's really hard for me to understand the shock and the outrage. Where were they when my Dad was being spied on? When I was?
Oh, you mean other people being spied on, that's shocking. Right?
N.
Note: I'm posting this publicly because it's important, and I'm tired of being quiet and "nice".
See, I've known since college that the FBI probably has a file on me, because of my Dad. My Dad was an activist, and a large "scary" black man. He received death threats from the Klan while living in VT (bet you didn't know the Klan had active chapters there) when I was a child, then again when I was in college. He also testified before congress at least once, and was connected with several politicians, and famous black men (most notably Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Cosby) and some quietly powerful black men.
I recall calling him a number of times, and the phone calls would get hung up with subtle clicks and the like before he would pick up. After a period of about a year or so, they stopped again.
After I was stabbed by the skinhead, and nothing was happening, Dad called the former Governor of VT, and he called the mayor of Boston, and got a hate crime team on it. No one was caught, of course, but my phone was tapped again for a bit.
I know that I have been surveilled on an off for a period of at least 20 years, and it's fallen off since Dad died.
So, no, I was not "shocked" at the extent of the NSA spying "scandals". For people like me, that's just life, that's not shocking, that's the way of the world. The government spies on you.
It's really hard for me to understand the shock and the outrage. Where were they when my Dad was being spied on? When I was?
Oh, you mean other people being spied on, that's shocking. Right?
N.
Note: I'm posting this publicly because it's important, and I'm tired of being quiet and "nice".