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An Anonymous Coward writes:

Folk musician Pete Seeger was under investigation by the FBI from 1943 until at least 1972, a document released to Mother Jones [motherjones.com] under the Freedom of Information Act reveals. The file comprises nearly 1800 pages, of which 90 pages were withheld. An early entry explains the agency's initial interest in him:

Subject wrote letter protesting and criticizing the California American Legion's resolution advocating deportation of all Japanese, citizens or not, after the war, and barring all Japanese descendants from citizenship.

In the letter, Seeger had written that “we’re fighting precisely to free the world of such Hitlerism, such narrow jingoism.” The American Legion forwarded the letter to the FBI.

At the time, Seeger was in the army, undergoing training as an aircraft mechanic. He was never placed on active duty. The father of his fiancée was Japanese but had been exiled from Japan [nytimes.com].

additional coverage:

• Albuquerque Journal [abqjournal.com]
• globalnews.ca [globalnews.ca]
• ABC News [go.com]
• The Hill [thehill.com]
• Billboard [billboard.com]
• The Guardian [theguardian.com]
• The Hamilton Spectator [thespec.com]
• Daily Mail [dailymail.co.uk]

Original Submission