McCarthyism is a weird thing to think about because the paranoia that's inherent in it seems so frivolous now, but only because we've seen it, experienced it. However, the belief that we've beaten it is pervasive and should be ignored--after all, with the Patriot Act I think we're still fighting Ruth Brown's fight.
I enjoy reading about spunky librarians that stand up for the freedom of their patrons and protect the information in their libraries, but hearing about it and the pervasiveness of anti-Communist actions in the States (and considering the ways that the Red Scare continues to influence public policy), I guess I'm a little curious about people who wouldn't get (and perhaps don't deserve) their own book.
The librarians who gave in and let their libraries open to the jackals. They definitely existed--after all, Ruth's story wouldn't be half as interesting if it was just a description of the behavior of librarians during the middle of the century. So what was going through these people's heads as they sacrificed their libraries to sickle-hungry jackal? Who were they? What did we lose as a result of their actions?
This warrants some investigation.
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