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PETER'S NEW YORK, Sunday, July 4, 2011--It was a on hot muggy day almost a decade ago, the Fourth of July, 2002, that I was assigned by the newspaper I worked for to cover a reading of the Declaration of Independence by Frank Serpico, the legendary narcotics undercover agent who during the 1960s tried to stem corruption within the New York City police department. Serpico had maintained a low profile for many years after he was allegedly set up by his own comrades in a narcotics raid, and suffered a gunshot wound to the face. His efforts led to the establishment of a commission to investigate police corruption in the Big Apple. Many readers may be aware of or have seen the film "Serpico," which dramatizes the events the real Serpico experienced in his attempts at police reform.
Frank Serpico signs autographs after a 4th of July appearance in 2002. by Peter Duveen
On that July 4th of many years ago, as Serpico took his place at the podium where he was to read the fabled centuries-old document of American independence that threw the gauntlet down before British autocrats, the first words uttered were not from the declaration itself, but were instead a bold commentary on government and corporate acts that were undermining the very democracy being celebrated.
"It is my opinion that never before have we, as a nation, stood in greater danger of losing our individual liberties as we are today," Serpico told a standing room only audience at a theater in Chatham, New York. "We, the people of this great nation, are being punished for the transgressions of our leaders and their consorts."
These words, being uttered not even a year after September 11, 2001--on which day 3,000 people lost their lives in what are usually billed as attacks by "Muslim extremists" using aircraft to plow into populated buildings--were not taken as lightly as they would be today. America was on alert, and U.S. officials often spoke of the possibility of another similar event that would be accompanied by even greater loss of life. One might say that the climate against anti-government utterances, reinforced by onerous laws that had then only recently been created, such as the "Patriot Act," heightened the atmosphere of hostility against speech critical of the state. Apparently such hostility had little effect on Mr. Serpico, and murmurs in the audience for him to get on with the program were to no avail. He continued to make a strong--and to some, an upsetting--statement before his reading. Afterwards, Serpico told me in response to critics who would have shut him down: "When I still have the freedom to speak, I'll always use it."
This event moved on the Associated Press wires, and generated waves of surprise around the world, where people knew Serpico only as the hero police detective, but had little or no inkling of the political posture he had adopted over the intervening years. The consternation of the theater's staff was pronounced, and the evening ended with ruffled feathers and even more flag-waving than the day demanded.
As for myself, I was not content with a few sound bites that I managed to convey to the public, and hoped one day to catch up with Serpico and get a better handle on what his thoughts were on public policy and perhaps learn something about his past experience. The opportunity came later that summer, when, on a slow news day, I happened to pop into a dining establishment in Hudson, New York, to get a bite to eat and grab a few minutes of air-conditioned down-time, when I spotted Serpico eating alone at a table. I approached him and told him of my interest. He immediately assented, and I eagerly took down what he had to say, although probably missing much of value, since I had no tape recorder on hand.
Here are just a few of the many interesting and meaningful pronouncements he made during that interview.
Regarding the "War on Drugs," he said: "It's a war against minorities who are in most cases the poor and destitute. White people use more narcotics than black people do."
On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict he said: "I totally sympathize with the loss and the tragedy" of Israelis, but noted that then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "is inflicting equal terror and suffering on other human beings."
The media did not escape criticism from his sharp tongue. In the face of government injustice, he said, "there is no outcry in our press, and that's why I hold the press to task. It was supposedly their duty to inform us in an unbiased way. I can't believe anything that (President George W.) Bush or Sharon say. Bush will not ratify the World Court. He has no respect for the rule of law."
But of all he expressed on that quiet summer day, there was one statement that has left an impression on my mind after all of these years. I'd like to share it.
"People believe," he said, "that to a vicious dictator, their life is worth more than a grain of sand. That is what will destroy them. We're expendable. We always have been."
Serpico's ardor for reform has not diminished over the years. In a poetic blog entry posted on his official website only a couple of months ago, he railed against the same injustices that have been repeated again and again over the past decade.
Says one stanza:
Be not proud America.
Who will bring US to Justice?
The Peoples History of the United States speaks volumes of injustice.
Two wars for a cause that never was.
While, on this day, the people of Libya are being deprived of life, liberty, property and vital infrastructure through a terrifying and destructive bombardment by NATO aircraft and missile ordinance, we are having our parades, our speeches, our barbeques. Should it be a time for celebration, or of lamentation? It certainly should be a moment when one wakes up to the reality of what our nation is fast becoming: an oppressive world-wide autocracy the likes of which George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and their associates warned us against, and if they were alive today, would no doubt be reprimanding and cajoling us to reform. Let's hope Americans hear from more "Serpicos" on this Fourth of July.
