| − | [[Howard Zinn]] (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010) was a [[Communist]]<ref>[http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/vernon/100809 Howard Zinn: Communist liar]</ref> who is most famous for his book, ''[[A People's History of the United States]]''. The book has sold over a million copies and gives a far-left interpretation of political history (see [[historical revisionism]]). Zinn's work manifests an inability or unwillingness to engage in objective analysis, and lacks contextual considerations, and instead his presentation of history is a polemic for liberal change. Zinn was very popular with liberal elites, and his book was made into a propagandistic film, "The People Speak", which the History Channel carried on cable television. | + | [[Howard Zinn]] (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010) was a [[Communist]]<ref>[http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/vernon/100809 Howard Zinn: Communist liar]</ref> who is most famous for his book, ''[[A People's History of the United States]]''. The book, due largely to a hat tip from Matt Damon's character Will Hunting in the film ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'', has sold over a million copies and gives a far-left interpretation of political history (see [[historical revisionism]]). Zinn's work manifests an inability or unwillingness to engage in objective analysis, and lacks contextual considerations, and instead his presentation of history is a polemic for liberal change. Zinn was very popular with liberal elites, and his book was made into a propagandistic film, "The People Speak", which the History Channel carried on cable television. |
| | Historian and author John Fea of Messiah College states that, | | Historian and author John Fea of Messiah College states that, |
| | The FBI first opened a domestic security investigation on Zinn in 1949, which revealed Zinn’s activities in what were called [[Communist]] Front Groups, and received reports from informants that Zinn was an active member of the CPUSA, with one stating that he was "believed to be a CP member as of October, 1956." In the 1960s, the Bureau took another look at Zinn on account of his criticism of the FBI’s civil rights investigations. A 1964 FBI memorandum refers to Zinn as "a professor and writer who has a background of known membership in the Communist Party (CP) and has continued to demonstrate procommunist and anti-United States sympathies." It also reveals that while Zinn had denied membership in the CPUSA, his denial "was not supported by facts" - a reference to the substantial evidence and eyewitness testimony provided by informants in the CPUSA. Further investigation was made when Zinn traveled to North Vietnam with Daniel Berrigan as an anti-war activist. The investigation ended in 1974, and no further investigation into Zinn or his activities was made by the FBI.<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/zinn_howard.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation, Howard Zinn]</ref><ref>[http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010073011179/editorial/leftist-qhistorianq-howard-zinn-lied-about-red-ties/print.html Cliff Kincaid, ''Leftist "Historian" Howard Zinn Lied About Red Ties''] Friday, 30 July 2010 </ref> | | The FBI first opened a domestic security investigation on Zinn in 1949, which revealed Zinn’s activities in what were called [[Communist]] Front Groups, and received reports from informants that Zinn was an active member of the CPUSA, with one stating that he was "believed to be a CP member as of October, 1956." In the 1960s, the Bureau took another look at Zinn on account of his criticism of the FBI’s civil rights investigations. A 1964 FBI memorandum refers to Zinn as "a professor and writer who has a background of known membership in the Communist Party (CP) and has continued to demonstrate procommunist and anti-United States sympathies." It also reveals that while Zinn had denied membership in the CPUSA, his denial "was not supported by facts" - a reference to the substantial evidence and eyewitness testimony provided by informants in the CPUSA. Further investigation was made when Zinn traveled to North Vietnam with Daniel Berrigan as an anti-war activist. The investigation ended in 1974, and no further investigation into Zinn or his activities was made by the FBI.<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/zinn_howard.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation, Howard Zinn]</ref><ref>[http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010073011179/editorial/leftist-qhistorianq-howard-zinn-lied-about-red-ties/print.html Cliff Kincaid, ''Leftist "Historian" Howard Zinn Lied About Red Ties''] Friday, 30 July 2010 </ref> |
| | + | Ron Radosh, himself a former CPUSA member, also confirmed that Howard Zinn was a member of the CPUSA, and also left the party like himself, although what differed was their motives: Radosh realized that the Communist Party was antithetical to the American way, while Zinn left because "it [the CPUSA] wasn't revolutionary enough." |