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Book

American scare : Florida's hidden cold war on Black and Queer lives

Call Number

  • 305.8 F467 (CEN)

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Publication Information

New York, NY : Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, [2025]

Physical Description

xvi, 479 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Summary

A vital exposé for both our history and our present day, American Scare tells the riveting story of how the Florida government destroyed the lives of Black and queer citizens in the twentieth century. In January 1959, Art Copleston was escorted out of his college accounting class by three police officers. In a motel room, blinds drawn, he sat in front of a state senator and the legal counsel for the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the "Johns Committee." His crime? Being a suspected homosexual. And the government of Florida would use any tactic at their disposal--legal or not--to get Copleston to admit it. Using a secret trove of primary source documents that have been decoded and de-censored for the first time in history, journalist Robert Fieseler unravels the mystery of what actually happened behind the closed doors of an inquisition that held ordinary citizens ransom to its extraordinary powers. The state of Florida would prefer that this history remain buried. But for nearly a decade, the Florida Legislature founded, funded, and supported the Johns Committee--an organization using the cover of communism to viciously attack members of the NAACP and queer professors and students. Spearheaded by Charley Johns, a multi-term politician in a gerrymandered legislature, the Committee was determined to eliminate any threats to the state's white, conservative regime. Fieseler describes the heartbreaking ramifications for citizens of Florida whose lives were imperiled, profiling marginalized residents with compassion and a determination to bring their devastating experiences to light at last. A propulsive, human-centered drama, with fascinating insight into Florida politics, American Scare is a page-turning reckoning of our racist and homophobic past--and its chilling parallels to today.--

Contents

  • Preface: Storm chasing
  • Introduction: Race ; Sex
  • Act I: Launch. Call me Charley
  • The flour-sack boy
  • Acting governor
  • Oaths of office
  • First strike
  • Courthouse stand
  • Quorum of one
  • A Johns committee
  • White knights
  • Act II: Liftoff. Sons of Florida
  • Tightening web
  • Trusty informants
  • Crossfire
  • Trapdoors
  • Queer geography
  • Victim of opportunity
  • Hands that feed
  • Act III: Orbit. Open season
  • Predator/prey
  • King of Florida
  • Radical steps
  • Backlash
  • Trench warfare
  • Friends of the court
  • Act IV: Reentry. A closer squeeze
  • Lonely hunters
  • Shock technique
  • Purple panic
  • Act V: Crash landing. Death stroke
  • Days of future, passed
  • Truth will out
  • The great erasure
  • Arc of history
  • Cloud reading.

Subjects