NEGRO 'F REEDOM D A Y ' IN C H IC A G O
Stage Biggest School Boycott Yet
THE
M ILITA N T
Published in the Interests of the W orking People
V o l. 27 - No. 39
M onday, N ovem ber 4, 1963
P rice 10c
Defend Algerian Revolution
Against Moroccan Attack!
A n appeal fo r f u ll aid and so lid a rity w ith th e A lg e ria n
R evolutio n against th e a ttack launched by th e Moroccan
m onarchy has been issued by th e F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l, the
w o rld organization of re v o lu tio n a ry socialists founded by
L eon T ro ts k y . (A s w e go to press, th e U P I reports fro m
M a li th a t A lg e ria and Morocco have agreed to a cea s e -fire .)
T h e m a jo r sectors of th e w o rld T ro ts k y is t m ovem ent,
reu n ited a t a congress in It a ly last sum m er a fte r a long sp lit,
are represented b y th e U n it ­
ed S ecretariat o f th e F o u rth
In te rn a tio n a l w h ich issued
th e appeal.
T h e f u ll te x t o f th e a p ­
peal follow s.
*
*
*
T h e a ttack on A lg e ria is
a desperate a tte m p t by th e
decayed, fe u d a l-c a p ita lis t re ­
gim e o f th e Moroccan m on­
archy, backed by French,
A m e ric an and Spanish im ­
p erialism , to cut short th e
g ro w ing in flu ence of th e A l ­
g erian R evolution among the
p o v e rty -s tric k e n masses of
Morocco.
T h e M oroccan people have
tu rn e d to w a rd A lg e ria w ith
h opeful eyes. T h e y approve
th e deep-going a g ra ria n re ­
fo rm , the sweeping n a tio n a l­
A lg e ria n President B en B e lla izations, th e establishm ent
of a socialist sector o f th e
economy and th e steps to w a rd m a k in g A lg e ria th e C uba
o f A fric a .
T h e y h ave been impressed b y th e organization on a n a ­
tio n -w id e scale o f d em o cratically elected W o rk ers ’ Councils
and S e lf-M a n a g e m e n t Com m ittees.
T h e y w a n t Morocco to start dow n th e road to w a rd so­
cialism th e w a y A lg e ria has.
T h a t is w h y K in g Hassan’s court clique decided to s trik e
at A lg e ria ’s re v o lu tio n a ry g overnm ent and i f possible b rin g
it dow n. T h a t is w h y K in g Hassan tim ed his a ttack to coin­
cide w ith a co u n te r-re v o lu tio n a ry arm ed reb ellio n inside
A lg e ria in th e K a b y lie m ountains.
B u t th e m ilita ry assault launched b y th e M oroccan m on­
arch can have unexpected p o litic a l consequences fo r his
o w n unstable regim e.
A lre a d y th e most im p o rta n t opposition forces inside
Morocco have responded to th e re v o lu tio n a ry appeal of the
A lg e ria n g overnm ent to o v e rth ro w Hassan I I . T h e y have
p u b lic ly called fo r th e defeat of th e reactio nary g overnm ent
th ey are cursed w ith . T h e y are cheering fo r th e v ic to ry of
A lg e ria ’s re v o lu tio n a ry N a tio n a l People’s A rm y .
I f th e A lg e ria n R evolution spreads across th e b order into
Morocco it w o u ld constitute a colossal b lo w to th e w hole
n eo-colonialist structure supported in W est A fric a by de
G au lle, U .S . im p eria lis m and Franco’s fascist regim e.
F o r im p eria lism , this is a re a l and frig h te n in g possibility.
T h e sectors of U .S . im p e ria lis m w ho see this most c learly
are already callin g fo r in te rv e n tio n b y the U n ite d Nations.
These acts of aggression against th e A lg e ria n R evolution
m ust not succeed!
T h e in te rn a tio n a l labor m ovem ent m ust b rin g speedy
help to th e A lg e ria n R evolution and block th e aggression
u n d ertaken by im p e ria lis m through its stooges.
H ands o ff A lg eria!
D e fen d th e A lg e ria n R evolution!
D o w n w ith Moroccan reaction!
F u ll aid and so lid a rity to the A lg e ria n people and th e ir
g overnm ent in m o b ilizin g in defense of th e ir R evolutio n
against th e attack launched b y th e M oroccan m onarchy!
U n ite d S ecretariat o f th e F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l
C H IC A G O — Tuesday, Oct. 22,
was “ Freedom D a y” in Chicago. I t
was the day o f the biggest c iv ilrig h ts boycott in the n a tio n ’s his­
to ry. A lm o s t 200,000 elem entary
and high school students stayed
aw ay fro m classes. The students,
m ostly Negroes fro m the ghettoes
o f the South Side and West Side,
w ere protesting the re -h irin g o f
School S uperintendent B e n ja m in
W illis .
He had resigned under fir e fro m
his $48,000-a-year jo b as czar of
the Chicago school system a fte r
s tu b b o rn ly resisting school dese­
gregation demands. B u t the school
board (appointed b y Dem ocratic
M a yo r D aley) refused to accept
his resignation. F u rth e r boycott
actions are being proposed to w in
W illis ’ ouster.
School teachers and W illis h im ­
self adm itted th a t the boycott
constituted a n e a rly unanim ous
show of strength, w ith 51.4 per
cent o f the elem entary students
absent (about 51 p e r cent o f the
c ity ’s elem entary students are
N egro) and 38.4 per cent o f the
h igh school students absent (about
33 per cent o f the h igh school
students are N egro).
The “ Freedom D ay” boycott was
sponsored b y the C oordinating
C ouncil o f C o m m u n ity O rganiza­
tions, representing 16 m a jo r c iv il
rig h ts groups.
Some o f the students attended
“ Freedom Schools” set up in 144
churches, un io n halls and com­
m u n ity centers. The classes em ­
phasized Negro history, dealing
w ith figures fro m A m erican his­
to ry such as Crispus A ttucks,
H a rrie t
Tubm an
and
George
W ashington
C arver.
V o lu n te e r
teachers fo r these classes included
about 300 teenagers o f the “ S tu ­
dent Advocates o f Negro H is to ry .”
W h ile c ity and state o ffic ia ls
w ere com p la in in g about the loss
o f state aid (W illis estimated the
loss a t $470,000), leaders o f the
boycott were ju b ila n t about the
co m m u n ity response. Law rence
L a n d ry , organizer o f the boycott,
and co-head o f the Chicago A rea
F riends o f the S tudent N on­
v io le n t C oordinating Com m ittee,
said the response to the boycott
c a ll was beyond his most o p ti­
m is tic expectations. “ I don’t lik e
to take ch ild re n o u t o f school, b u t
we are le ft w ith no a lte rn a tive
b u t to take to the streets . . .
W h ite m illio n a ire s can b u y an ad
James F orm an
to support W illis . We are poor
and have to go to the streets to
be heard,” he to ld newsmen.
James Form an, n a tio n a l execu­
tiv e secretary o f SNCC, w ho fle w
in fro m A tla n ta fo r the boycott
and dem onstration said: “ The
Negroes in Chicago w ill never be
the same again. They have become
aware o f th e ir pow er.” F orm an
predicted “ p o litic a l suicide” fo r
M a yo r D aley i f he doesn’t see to
i t th a t W illis is fire d .
F orm an urged the boycotters to
hold
another “ Freedom D a y”
w ith in 30 days i f D aley o r the
school board does n o t act on th e ir
demands fo r an end to “ W illis ism .”
The “ Freedom D ay” boycott and
dem onstration was m obilized b y
extensive d is trib u tio n o f leaflets
c a llin g fo r “ Thousands o f Free­
dom M archers” to “ Show Chicago
yo u’re sick o f Ben W illis -is m and
2nd rate education — rig h t n o w !”
Sound tru cks and Negro rad io
stations encouraged students to
“ cu t classes.” Students pasted
“ Freedom D ay” stickers on w alls,
w indow s and lockers in th e ir
schools and neighborhoods. Sun­
day and M onday evenings saw
teenagers parading th rough th e ir
neighborhoods singing freedom
songs and u rg in g fe llo w students
to jo in them .
The second h a lf o f the protest
against W illis and the segregation
and in fe rio r education w h ic h he
(Continued on Page 2)
A Bi-Partisan Gang-Up
Yank Teeth of Rights Bill
A b i-p a rtisa n gang-up b y lead­
ers o f the D em ocratic and Repub­
lican parties in congress has succeeeded in c u ttin g the teeth o f
the House J u d ic ia ry subcom m it­
tee version o f the c iv il rig h ts b ill.
B ow ing to the wishes o f P resi­
dent John F. Kennedy, the fu ll
com m ittee Oct. 29 rejected the
stronger subcom m ittee d ra ft and
voted 23 to 11 in fa v o r of a d ra ft
even w eaker than the one o ri­
g in a lly proposed b y the adm inis­
tra tio n in regard to vo te r regis­
tra tio n .
The b i-p a rtis a n s trip p in g of the
most m ea nin gful sections o f the
b ill — p a rtic u la rly the a n ti-p o lic e -b ru ta lity p rovision (T itle I I I )
— was organized under th e per­
sonal d ire ctio n o f the P resident
and his b ro th e r the A tto rn e y Gen­
eral.
The excuse the K ennedy’s gave
— th a t on ly the w eak b ill could
pass the House — was exploded
b y N A A C P executive secretary
Roy W ilk in s in a statem ent Oct.
25. He pointed out th a t in 1956
the House, b y a vote o f 279 to 126,
passed a c iv il rig h ts b ill contain­
in g T itle I I I . The R epublican vote
fo r the b ill, he pointed out, was
168 and the D em ocratic, o n ly 111.
“ Y e t today,” W ilk in s said, “ w e
are to ld th a t in order to get Re­
p u blican support fo r a c iv il rig h ts
b ill, th is section m ust be e lim in a t­
ed. T his position is even m ore as­
ton ish ing when w e rem em ber th a t
P resident K ennedy to ld a news
conference last M ay th a t the fed­
era l governm ent was ‘w ith o u t
sta tu to ry a u th o rity ’ to act in
B irm in g h a m . N ow th a t s ta tu to ry
a u th o rity has been offered, and
the A tto rn e y General has fo rm a lly
rejected it.”
W ill Discuss W ays to Advance Rights Fight
Grass-Roots Negro Parley Slated in Detroit
D E T R O IT — A genuine grass­
roots conference of Negro fre e d o m -fig h ters w ill be held here the
weekend o f N ov 9 and 10 under
the auspices o f the G roup on
Advanced Leadership (G O A L ). I t
was decided to hold the confer­
ence a fte r heads o f the D e tro it
C ouncil fo r H um an R ights a rb i­
tr a r ily excluded certain subjects
and speakers fro m the agenda o f
the N o rth e rn Negro Leadership
Conference i t had called fo r the
same weekend. Rev. A lb e rt Cleage,
leading m ilita n t Negro spokesman,
resigned fro m the DCHR, protest­
ing its bureaucratic action and
charging i t w ould s trip the parley
o f any effe ctive meaning. He w ill
p a rticip a te in the grass-roots con­
ference called by G O A L and w ill
be the p rin c ip a l speaker a t a
w in d -u p ra lly on Sunday Nov. 10.
The G O A L conference w ill hold
workshops th ro u g h o u t the day on
S aturday. On S aturday m o rn in g
there w ill be one on economic ac­
tio n w h ich w ill deal w ith the ques­
tions o f selective buying, a C h ris t­
mas shopping boycott, and nec­
essary changes in the economy to
cope w ith the p roblem o f unem ­
ploym ent.
T h is session w ill also discuss
the re ce ntly form ed A ll-T ra d e s
In te rn a tio n a l U nion, a Negro group
w h ic h has begun to deal w ith the
problem o f p ro v id in g union spon­
sorship fo r Negroes seeking to
p a rticip a te in state apprenticeship
programs.
A S aturday afternoon session
on p o litic a l action w ill include the
question o f fo rm a tio n o f a na tio n ­
al N egro-led Freedom N ow P arty.
L a te r S aturday afternoon there
w ill be a w orkshop on education
w h ich w ill discuss the fe a s ib ility
o f a n a tion al school boycott and
evaluate the Chicago boycott and
the Englewood experience.
G O A L Address
A session on S aturday evening
w ill deal w ith the problem o f
self-defense against ra cist v io ­
lence.
P a rticipants com ing fo r the con­
ference and unable to provide
th e ir ow n housing can contact
G O A L, R ichard H e n ry president,
at 11605 Linw ood , phone 866-4505.
The moves o f the D C H R lead­
ership to d ra s tic a lly lim it its slat­
ed conference was made p u b lic
b y Rev. Cleage in the Oct. 28 issue
o f Illu s tra te d News, o f w h ic h he
is c o n trib u tin g e dito r. The fo llo w in g are excerpts fro m the a rticle
in w h ich Rev. Cleage te lls why
(Continued on Page 2)
Drop 'Sedition' Charge
Against Rights Group
N E W O R LE A N S , L a. —
“ S e d itio n ” charges have been
dismissed against James A .
D om bro w ski, execu tive dire cto r o f the S outhern C on­
ference E duca tio na l F und,
B e n ja m in E. S m ith , SCEF
trea sure r, and B ru ce C. W a ltzer.
The th re e w e re arrested
Oct. 4 b y Lou isia na and New
O rleans police at the behest
o f th e L ouisiana C om m ittee
on U n -A m e ric a n A c tiv itie s
and th e ir homes and offices
searched. Judge B e rn a rd J.
Cocke ru le d Oct. 25 th a t th e
state had fa ile d to produce a
single fa c t to ju s tify its ac­
tions against th e SCEF.
Page Tw o
T H E M IL IT A N T
... Detroit Civil Rights Parley
(C ontinued fro m Page 1)
he resigned fro m DCHR. F o r the
com plete a rticle w rite to Illu s tra t­
ed News, 5385 L o ve tt, D e tro it 10.
***
The Reverend A lb e rt B. Cleage,
J r., announced his resignation
fro m the executive board and the
Conference p la n nin g com m ittee of
th e D e tro it C ouncil fo r H um an
R ights fo llo w in g a special board
m eeting on last Tuesday evening
in the N ew B ethel B a p tis t Church.
M r. Cleage, w ho headed up the
p la n nin g com m ittee fo r the N o rth ­
ern Negro Leadership Conference,
stated th a t he could n o t accept the
lim ita tio n w h ic h the Rev. C. L.
F ra n k lin , chairm an o f the DCHR,
a r b itr a r ily sought to impose upon
th e Conference and the pla n nin g
com m ittee.
The o rig in a l Conference plans,
approved b y the board, authorized
an “ open Conference” to w hich
delegates fro m a ll Negro organiza­
tio n s in a ll N o rth e rn urban cen­
ters w ou ld be welcome. I t was
agreed th a t any re a lis tic attem pt
to develop a p ra ctica l basis fo r
N egro u n ity and cooperation in the
N o rth could o nly be achieved
upon the basis o f free and open
discussion and decision b y in d i­
v id u a ls representing a ll shades o f
N egro opinion.
F o u r basic areas o f concern
w ere selected fo r discussion be­
cause th e y offered possibilities fo r
th e developm ent o f a u n ifie d p ro ­
g ram o f concerted action. L o o king
to w a rd unite d p o litic a l action fo r
’64, the discussion was to have
centered around an e valuation of
th e Freedom N ow P a rty. In the
area o f economic action the dis­
cussion was to have centered
around
a selective patronage
against General M otors and the
C hristm as boycott.
In addition, w orkshops dealing
w ith de facto segregation in
N o rth e rn schools and methods o f
com bating housing discrim in a tio n
w e re to have been included.
Voiced Fears
A t the D C H R board m eeting the
Reverend M r. F ra n k lin voiced his
fears th a t the Leadership Con­
ference m ig h t be in filtra te d by
“ b la ck
nationalists
and
other
ra d ic a l groups” fro m the East w ho
w o u ld h old positions on social,
p o litic a l and economic issues w ith
w h ic h he could n o t agree. “ This
m ust be prevented at a ll costs,”
he insisted. W hen in q u iry was
made as to the mechanics by
w h ic h he hoped to con tro l the ac­
tio n s o f delegates to the Con­
ference, he had no answer b u t re ­
p lie d th a t i t m ust be done to
p re ve n t any Conference endorse­
m e n t of the Freedom N ow P a rty
because as D C H R ch a irm a n he
“ could n o t a ffo rd to be labeled a
b la ck n a tio n a list lik e M arcus G a r­
vey.”
Rev. Cleage pointed o u t th a t he
belonged to the Freedom Now
P a rty and had in v ite d A tto rn e y
Conrad L y n n and W illia m W o rth y ,
n a tio n a l leaders o f the Freedom
N o w P a rty , to the Conference
w ith the consent of the board. M r.
C H IC A G O
T H E N H U F R O N T IE R —
U .S. Im ­
p e ria lis m in S o u th V ie tn a m . S peaker,
J o y c e D a n ie ls. Fri., N o v . 8, 8 p .m . Debs
H a ll, R oom 210, 302 S o u th C a n a l St.
A u s p . F rid a y N ig h t S o c ia lis t Forum .
•
N EW YORK
CAUSES A N D C O N SEQ U ENC ES O F
T H E SI N O -S O V IE T RIFT. S p e ake r, Tom
K e rry , e d ito r, In te rn a tio n a l S o c ia lis t Re­
v ie w . F ri., N o v . 8, 8 :3 0 p .m . 116 U n iv e r­
s ity P lace. C o n tr ib . $1 (s tu d e n ts , 5 0 c .).
A u s p . M ilit a n t L a b o r Fo ru m .
S A N D IE G O
C L IF T O N DE BERRY, S o c ia lis t W o r k ­
e rs c a n d id a te to r N e w Y o rk C it y C o u n ­
c il, speaks o n The N e g r o R e v o lu tio n .
Tues., N o v . 19, 8 p.m ., Elks H a ll, c o rn e r
H e n s le y & C o m m e rc ia l (w e s t o f 2 8th
S t.) A u s p . San D ie g o L a b o r Fo ru m .
tio n threatens the p o litic a l status
quo w h ich offers the Negro no
hope fo r the fu tu re . The w h ite
man m ust fig h t this k in d o f e f­
fe ctive action. S later K in g ’s can­
didacy in A lb a n y, Ga., frightened
the e n tire South. G lo ria R ic h a rd ­
son’s refusal to support a re fe re n ­
dum on c o n s titu tio n a lly guaran­
teed c iv il rig h ts fo r the Negro also
frig h te n e d the w h ite com m unity,
as does the D e tro it Negro’s op­
position to m illa g e u n til Negro
c h ild re n are given equal educa­
tio n o p p ortunities in the D e tro it
schools. The em pty protest o f the
freedom m arch m ust now be re ­
placed by such e ffe ctive economic
boycotts as the proposed n ational
C hristm as boycott.
Rev. A lb ert B. Cleage, Jr.
F ra n k lin insisted th a t the Con­
ference could not consider the
Freedom N ow P a rty n o r could i t
c ritic iz e the philosophy of non­
violence. M r. Cleage pointed out
th a t Negroes everyw here are ques­
tio n in g the p ra c tic a lity o f a p h ilo ­
sophy o f non-violence w h ic h p re ­
cludes the p o s s ib ility o f se lf-d e ­
fense. The Rev. M r. F ra n k lin stat­
ed th a t he had been disgusted by
an a rtic le in the L ib e ra to r maga­
zine c ritic iz in g D r. K in g ’s p h ilo ­
sophy and strategy. M r. Cleage
advised th a t the e d ito r o f the L ib ­
e rator has accepted an in v ita tio n
to serve on the Conference ad­
v is o ry comm ittee.
Protested Change
D C H R board members protested
the sudden change in Conference
p o licy, and the m eeting adjourned
in general confusion.
In e xp la in in g his resignation
M r. Cleage stated th a t in his o p in ­
ion the D CH R has already o u t­
liv e d its v e ry lim ite d usefulness.
I t lacked the vision necessary to
m a in ta in the fle e tin g spectacular
June 23 Freedom M arch, and es­
se n tia lly the Freedom M a rch i t ­
self was a h o llo w th in g w ith o u t
substance.
The same fe a r o f offending
w h ite people w h ic h crow ded its
f ir s t p la tfo rm w ith w h ite “ lib ­
erals,” la b o r leaders and p o lit­
icians, now forces i t to repudiate
the b la ck re v o lu tio n and the as­
p ira tio n s o f b lack m en and women
w ho fig h t to be free.
The D CH R cannot stop inde­
pendent Negro p o litic a l action by
fo rb id d in g discussion o f the Free­
dom N ow P a rty n o r can the D CH R
destroy the black m an’s new image
o f h im s e lf by c a llin g i t “ b lack na­
tio n a lism .” The D C H R can o n ly
destroy its e lf in a fu tile e ffo rt to
c u rry the fa v o r of the w h ite press
and the w h ite com m unity.
L ik e P ra irie F ire
The Negro re v o lt sweeps across
the nation lik e a p ra irie fire , M r.
Cleage stated. E ve ryw h e re the
Negro masses are dem anding
FREEDO M NOW , and th e y are
w illin g to m arch, to protest, to
sacrifice and to go to ja il i f need
be in support of th e ir demands.
H ow ever, m uch o f its energy is
being dissipated in em pty gestures
designed o n ly to dram atize the
fa c t o f protest . . .
The DCHR faces the basic deci­
sion w h ic h m ust be faced b y ev­
e ry Negro c iv il-rig h ts organiza­
tio n . The em pty protest o f the
freedom m arch and the mass ra lly
m ust be replaced b y independent
black p o litic a l action, and by
regional and n a tio n a l economic
action by u n ite d Negro com m uni­
ties. E ffe c tiv e u n ite d action m ust
also be taken in the areas of
school and housing d iscrim in a tio n .
The instrum ents fo r e ffe ctive ac­
tio n are ready at hand b u t Negro
“ leaders” are being frig h te n e d by
a concerted cam paign in the w h ite
c o m m u n ity to m ake the Freedom
N ow P a rty appear dangerous and
subversive.
Independent Negro p o litic a l ac­
Lum ped Together
A ll o f these e ffective in s tru ­
ments fo r Negro lib e ra tio n are
lum ped together and called “ black
n a tio n a lism ” and Negro “ leaders”
are cautioned to avoid them at any
cost. B u t the Negro masses have
learned th a t th e y have the pow er
to force concessions in those areas
o f A m erican life fro m w h ich they
are excluded o r in w h ic h they
are denied e q u a lity o f o p p o rtu n ity
thro u g h the use of p o litic a l and
economic sanctions. Negro organ­
izations m ust recognize th is pow er
and be w illin g to use i t fo r the
accom plishm ent of Negro objec­
tives.
“ In renouncing the independent
b la ck p o litic a l action represented
by the Freedom N ow P a rty and
the new Negro image w h ich is
called ‘black na tio n a lism ,’ the
D CH R has renounced any reason
fo r its existence,” M r. Cleage con­
cluded.
D E T R O IT — Rev. A lb e rt B.
Cleage has accepted the state
chairm anship o f the M ichigan
Com m ittee fo r a Freedom N ow
P a rty. The com m ittee also an­
nounced th a t the State B oard o f
Elections has approved its p e titio n
fo rm and com m ittee supporters
are now opening a d riv e to secure
the signatures o f 30,000 voters in
the state (double the required
m in im u m ) in order to place a Ne­
gro tic k e t on the state b a llo t fo r
the 1964 elections.
Ban U.S. Travel by 2
Indicted for Cuba Trip
N EW Y O R K — T w o o f the stu­
dents in d icte d fo r tra v e l to Cuba
have been fo rb id d e n b y a fe d e ra l
judge to tra v e l w ith in th e ir own
co u n try to speak on th e ir case.
The judge had p re vio u sly ru le d
th a t the tw o students, P h illip
Luce and L e v i Laub, could not
leave N ew Y o rk C ity w h ile they
are u n der bond on the in d ic t­
ments. Leonard B. B oudin, counsel
fo r the students, file d b rie fs Oct.
28 asking the judge to reconsider
the re strictio n , b u t fe d e ra l dis­
tr ic t a tto rn e y F ra n k H oey said the
governm ent doesn’t w a n t the stu­
dents m a kin g speaking tours chal­
lenging the c o n s titu tio n a lity o f the
tra v e l ban. The governm ent re ­
fused to file b rie fs on the ques­
tio n u n til a fte r Nov. 7, so the
ru lin g stands fo r the tim e being.
T h is prevents appearances b y
the students, said Luce, on a to u r
o f East Coast colleges u n der spon­
sorship o f the N a tio n a l S tudent
Association. I t also prevents them
appearing at a m eeting sched­
uled at the U n iv e rs ity o f Chicago
Nov. 8.
“ O ur voices w ill be heard in
Chicago, how ever,” said Luce.
“ W e’l l use a tape recorder and
w e’l l ta lk precisely on how the
tra v e l ban is an u n co n stitu tio n a l
outrage.”
In another developm ent, charges
o f felonious assault against Fred
Jerome, e d ito r o f Progressive
Labor, w ere dismissed Oct. 25.
The com plainant fa ile d to appear
in court. Jerome was accused of
in ju rin g a Cuban c o u n te rre vo lu ­
tio n a ry w ho had attem pted to dis­
ru p t a m eeting at T ow n H a ll here
Sept. 15 at w h ic h the in d icte d stu­
dents spoke.
M onday, N ovem ber 4, 1963
'N o More Cheeks to Turn'
Says Group in Ann Arbor
B y R. C a u lfie ld
A N N ARBOR, M ich. — Am ong
the m any m ilita n t Negro na­
tio n a lis t organizations springing
up around the co u n try is the A nn
A rb o r D irect A ctio n Com m ittee.
D AC is made up p rim a rily of
young Negro students and w o rk ­
ers.
F o r i t the key weapon in the
Negro struggle fo r equ a lity, ju s ­
tice and jobs is protest actions.
W hen com plaints o f jo b d iscrim ­
in a tio n are b ro u g h t to the com ­
m ittee, i t investigates then nego­
tiates. I f its demands are not met,
i t is ready to engage in protest
dem onstrations. D AC has held
jo in t picket lines w ith D e tro it’s
m ilita n t c iv il-rig h ts organizations,
U huru.
D A C evolved as the action arm
o f the A nn A rb o r F riends o f the
S tudent N onviolent C o-ordinating
... CHICAGO
(Continued from Page 1)
symbolizes was a dem onstration
b y some ten to 20 thousand
m archers at C ity H a ll and the
B oard o f Education b u ild in g late
Tuesday afternoon. The marchers,
m ostly grade and hig h school stu­
dents and adults, circled C ity H a ll
c a rry in g p icke t signs and then
b ro u g h t rush h o u r tr a ffic to a
sta n d still w h ile ja m m in g the side­
w a lk and street at the fro n t o f the
B oard o f Education b u ild in g w here
th ey w ere addressed b y c iv il
rig h ts leaders o f local and national
prom inence, in c lu d in g James F o r­
man, D ic k G regory, Law rence
L a n d ry , Rose Simpson and rep­
resentatives o f N A A C P .
The ca ll fo r rem oval o f W illis
was the p o in t most emphasized
b y the chants and signs o f the
s p irite d demonstrators. H ow ever
th ey also made clear th e ir opposi­
tio n to the School Board, M ayor
Daley, and Chicago’s J im Crow
school system w ith such slogans
as “ Freedom fro m W illis and his
B o o t-L ic k in g School B oard,” “ W il­
lis D ow n Now, D aley D ow n L a t­
er,”
“ Do A w a y w ith
G hetto
Schools.”
The S tudent Advocates o f N e­
gro H is to ry ca rrie d signs reading
“ W illis — W allace — W h a t’s the
D ifference?,” “ H is to ry is n o t A llW hite. Teach us about the B lack
M a n !” “ Teach us about F rede­
r ic k Douglas, H a rrie t Tubm an, Ida
W ells.”
O ther signs called fo r a break
w ith the D em ocratic and Repub­
lic a n representatives o f the w h ite
pow er stru ctu re b y b u ild in g an
a ll-b la c k Freedom N ow P arty.
Several thousand copies o f the
C a ll fo r a Freedom N ow P a rty
w ere d istrib u te d b y representa­
tives o f the C om m ittee fo r a
Freedom N ow P a rty. T hey stated
th a t response was enthusiastic.
C om m ittee around a local case of
police b ru ta lity . A n A nn A rb o r
cop shot a young Negro in the
back because he thou ght the yo u th
had stolen his b ro th e r’s car.
L u c k ily the yo u th lived. No dis­
c ip lin a ry action was taken against
the cop u n til D A C dem onstrated
three weeks la te r against police
b ru ta lity . On th a t day the cop
suddenly resigned.
D A C ’s n e x t success was w ith
the c ity ’s three A & P stores. A fte r
investigation
and
considerable
negotiation, D A C threatened to
demonstrate against the chain. The
stores im m e d ia te ly changed th e ir
racist p o licy and began h irin g
Negroes fo r responsible positions.
In D A C ’s n e w ly adopted pro­
gram there are three im p o rta n t
points. 1) Its members consider
themselves a Negro vanguard
try in g to organize A n n A rb o r
blacks against w h ite oppression.
2) T hey believe in organized se lfdefense. T hey say, “ We have no
more cheeks to tu rn ; i f we are a t­
tacked w e w ill defend ourselves.”
3) T hey are fo r independent po­
litic a l action and the Freedom
N ow P a rty. T hey feel th a t p o liti­
cal action is the o n ly w ay th a t
the Negro people w ill re a lly be
able to gain e q uality, justice and
jobs.
C h arlie Thomas, chairm an o f
D AC , feels th a t '400 years o f w a it­
in g and hoping are already too
m any. “ We have no need fo r steer­
in g comm ittees and discussion
clubs. We need action. Democrats,
R epublicans and w h ite lib e ra ls
have a ll sold us dow n the dra in.
W e m ust begin to organize to lead
ou r struggle. B la ck people m ust
decide th e ir ow n fu tu re .”
Cleveland Teacher Gives
Series on Negro History
C L E V E L A N D — A series o f six
Sunday n ig h t lectures on “ The
H is to ry o f the Negro in the U n ited
States” are being given here by
B ernard M andel, author o f Labor:
Free and Slave and a biog rap hy
o f Samuel Gompers.
D r. M andel, a teacher and presi­
dent o f the Cleveland Negro H is­
to ry Association, w ill in dicate in
these ta lks the e xte n t to w h ich
the role o f the Negro in A m erica n
h is to ry has been distorted and
denigrated, when n o t com pletely
ignored, in h isto ry books.
The
demand fo r integrated
schools, his lectures p o in t up,
means n o t o n ly physical in te g ra ­
tio n b u t recognition th a t the h is­
to ry lessons ta u g h t ou r ch ild re n
are incom plete and biased and
m ust be changed to in clude the
contrib u tio n s o f the Negro people.
The lectures are being given a t
Debs H a ll, 5927 E u clid Ave., at
7:30 p.m. each Sunday, co n tin u in g
thro u g h December 1st.
THE
Wanted: New Name for Labor Bureaucrats
MILITANT
B y G eorge B re itm a n
E d ito r: JO S E P H H A N S E N
M anagin g E d ito r: G E O R G E L A V A N
Business M anager: K A R O L Y N K E R R Y
Published w e e k ly , except d u rin g J u ly and A ugu st w h en published b i-w e e k ly ,
by T h e M ilita n t P u b lishing Ass’n., 116 U n iv e rs ity P I., N e w Y o rk 3, N .Y . Phone
C H 3-2140. Second-class postage paid at N e w Y o rk , N .Y . Subscription: $3 a year;
C anadian, $3.50; foreign , $4.50. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily
represent T h e M ilit a n t’s view s. These are expressed in editorials.
V o l. 27 - N o. 39
< *@ *> 3 4 5
M o n d a y . N o v e m b e r 4, 1963
Lift the Blockade
T w o days a fte r Cuban P re m ie r F ide l Castro placed the U.S.
g overnm ent “ on t r ia l before w o rld o p in io n ” to end its c rim in a l
economic blockade o f the d isa ste r-stricke n isla n d w h ic h had s u f­
fered fiv e days o f u n p a ra lle le d d estructio n b y H u rric a n e F lora,
the State D e p a rtm e n t announced w ith cold b r u ta lity th a t the
blockade w o u ld go on. I t ’s reason? C uba’s alleged “ e ffo rts to
o v e rth ro w governm ents in th is hem isphere b y violence, te rro r and
subversion.”
B u t th e w o rld know s th a t i t has been the men in W ashington,
n o t Havana, w ho are g u ilty o f this. T hey sponsored th e B a y of
Pigs inva sion and threatened a fu ll-s c a le inva sion o f Cuba last
year. T he K e n n e d y a d m in is tra tio n uses its economic, m ilita r y and
d ip lo m a tic m ig h t to t r y to b rin g d ow n th e C uban governm ent. In
a d d itio n to b a rrin g U.S. trade, W ashington continues its p o lic y
o f economic b la c k m a il against a ny W estern c o u n try th a t engages
in sh ip p in g to Cuba. T his slows dow n th e sh ip m e n t o f aid fro m
those countries th a t do w a n t to h e lp th e Cuban people in th e ir
h o u r o f g re at need.
T h e present s itu a tio n rip s th e masks o ff the h ypocrites in
W ashington — fro m K e nn e dy on dow n — w ho p io u s ly declare
th e y are o n ly opposed to the Castro g overnm ent and don’t w a n t
to do a n y th in g to h a rm the Cuban people.
T he C uban people have suffered one o f the w o rs t n a tu ra l
catastrophes o f recent tim es. The floods w ip e d o u t e n tire towns,
dem olished a large p a rt o f the is la n d ’s crops, destroyed roads
and sewage systems.
Y e t the Cuban people do n o t ask fo r c h a rity to overcome
th is disaster. T h e y w elcom e w ith g ra titu d e a ll h elp fre e ly given.
B u t a ll th e y ask o f th e g overnm ent of th e U.S. is th a t i t p e rm it
freedom o f th e seas to those w ho do w a n t to ship needed m ate ria ls
to th e ir co un try.
On the basis o f e lem entary hum an compassion alone, the
A m e ric a n people should speak o u t and dem and an end to W ash­
in g to n ’s b a rb a ric e ffo rts to e x p lo it the h u rric a n e devastation fo r
its re a c tio n a ry ends. In th e tra d itio n o f fa ir p la y and sim p le de­
cency, A m ericans o f a ll p o litic a l vie w p o in ts should jo in in de­
m anding o f the K ennedy a d m in is tra tio n : Don’t stand in the w a y
o f a id to Cuba. L IF T T H E E M B A R G O !
Drive Nets 800 New Militant Subs
In 2 Weeks; Chicago Sets the Pace
B y K a ro ly n K e rry
The response to our appeal in
the Oct. 21 issue o f The M ilita n t
to complete ou r campagin quota
o f 5,000 new subscribers b y Nov.
15 — one m onth in advance of
the o rig in a l deadline of Dec. 15 —
has been most g ra tify in g .
In the tw o week period fro m
Oct. 21 throug h Oct. 30 we re ­
ceived a p p ro xim a te ly 800 in tro ­
d u ctory subscriptions. In a ddi­
tion, a num ber o f area groups
have
v o lu n ta rily
raised
th e ir
o rig in a l quotas, lif tin g o u r to ta l
accepted quota to over 6,000.
The Chicago group, pace-set­
ters fro m the beginning, has
doubled its quota — fro m 750 to
1,500. Sub d ire c to r Bev w rite s:
“ We discussed the sub quota
last week and decided to double
it. The w a y things are looking
now, we w ill have no tro u b le at
a ll m eeting the new quota. C h i­
cago w o uld lik e to challenge a ll
o ther cities to double th e ir quotas
too. C e rta in ly we are no excep­
tio n and I ’m sure the y are now
fin d in g out, as we did, how easy
i t is to get in tro d u c to ry subs to
The M ilita n t.”
In lin e w ith the Chicago action
o ther areas have already upped
th e ir quotas. N ew ark, w h ic h be­
gan w ith a quota o f 150, has a l­
ready exceeded th a t num ber and
has raised its quota to 250.
San Diego, w ith an o rig in a l
quota of 50, w e n t over the top
and doubled i t w ith
a new
target o f 100. D enver jum ped
fro m 25 to 150 a fte r exceeding
its in itia l quota. D e tro it lifte d
its quota fro m 500 to 650.
A ll
of
the
above-m entioned
areas are con fide nt they can meet
th e ir new and hig h er quotas by
Nov. 15, the 35th A n n iv e rs a ry
date o f The M ilita n t. I t is th is
Page T hree
T H E M IL IT A N T
M onday, N ovem ber 4, 1963
s p irit th a t im pels us to pre d ict
th a t we can a ll lo o k fo rw a rd to
com m em orating 35 years o f p u b ­
lica tio n by being able to announce
th a t we have added 5,000 new
readers to our roster on target
date: Nov. 15.
Most encouraging are the subs
and comments fro m areas w here
there are no organized groups and
w hich are listed in the scoreboard
under the designation: “ G eneral.”
T yp ica l of the observations made
are th a t The M ilita n t is unique in
its coverage o f the c iv il rig h ts
struggle and as a paper of record
p u b lish in g im p o rta n t texts of
speeches and pronouncements by
leaders o f the Cuban re vo lu tio n .
We w o u ld lik e to hear fro m a ll
areas w h a t th e ir response w ill be
to the Chicago challenge. Espe­
c ia lly fro m those areas w h ich
are s till lagging v e ry b a d ly be­
h ind.
City
Quota
Total
Chicago
1500
1177
N ew Y o rk
1000
780
D e tro it
650
461
T w in Cities
207
300
N ew ark
250
180
Boston
155
250
O a k la n d /B e rk e ly
375
110
Cleveland
100
99
San Diego
100
83
M ilw a u ke e
150
73
Madison
71
100
Seattle
68
100
P h iladelphia
150
67
San Francisco
250
38
A n n A rb o r
50
31
D enver
150
31
B a ltim o re
22
50
Los Angeles
21
500
Connecticut
75
9
St. Louis
4
15
General
111
T o ta l (O ct. 30)
6115
3798
D E T R O IT
—
W ould
some
thought and a ttention re su lt in
the coining of a term to describe
the misleaders o f the labor m ove­
m ent th a t w ould be as apt and
p opular as “ U ncle T om ” is fo r
misleaders of the Negro struggle?
I f so, le t us give i t the necessary
thought and attention. Because
the p o p u la rity o f the term “ U ncle
T om ” is n o t o n ly a re su lt o f the
long struggle fo r e q u a lity — it
is also a weapon in the mass com ­
m unication o f ideas to prom ote
th a t struggle. I t is a weapon of ex­
posure and rid ic u le , ju s t as badly
needed in the unions today as in
the Negro movement.
O f course there are disagree­
ments about the use o r misuse o f
“ U ncle Tom .”
P. L . P ra ttis , in the Sept. 21
P ittsb u rg h C ourier, com plains th a t
the character in H a rrie t Beecher
Stowe’s novel re a lly was a fin e
fe llo w , and th a t i t is u n fa ir to ap­
p ly his name to compromisers,
opportunists and tra ito rs .
Cleage’s Definition
Rev. A lb e rt B. Cleage, in the
course o f a p enetrating a rtic le on
the dilem m a o f b la ck leadership
in the Sept. 16 Illu s tra te d News,
argues that, s tric tly speaking, an
U ncle Tom is one w h o deliberate­
ly and fo r his own personal gain
betrays the N egro’s best interests,
and th a t com prom isers and grad­
ualists don’t deserve the name u n ­
less th a t elem ent o f personal gain
is involved. (H e concludes, h ow ­
ever, th a t g ra d u a list leaders w ho
can’t understand the new moods
of the Negro masses deserve to be
called U ncle Tom, i f o n ly as a
punishm ent
fo r
being
slo w w itte d .)
The use of the te rm has now
been debated in a co urtroom too.
O n Oct. 16 a ju r y in A k ro n ru le d
th a t i t is a libelous te rm w hen
applied to a Negro and awarded
B e rth a B. M oore $32,000 in dam ­
ages against a Negro w eekly, the
C leveland C a ll and Post.
George “............ ” Meany
associating o r dealing w ith her.”
They decided th a t i t did.
I f the A k ro n ju r y decision is
upheld in the courts generally, i t
m ay m ake people a little more
cautious about using the te rm in
w ritin g . B u t i t w ill n o t m ake i t
any less pop u la r among the Negro
masses. They are not m uch in ­
terested in fin e points about its
h isto ry, etc. T hey know w h a t it
means and how to use i t appro­
p ria te ly . The U ncle Toms know
w h a t i t means too and ho w effec­
tiv e i t can be; and so do a ll the
aspirants to leadership and in ­
fluence in the Negro com m unity.
B u t le t me get back to the p o in t
I started out w ith : Can’t we fin d
a s im ila rly appropriate name fo r
the present leaders o f the la bor
movement?
As a type, they ce rta in ly are
c le a rly
distinguishable.
George
M eany and W a lte r R euther have
d iffe re n t styles
and
d iffe re n t
backgrounds. B u t on the basic
things th e y are alike.
T hey are as subservient to the
c a p ita list class as any U ncle Tom
ever was to his master. T hey
dampen, discourage and stamp out
ra n k and file m ilita n c y w h ere ver
th e y can. T hey believe in, ad­
vocate and practice m oderation,
compromise w ith the employers
M rs. Moore, a local Dem ocratic
P a rty vice chairm an and state
auto license re g istra r, charged the
C a ll and Post w ith fa lse ly re p o rt­
ing th a t ex-G ov. D iS alle, also a
Dem ocrat, had called her an
U ncle Tom at a m eeting in 1962.
D iS alle supported her version b y
deposing th a t he had not called
her a Tom.
In
the fiv e -d a y tr ia l, Mrs.
Moore said an U ncle Tom is one
w ho “ sells o u t” his convictions
and others of his race fo r money,
prestige o r p o litic a l preference.
The C a ll and Post publisher, W il­
lia m O. W alker, argued th a t the
te rm means “ one w ith w hom you
disagree” b u t im plies no d is lo y a l­
ty to the Negro race.
The judge asked the ju r y ( a llw h ite !) to decide w h e th e r the term
was derogatory and im puted to
M rs. Moore “ conduct th a t tends
to h a rm h e r re p u ta tio n and lo w e r
h e r in the estim ation of the com­
m u n ity and deters persons fro m
There have been o ther attem pts.
“ P iecard” is one. “ Porkchopper” is
another. F o r some reason th e y
never caught on w id e ly. T hey are
s till used in certain unions and
cities, b u t n o t gene ra lly.
I am not cla im in g th a t fin d in g
the rig h t name fo r the union lead­
ers w ill m ake the la b o r m ove­
m ent as m ilita n t as the Negro
m ovem ent has become; obviously,
m ore than a new name is needed.
B u t every lit tle b it helps. A n d i f
someone can h it on a name fo r
the Meanys and Reuthers as f i t ­
tin g as U ncle Tom, w h ic h w ill
help to expose them and lo w e r
them “ in the estim ation o f the
co m m u n ity” and “ deter persons
fro m associating or dealing” w ith
them, he w ill be doing a service
to the labor, c iv il rig h ts and ra d ­
ical movements.
Cleveland Ups the A n te
B y M a rv e l Scholl
Fund D ire cto r
Good news fro m Cleveland this
week — an increase in th e ir quota
fro m $500 to $650! A n d they
pledged
th is
increase
even
though i t dropped them three per­
centage points and p u t them n ext
to the bottom o f the lis t. B u t w ith
such s p irit we are certain they
w ill soon be v y in g w ith Chicago
fo r top b illin g .
The rest o f the news this week
was not so good, as noted in the
scoreboard below. Since last week
we increased o n ly three percent.
Since the Fund tim e-span is m ore
than h a lf over i t behooves our
frie n ds to h u rry a b it.
I w ould lik e to m ake a special
appeal this w eek to those read­
ers of The M ilita n t w ho have been
subscribers fo r a long, long tim e.
Fund Scoreboard
Totals to Oct. 28
Other Attempts
Socialist Education Fund
False Report?
City
Chicago
General
M ilw a u ke e
M inneapolis-S t. Paul
St. Louis
C onnecticut
N ew Y o rk
D e tro it
Boston
O a kland-B erkeley
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Seattle
San Diego
D enver
P h iladelphia
N e w a rk
C leveland
A lle n to w n
and gradualism in th e ir m ost b la ­
ta n t form s. They tr y to p re ven t
strikes. T hey re s tric t unio n dem­
ocracy. They are u n w illin g o r
afra id to fig h t racia l d iscrim in a ­
tion. They tu rn la b o r in to a ta il
on the D em ocratic donkey. They
defend and support e very tw is t
and tu rn in U.S. im p e ria lis t fo r­
eign policy. A n d fo r th e ir be­
trayals of the w orkers’ interests,
they are rew arded w ith enough
“ money, prestige or p o litic a l pre ­
ference” so th a t they constitute a
caste separate and apart fro m the
w o rk in g people in conduct and
consciousness.
W hat should th is type o f union
leader be called?
I t was D aniel De Leon, I be­
lieve, w ho introduced the expres­
sion “ la b o r lieutenants o f the cap­
ita lis t class.” S c ie n tifica lly, th is is
correct and even good. B u t i t ’s n o t
the k in d o f te rm th a t ro lls o ff
yo u r tongue easily. I t ’s too long.
I t ’s n o t c o lo rfu l enough. The same
criticism s app ly to the te rm “ la ­
bor bureaucracy” w h ich seems to
be favored b y w rite rs fo r The
M ilita n t.
Quota
1,300
100
250
850
100
Paid
Percent
700
54
132
425
50
54
54
53
50
50
44
38
36
34
30
200
88
4,300
700
600
600
850
4,300
500
300
300
1,634
251
205
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Race Discrimination
B y H a r r y R in g
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Page Four
T H E M IL IT A N T — M
A n Answer to the Chinese Comm
e
o
ia
s
fn
tL
ru
S
D
d
l'
B y E . G e rm ain
T he a rtic le “ On the Question o f
S ta lin ,” published September 13
b y the jo in t e d ito ria l boards o f
the P eking People’s D a ily and
Red F lag as the second in a series
o f answers to the “ Open L e tte r of
the C e ntral C om m ittee o f the
CPSU,” [C om m unist p a rty o f the
S oviet U n io n ] is undoubtedly the
w o rst c o n trib u tio n o f the Chinese
C om m unist P a rty [C C P ] in the
present discussion in the w o rld
C om m unist m ovem ent, the one
w h ic h does most damage to the
fa vo ra ble reception given up to
now to the CCP and the one w h ic h
m ost seriously hinders the p ro ­
gress o f C om m unist cadres and
m ilita n ts tow ards re v o lu tio n a ry
M a rx is m insofa r as i t is being ad­
vanced b y this discussion.
F u ll o f factual e rrors and dis­
tortions, i t is also loaded w ith
contradictions e ith e r w ith in the
a rtic le its e lf or w ith other im p o r­
ta n t documents o f the CCP or re ­
cent declarations made by Mao
T se-tung.
B u t the m ost s trik in g aspect of
the a rticle is its com plete divorce
fro m re a lity . Nobody w ith the
slightest know ledge of the opinions
o r aspirations of the masses inside
the S oviet U nion or the East E u­
ropean w o rke rs states can take
seriously a statem ent lik e th is:
“ T h is great m a jo rity o f the Soviet
people disapprove o f such abuse
o f S talin. T hey increasingly [ ! ]
cherish the m em ory o f S ta lin .”
A n y attem pt by the leaders of
the CCP to b u ild th e ir tendency
w ith in
the
w o rld
C om m unist
m ovem ent on such a lin e can o n ly
lead to ra p id and increasing isola­
tio n , g re a tly fa c ilita tin g the e ffo rts
o f the K hrush che vite tendency to
re-establish m o n o lith ism and some
k in d o f ce ntral bureaucratic con­
tr o l over the greater p a rt o f the
w o rld C om m unist m ovem ent.
We are convinced th a t the lead­
ers and members o f the le ft-w in g
oppositional tendencies inside the
CPs o f the colonial and im p e ria l­
is t countries w ill also ra p id ly dis­
cover th is through th e ir ow n ex­
perience. We are convinced th a t
th e y w ill w a rn th e ir Chinese com­
rades w ith increasing insistence
th a t a fig h t against rig h t-w in g re­
v isio n ism th a t at the same tim e
attem pts to re vive the c u lt o f
S ta lin is doomed fro m the begin­
n in g . We are convinced th a t th e y
w il l raise the slogan, “ In the fig h t
against K hrushchev’s revisionism ,
le t’s n o t go back to S ta lin b u t
m ove fo rw a rd
to fu ll-fle d g e d
L e n inism .” A n d we are convinced
th a t w ith the help of experience
and fra te rn a l
discussion,
th is
slogan w ill fin d increasing echoes
w ith in the Chinese CP its e lf, in ­
c lu d in g its leadership. F o r th a t
reason, we th in k i t w o rth w h ile to
s u b m it the a rticle “ On the Ques­
tio n o f S ta lin ” to m uch m ore
searching c ritic is m than i t in s trin s ic a lly deserves in hope th a t
i t w ill help speed the process o f
c la rific a tio n
among
le ft-w in g
Communists, in China as w e ll as
everyw here else.
Some o f the argum ents advanced
in the a rticle “ On the Question o f
Moscow
vs.
Peking
The Meaning
O f the G r e a t Debate
By W illiam F. W arde
T he f ir s t c o m p re h e n s iv e a p p ra is a l o f
th e S in o -S o v ie t d is p u te fro m a
M a rx is t s ta n d p o in t
50 cents
PIONEER PUBLISHERS
1 16 University Place
New York 3, N . Y.
S ta lin ” are so self-defeating th a t
th e y seem alm ost naive. The au­
thors w rite :
“ K hrushchev has m aligned Sta­
lin as a ‘despot o f the type o f Iva n
the T e rrib le .’ Does not th is mean
th a t the experience o f the great
CPSU and the great Soviet people
p rovided over 30 years fo r peo­
ples the w o rld over was n o t the
experience o f the d icta to rsh ip o f
the p ro le ta ria t, b u t th a t o f life
under the ru le o f a feudal ‘des­
p o t’ ? . . . K hrushchev has m aligned
S ta lin as a ‘fo o l.’ Does not th is
mean th a t the CPSU, w h ich
waged heroic re v o lu tio n a ry stru g ­
gles over the past decades, had a
‘fo o l’ as its leader?”
T hey seem to fo rg e t a detail.
T he Soviet people and the CPSU
have been led fo r n e a rly ten years
now b y a group headed by
K h ru sh ch e v w hom th is v e ry same
a rtic le denounces as a slanderer,
a m aligner, a fa ls ifie r o f histo ry,
a fool, a coward, a s p litte r o f the
w o rld C om m unist m ovem ent, an
o bjective agent o f revisionism
th a t serves as a bourgeois agency
w ith in the w o rkin g -cla ss m ove­
m ent. O th e r CCP documents have
compared K hrushchev and his
group to the so cia l-p a trio ts of
1914 w hom L e n in term ed “ b o u r­
geois agents w ith in the w o rk in g class m ovem ent.” Y e t these repel­
le n t figures have been a t the head
o f the CPSU fo r some ten years
and have been p a rt o f the top
leadership o f the S oviet U nion fo r
30 years! W h y should this be as­
sumed to be a se lf-a p p a re n t ab­
s u rd ity in the case o f S ta lin and
yet be taken as p e rfe c tly logical
in the case o f K hrushchev?
The authors o f the a rtic le “ On
the Question o f S ta lin ” say th a t
K hrushchev m aligned S ta lin in his
secret speech at the T w e n tie th
Stalin
Congress of the CPSU w hen he
adm itted th a t S ta lin had m urdered
the m ain cadres o f L e n in ’s B o l­
shevik p a rty . T h e y dare to say
th a t th is admission is a “ d is to r­
tio n o f h isto ric tru th .” B u t facts
are facts! L e t the leaders o f the
Chinese CP answer these ques­
tions:
Yes o r no, d id S ta lin execute
the m a jo rity o f the members of
the L e n in is t C entral C om m ittee
th a t led the October R evolution,
founded the S oviet state and the
T h ird In te rn a tio n a l, and w on the
C iv il War?
Yes o r no, w ere these great
C om m unist leaders m urdered u n ­
der the v ile slander and absurd
accusation th a t th e y w ere “ spies
and agents o f fascism and im ­
p e ria lism ” n o t o n ly fro m the m o­
m ent they opposed S ta lin b u t even
before the fir s t w o rld war?
Yes o r no, did S ta lin m u rd e r
not o n ly thousands o f Communists
in the p o litic a l opposition b u t also
the m a jo rity o f delegates to the
F ifte e n th and S ixteenth p a rty
congresses o f the CPSU; i.e., the
m a jo rity o f C om m unist cadres
w ho had supported h im against
the T ro ts k y is t Opposition b u t who
w ere s till too m uch tied to the
o ld B olshevik tra d itio n to accept
the monstrous Moscow tria ls and
the system atic use o f lies, slander
and physical violence to “ solve”
in n e r-p a rty discussions?
We venture to p re d ic t th a t the
authors o f the a rtic le “ On the
Question o f S ta lin ” w ill not a t­
te m p t to answ er these questions.
No honest answer is possible b u t
“ yes.” Y e t i f the answer is “ yes,”
then i t fo llo w s th a t K hrushchev
d id not “ m a lig n ” and “ slander”
S ta lin in his secret speech at the
T w e n tie th Congress o f the CPSU.
W hat he did was to a d m it p a rt of
the h is to ric a l tr u th and reveal
some fresh details. A gainst this
tru th , sophisms evaporate lik e
snow in the-sun.
T he authors o f the a rtic le even
dare to approve an old speech
made b y K hrushchev in Ja n u a ry
1937 in w h ic h the present firs t
secretary o f the C entral C o m m it­
tee of the CPSU said of those w ho
opposed S ta lin , “ In liftin g th e ir
hand against Comrade S ta lin , they
lifte d i t against a ll o f us, against
the w o rk in g class and the w o rk ­
in g people!”
Have the authors o f the a rticle
forgotten th a t the firs t one to “ l i f t
his hand” against S ta lin was no
one b u t L e n in him self? Have they
forgotten L e n in ’s testament, in
w h ic h the founder of Bolshevism
advised the C entral C om m ittee to
rem ove S ta lin fro m his post of
general secretary? B y m a kin g this
ju d g m e n t o f S talin, c a llin g fo r
his rem oval, d id L e n in “ l i f t his
hand against the w o rk in g class?”
“ co unter-revolutionists, spies and
fascist agents.” In th a t case, by
the logic used b y the leaders of
the Chinese CP, he was a fool i f
not worse. The banner m ust then
be raised fo r the “ re h a b ilita tio n ”
o f Len in against the authors of
the a rticle as apologists fo r the
crim es o f S talin!
I f they say “ no,” i f they decide
th a t these slaughtered comrades
w ere innocent vic tim s o f S ta lin ’s
purges, “ innocent people w ro n g ly
convicted,” then how can they re­
duce th is mass slander and mass
m u rde r, often accompanied b y
mass to rtu re , o f thousands o f old
An “Error”
The leaders o f the CCP fa ll into
another
g la rin g
contradiction
when on the one hand they tr y
to defend S ta lin against K h ru ­
shchev’s “ m a lig n in g ” h im as a
m u rd e re r and a despot w h ile on
the o ther hand th e y themselves
state:
“ On certain [ ! ] occasions and
on certain questions, he [S ta lin ]
confused tw o types of contradic­
tions w h ich are d iffe re n t in na­
ture, contradictions between o u r­
selves and the enemy, and con­
tra d ictio n s among the people, and
also confused the d iffe re n t m e th ­
ods needed in h a n d lin g them . In
the w o rk led b y S ta lin o f sup­
pressing the c o u n te r-re vo lu tio n ,
m any co u n te r-re vo lu tio n a rie s de­
serving punishm ent w ere d u ly
punished. B u t a t the same tim e
there were innocent people who
w ere w ro n g ly convicted, and in
1937 and 1938 there occurred the
e rro r [ ! ] o f enlarging the scope
o f the suppression o f counter­
re vo lu tio n a rie s.”
W h a t was the scale o f this “ e r­
r o r ” ? Z inoviev, fir s t head o f the
C om m unist
In te rn a tio n a l,
was
shot as a co u n te r-re vo lu tio n ist.
So was B u k h a rin w ho succeeded
Z in o vie v as the leading fig u re of
the C om intern. So was Kam enev,
mem ber o f the L e n in is t P o litic a l
Bureau. T ro tsky, fo u n d e r o f the
Red A rm y , was m urdered by an
agent o f S ta lin . R ykov, another
mem ber o f the L e n in is t P o litic a l
Bureau and fo rm e r ch ie f o f the
S oviet governm ent, was executed
as a c o u n te r-re v o lu tio n is t. P iatakov, Radek, S okolnikov, R akovski, Sm ilga, Serebriakov, I. N.
S m irnov,
M u ra lo v
and
m any
others w ere s im ila rly liquidated.
Do the leaders o f the Chinese
CP believe th a t a ll these Commu­
nists, these com rades-in-arm s of
L e n in, the m a jo rity o f the m em ­
bers of the C entral Com m ittee in
w h ich L e n in sat fro m 1917 to 1923,
w ere re a lly c o u n te r-re v o lu tio n ­
aries? Do the leaders o f the
Chinese CP believe th a t the top
s ta ff o f the Red A rm y , executed
a fte r a secret m ock “ tr ia l” in
1937, were re a lly c o u n te r-re v o lu ­
tionaries? Do the leaders o f the
Chinese CP believe th a t the m a­
jo r it y of the delegates o f the F if ­
teenth and S ixteenth congresses of
the CPSU were re a lly counter­
revolutionaries?
T h e ir dilem m a is insoluble. I f
they say “ yes” then the o n ly pos­
sible conclusion is that the Soviet
U nion was founded by counter­
re vo lu tio n a rie s and Le n in him self
guided the C om m unist p a rty and
the S oviet U nion u n til he died
w ith the help o f a m a jo rity o f
B olsheviks and the m a jo rity of
L e n in ’s closest collaborators to a
m ere “ e rro r” and react in d ig n a n tly
w hen someone speaks the tru th
and calls S ta lin w h a t he was, a
despot and a m urderer?
The authors o f the a rtic le “ On
the Question o f S ta lin ” declare:
“ K h ru shche v has m aligned S ta lin
as ‘the greatest d ic ta to r in Rus­
sian h is to ry .’ Does th is n o t mean
th a t the S oviet people liv e d fo r
30 long years under the ‘ty ra n n y ’
o f the ‘greatest d icta to r in Rus­
sian h is to ry ,’ and not under the
socialist system?” B y stating the
question in th is fo rm , the authors
o n ly prove th a t they have n o t yet
learned how to distin guish be­
tween the socio-economic founda­
tions o f society and its p o litic a l
superstructure.
In the h is to ry o f ca pita lism
m any d iffe re n t form s o f state and
governm ent have appeared, fro m
the extrem es o f autocracy and
fascist dicta to rsh ip to w h a t Len in
called “ the most advanced form s
o f bourgeois dem ocratic republics”
(in c lu d in g those in w h ich citizens
keep arms in th e ir homes as in
S w itzerland or N ineteenth-C en­
tu r y A m e ric a ). In the Soviet U n ­
ion, capitalism was o ve rth ro w n by
the October R evolutio n and has
not been restored since. P roperty
relations rem ain those o f sociali­
zation, o f a tra n sitio n tow ards
socialism. The bourgeoisie has
com pletely disappeared as a class.
B u t ju s t as p o litic a l counter­
re vo lu tio ns proved possible a fte r
the decisive v ic to ry o f the b o u r­
geois re vo lu tio n and the d e fin itiv e
establishm ent o f ca p ita list p ro p ­
e rty relations (fo r example, the
R estoration o f 1815 in France) so,
experience has shown, a p o litic a l
c o u n te r-re vo lu tio n can destroy the
p o litic a l pow er o f the w o rkin g
class a fte r the destruction of
ca p ita lism w ith o u t q u a lita tiv e ly
m o d ify in g the socialized p ro p e rty
relations.
Such a p o litic a l c o u n te r-re vo lu ­
tio n occurred in the Soviet U nion
under S talin. The social la ye r th a t
dispossessed the Soviet p ro le ta ria t
in the exercise o f p o litic a l pow er
was the bureaucracy. T hat there
exists a deep antagonism between
th is bureaucracy and the pro le ­
ta ria t is not a “ T ro ts k y ite ” in ve n ­
tion. In his last years Len in had
deep m isgivings about the increas­
ing pow er o f the bureaucracy and
he was constantly w a rn in g about
it and preparing fo r the coming
struggle w ith it. In the fin a l
co d icil to his testament', w hich
was published fo r the firs t tim e
in the S oviet U nion o n ly tw o years
ago, Le n in proposed th a t several
hundred
w o rke rs
should
be
L en in
bro u g h t in to the C entral C om m it­
tee w h ile rem a in in g on the job.
The m a jo rity of the C entral
C om m ittee decided not to act on
this advice. They com pletely m is­
understood o r underestim ated the
danger o f the bureaucracy as a
social fo rm ation. U n w ittin g ly they
thereby fa c ilita te d S ta lin ’s de­
struction o f Soviet and p a rty dem ­
ocracy and the establishm ent of
his
bureaucratic
d ictatorship:
W hen they fin a lly grasped the
danger, i t was too late. F o r th is
m istake the y paid w ith th e ir lives.
L eft Opposition
I t w ill rem ain the eternal m e rit
of T ro tsky and the L e ft Opposi­
tio n to have co rre ctly understood
the g ra v ity o f the danger fro m
the tim e o f L e n in ’s death. They
c o rre ctly defended a policy o f in ­
d u stria liza tio n and the m ainte­
nance o f Soviet democracy. Suc­
cess in th is could have lim ite d
the bureaucratic deform ation of
state and p a rty. A lth o u g h they
suffered defeat, th e ir struggle
saved the honor o f Bolshevism
and the program o f com m unism ,
m a kin g i t possible to tra n s m it
these precious assets to a new
generation. The cause o f the L e ft
O pposition became the cause of
the F o urth In te rn a tio n a l. I t is the
cause of re v o lu tio n a ry M a rx is m
today, the cause o f Leninism .
K hrushchev and the ru lin g
strata of the S oviet bureaucracy,
i t is true, are try in g to tra n sfo rm
S ta lin in to a scapegoat fo r the
collective crim es com m itted by the
bureaucracy and the leadership of
the CPSU in the 1930s and late r.
W hen the authors of the a rticle .
“ On the Question o f S ta lin ” recall
K hru sh ch e v’s declarations in 193738, when they re fe r o b liq u e ly to
K h ru sh ch e v’s own ro le as a
butcher o f U k ra in ia n C om m unists
and in tellectuals d u rin g the Y ezovtchina, th ey do w e ll, be i t fo r
obscure reasons o f th e ir own.
T hey w rite , fo r instance: “ W hy
does K hrushchev, w ho was in the
leadership o f the p a rty and the
state in S ta lin ’s period, and w ho
active ly supported and fir m ly
[ ! ] executed the p o licy o f sup­
pressing
co unte r-revolutionists,
repudiate e v e ryth in g done d u rin g
th is period and s h ift the blame
fo r a ll the errors on to S ta lin
alone, w h ile altogether w h ite ­
w ashing him self?”
T his scores a good debating
p o in t and at the same tim e serves
the m ore serious purpose o f w a rn ­
in g K hrushchev th a t i f the fig h t
becomes rougher, th e Chinese, or
people a llie d to them , m ig h t a t a
certain
p o in t begin disclosing
specific crim es com m itted d u rin g
the period o f the purges b y K h r u ­
shchev and other associates o f his
now on the P raesidium of the
C entral Com m ittee o f the CPSU.
I f th is approach is pursued, tw o
possibilities are open. One is to
w hitew ash S ta lin w h ich also w h ite ­
washes K hrushchev and the w hole
Soviet bureaucracy. The other is
to in d ic t K hrushchev and the rest
o f his colleagues fo r th e ir jo in t
re sp o n sib ility in S ta lin ’s crimes.
The Chinese leaders seem — fo r
the tim e being — to have adopted
the firs t course. T his leads away
fro m the tru th , aw ay fro m L e n in ­
ism, aw ay fro m the S oviet masses.
As fo r us, we p re fe r the other
course.
U n-M arxist Theory
The authors o f the a rticle under
exam ination satisfy themselves
w ith denouncing the com pletely
u n -M a rx is t th eory of the “ p er­
sona lity c u lt,” w ith o u t atte m ptin g
to o ffe r a M a rxist, dialectical m a­
te ria lis t explanation o f the con­
tra d ictio n s o f S oviet society. In ­
deed, they even m a in ta in th a t
these contradictions are essentially
nonexistent and that a ll th a t is
invo lve d is the “ in te rre la tio n sh ip
of
leaders, p a rty,
class and
masses.”
T his is a ll the stranger in View
o f the fa ct th a t Mao Tse-tung
him self, as late as 1957, i.e., a fte r
the H ungarian R evolution, in his
Page Five
day,, N ovem ber 4, 1963
speech e n title d “ On the C ontra­
dictions w ith in the People,” came
close to a “ T ro ts k y is t” — th a t is,
a M a rx is t — analysis of these
contradictions. M ao’s vie w was
q u ite d iffe re n t fro m K h rush ch e v’s
ra m bling s on the “ personality
c u lt,” w h ic h cannot be taken
seriously b y any M a rx is t. (A c u lt
th a t dom inated society com pletely,
ye t had no roots w hatsoever in its
in fra s tru c tu re ! ) M ao’s vie w was
d iffe re n t, too, fro m th a t of the
authors o f “ On the Question o f
S ta lin ” w ith th e ir v u lg a r p la ti­
tudes about the “ leaders” and the
“ masses.”
In his w e ll-k n o w n speech Mao
reduced the basic co ntra d ictio n
“ w ith in the people,” in the period
o f the d icta to rsh ip o f the pro le ­
ta ria t, to the con tra diction between
w o rke rs engaged in productio n and
“ ad m inistra tors.” (W e p re fe r the
te rm used b y M a rx and Lenin,
“ bureaucrats.” ) F rom th is analysis
i t is b u t a step to understanding
the crim es o f the S ta lin is t era as
re su ltin g fro m a tem porary defeat
o f the w orke rs by the bureaucracy
u n der specific conditions of isola­
tio n of the re vo lu tio n , backw a rd ­
ness o f the cou ntry and la ck of
understanding by the “ subjective
fa c to r” (th e p a rty ) a fte r the death
o f L e nin.
Instead o f ta kin g th is step fo r ­
w a rd in the d ire ctio n o f Leninism ,
the Chinese leaders seem today to
be ta kin g a step backw ard to an
absurd denial o f social con tra d ic­
tions “ w ith in the people” d u rin g
the d ictatorship of the p ro le ta ria t,
to an absurd denial o f the crimes
o f S talin. The stream o f h isto ry
is m oving in a d ire ctio n opposite
to these new errors!
Hungarian Revolution
I t is in the lig h t o f this same
con trad iction between the w o rke rs
and peasants on one hand and the
bureaucracy on the o ther th a t the
w o rking-class uprisings in East
B e rlin and East G erm any J u ly 1617, 1953, and the dem onstrations
in Poland and re vo lu tio n in H u n ­
g a ry in October 1956 m ust be
view ed. The contradictio n between
the social forces in these countries
was rendered a ll the m ore v io le n t
b y economic e xp lo ita tio n and na­
tio n a l oppression practiced in these
countries under S talin.
In th e ir fir s t a rticle o f re p ly to
the “ Open L e tte r” o f the C entral
C om m ittee o f the CPSU, the edi­
tors o f the People’s D a ily and Red
Flag im p lic itly recognize th is fact,
fo r the y state: “ B y m oving up
troops in an attem pt to subdue the
P olish comrades by arm ed force,
i t [th e leadership o f the CPSU]
com m itted the e rro r o f greatpow er chauvinism .”
The authors also reveal (a fa c t
w id e ly know n in C om m unist c ir­
cles) th a t the leaders o f the
Chinese C om m unist p a rty s tro n g ly
opposed K re m lin in te rve n tio n in
P oland and thereby pro b a b ly
saved the Polish w o rk in g class and
G om ulka fro m a re p e titio n o f the
H un g arian tragedy. A ll the m ore
astonishing is th e ir prid e in h a v­
in g pressed fo r co u n te r-re vo lu tio n ­
a ry in te rve n tio n against the H u n ­
garian w orke rs: “ We insisted on
the ta k in g o f a ll necessary meas­
ures to smash the c o u n te r-re v o lu ­
tio n a ry re b ellion in H ungary and
fir m ly opposed the abandonment
o f socialist H u n g a ry.”
The m ain social force in re b e l­
lio n in H u ngary was the w o rk in g
class. A couple o f facts prove this
to the h ilt. A fte r Soviet troops
smashed the N agy governm ent, the
w o rkers organized one of the
longest and most solid general
strikes in the h isto ry o f the in te r­
n a tio n a l w o rke rs’ movem ent. The
fre e ly elected leadership advanced
the fo llo w in g p u re ly socialist de­
mands: “ We state expressly th a t
t he re vo lu tio n a ry w o rk in g class
considers the factories and the land
as property of the people . . . We
ask fo r free elections, b u t o n ly
those parties should be allow ed to
p a rticipate in them who recognize
and have alw ays recognized the
socialist order.”
The authors of “ On the Ques­
tio n of S ta lin ” did not, o f course,
compose a pure and sim ple apol­
ogy fo r S talin, as some people
have in c o rre c tly assumed. They
note m any “ e rro rs” com m itted by
S ta lin in m any fields. A m ong other
things they censure S ta lin fo r
“ also g iv in g some bad counsel in
the
in te rn a tio n a l
C om m unist
movem ent. These mistakes caused
some [ ! ] losses to the Soviet U nion
and the in te rn a tio n a l C om m unist
m ovem ent.”
W hen the authors tu rn to th e ir
own co u n try and th e ir ow n Rev­
olu tio n, this heavy v e il o f discre-
M a rx
tio n and understatem ent is re ­
placed b y a th in n e r c u rta in . We
learn th a t “ in the late 20s, the
30s and the e a rly 40s, the Chinese
M a rx is t-L e n in is ts represented by
Comrades Mao Tse-tung and L iu
Chao-shi resisted the influence of
S ta lin ’s mistakes . . .”
In other words, in Chinese a f­
fa irs, S ta lin was w ro n g fo r 20
years! A s lig h t erro r, o f course,
especially i f you happen to know ,
as the a rtic le adm its fo r the firs t
tim e — at least by im p lic a tio n —
th a t the rig h t-w in g errors th a t led
to the tra g ic defeat of the Chinese
R evolution o f 1925-27 w ere d i­
re c tly inspired by S ta lin ’s “ bad
counsel.”
Instead o f repeating the tire d
phrases about “ T rotskyites, Z in o vievites, B u k h a rin ite s and other
bourgeois agents,” the leaders o f
the Chinese C om m unist p a rty
w o u ld do b etter to m ake an objec­
tiv e study o f the real positions
held by L . D. T ro ts k y and the
m ovem ent founded b y h im , both in
the past and at present. Thus they
w o u ld discover th a t T ro ts k y cor­
re c tly opposed both the “ rig h tis t”
and “ le ftis t” e rrors o f S ta lin and
the C om intern leadership up to
1932, even before Mao Tse-tung
fe lt th a t som ething was w rong.
S urely the leaders o f the Chinese
C om m unist p a rty m ust know th a t
the T ro tskyists everyw here in the
w o rld have been the staunchest
defenders o f the great Chinese
R evolution and the great People’s
R epublic o f C hina against the a t­
tacks o f N e h ru ’s ca p ita list regim e
and its apologists. S urely they
m ust know th a t these same T ro t­
skyists everyw here in the w o rld
defend the Chinese C om m unist
p a rty against the slanders o f the
K hrushchevites w ho have sud­
denly discovered th a t i t is Mao
Tse-tung and his comrades and
n o t the A m erican im p e ria lists who
are “ w arm ongers” and people
desirous o f “ p ro vo kin g nuclear
w o rld w a r.” A t a mom ent when
the Chinese CP is under a con­
stant barrage o f slander o f the
purest S ta lin is t type; at a mom ent
when K hrushchev and his hench­
men are labeling the C hinese com­
rades “ s p litte rs ” and “ w reckers”
because they dare introduce th e ir
C om m unist lite ra tu re in to the So­
v ie t U nion, even p rin te d — w h a t
blasphem y! — in the Russian la n ­
guage, i t is scarcely a good exam ­
ple of p ro le ta ria n m orals fo r the
Chinese comrades to em ploy the
same k in d of slanders against the
Trotskyists. Please don’t do to
others w h a t you don’t w a n t done
to you, comrades!
W hen Izvestia devotes a h a lf
page to p ro vin g th a t the F o u rth
In te rn a tio n a l favors the side o f the
Chinese CP on some im p o rta n t
points in the dispute w ith Moscow
and hence a “ bloc” exists between
P eking
and
the
T rotskyists,
shouldn’t i t prove em barrassing to
the leaders o f the Chinese CP to
claim th a t these supporters are
“ bourgeois agents?”
B u t S ta lin ’s “ bad counsel” was
n ot lim ite d to Chinese a ffa irs. L e t
us recall a fe w examples. Isn ’t it
w e ll know n th a t S ta lin opposed
the Y ugoslav C om m unist p a rty ’s
fig h tin g fo r pow er fro m 1943 on,
as in 1946 he opposed Mao Tsetu n g ’s tu rn in g to w a rd the struggle
fo r power? Isn ’t it w e ll know n th a t
he advocated the same ca p itu la ­
tio n is t lin e fo r Vietnam ? H ow do
the Chinese leaders judge the
fa c t th a t every re v o lu tio n th a t
achieved a d icta to rsh ip o f the
p ro le ta ria t by its own independent
force in S ta lin ’s tim e had to do so
against his opposition?
Some o f S ta lin ’s “ e rro rs ” hap­
p ily did not prevent fin a l v ic to ry .
B u t w h a t about the more disas­
trous “ erro rs” th a t continue to bear
consequences to this v e ry day? Do
the Chinese leaders believe today
th a t S ta lin was rig h t in the c rim ­
in a l lin e he advocated in G erm any
fro m 1929 to 1933, according to
w h ich not fascism b u t the socialdemocracy was the m ain enemy
and the m ain target to be attacked
b y the German C om m unist party?
Do they approve o f the classcollaborationist, rig h t-w in g , op­
p o rtu n is t lin e applied by S ta lin in
Spain in 1936-39 w h ich strangled
the Spanish social re v o lu tio n and
thereby g re a tly fa c ilita te d Franco’s
m ilita r y victo ry? A n d w h a t about
p a rtic ip a tin g in and upholding
c a p ita lis t governm ents, a id in g in
reconstructing the bourgeois arm y
and the bourgeois state apparatus
in France and Ita ly a fte r the sec­
ond w o rld w a r, a course carried
out b y the C om m unist parties u n ­
der d ire ct in stru ctio n s fro m S ta lin
w h ic h ended up by destroying
h ig h ly favorable conditions fo r the
v ic to ry o f the w o rk in g class in
W estern Europe?
The balance sheet o f these “ e r­
ro rs ” is indeed staggering. Re­
peated over such a long period, in
so m any countries, can they s till
be called ju s t “ e rro rs” ? F o r a
M a rx is t, w o u ld n ’t i t be m ore cor­
re ct to ca ll i t a fu n d a m e n ta lly
w ro n g policy? A n d in th a t case,
isn’t i t necessary to probe fo r the
social roots of S ta lin is t op p o rtu n ­
ism, ju s t as L e n in probed fo r the
social roots of re fo rm is t op p o rtu n ­
ism?
Feeble Control
I t is true, as the authors o f the
a rtic le cla im in passing, th a t the
leaders of the Chinese CP suc­
ceeded in correcting o r pre ve n tin g
some o f these “ erro rs” and essen­
tia lly ke p t th e ir ow n counsel. They
were able to do so and fin a lly
lead the Chinese R evolution to
v ic to ry because o f the feebleness
o f C om intern control due to th e ir
re la tiv e geographical isolation. B u t
they kn o w th a t S ta lin intervened
d ire c tly in the leadership o f the
Chinese CP several tim es to tr y
to p u t people in charge w hom he
considered s u ffic ie n tly subservient
to him self.
I t is scarcely cause fo r w onder
then th a t in most C om m unist p a r­
ties, ruthless in te rv e n tio n b y the
S ta lin is t in te rn a tio n a l apparatus
succeeded in e lim in a tin g fro m
leadership genuine re v o lu tio n a ry
figures, rooted in the la b o r move­
ments of th e ir own countries. The
K re m lin replaced these re v o lu ­
tionists by servile, spineless execu­
tors of S ta lin ’s orders, no m a tte r
how c o n tra d icto ry o r how they
subordinated the interests o f the
in te rn a tio n a l re v o lu tio n a ry m ove­
m ent to the d ip lo m a tic maneuvers
and passing needs of Soviet fo r ­
eign policy.
Ever since the T ito crisis of
1948, and more especially since
S ta lin ’s death in 1953, the w o rld
crisis o f S talinism has continued
to deepen. In o rder to save w h a t
they rig h tly consider to be the es­
sence o f th e ir ru le — economic
p rivilege s and a m onopoly of
po litics — the S oviet bureaucrats
have been forced to make one con­
cession a fte r another to the Soviet
masses as they press fo r restora­
tio n o f Soviet democracy. The
abandonm ent o f the S ta lin c u lt
in 1956 at the T w e n tie th Congress
of the CPSU was the most im p o r­
ta n t o f these concessions, the one
th a t created the most contradic­
tions w ith in
the in te rn a tio n a l
S ta lin is t apparatus itself.
Today no objective basis w h a t­
ever exists, eith e r in the Soviet
U nion or in the East European
w o rke rs’ states, fo r a re tu rn to th a t
cu lt. The S oviet masses are not
m uch interested in B yzantine spec­
u la tio n about w h a t S ta lin said or
re a lly m eant by this o r th a t state­
m ent about the p a rty and its
cadres. B u t they are e xtre m ely in ­
terested in preventing any re tu rn
to the system under w h ich w o rk ­
ers could be condemned to hard
la b o r fo r being as little as 20 m in ­
utes late to the job. They are e x­
tre m e ly interested in preventing a
re tu rn to a system u nder w h ich
th e ir standard o f liv in g was ru th ­
lessly sacrificed in the name o f an
in d u s tria l “ gia ntism ” in w hich
h e artbreaking waste occurred due
to bureaucratic mismanagement.
They are ve ry interested in over­
com ing the
inhum an
housing
shortage th a t began in S ta lin ’s
tim e. T hey are m ore and m ore in ­
terested in p a rtic ip a tin g d ire c tly
in control and management o f the
economy and state — rights, the
exercise of w hich was u tte rly de­
stroyed under S talin.
W hen th ey hear the Chinese
leaders say, “ Long liv e L e n in ism !”
th e y th in k o f L e n in ’s teachings on
socialist democracy, on the highest
fu n ctions being exercised b y sim -
K hrushchev
pl e w orkers, on the d icta torship o f
the p ro le ta ria t being the fir s t fo rm
o f the state destined to w ith e r
aw ay fro m the m om ent o f its
creation. On a ll these great themes
o f L e n in ’s w o rk State and R evolu­
tio n , the Chinese leaders are, how ­
ever, strangely silent.
Faced w ith th is deepening mood
o f the masses, no sector o f the
Soviet bureaucracy th a t keeps in
touch w ith re a lity dares to p la y
w ith the “ defense o f S ta lin ,” fo r
this w o uld be the most certain
w a y of c u ttin g themselves fro m
the ra n k and file o f the p a rty and
the masses o f w orkers and pea­
sants, and most lik e ly p re c ip ita tin g
an im m ediate v io le n t p o litic a l
crisis in the country. F o r the same
reason, any p o licy geared to " re ­
h a b ilita te S ta lin ” bars a “ bloc”
w ith any p a rt of the Soviet bu­
reaucracy. I t is a sterile attem pt
to make an alliance w ith the shade
hanging over the bureaucracy in
opposition to a ll the real social
forces o f the Soviet U nion, in c lu d ­
in g the b u lk o f the bureaucracy
itse lf.
To seek such an “ alliance” can
lead to no thin g b u t isolation and
u tte r fa ilu re . In the same w ay,
no objective basis exists today fo r
the creation of an in te rn a tio n a l
fa ctio n in the w o rld C om m unist
m ovem ent th a t w o uld prove sub­
se rvien t to the Chinese state or
any other state. The Yugoslavs
found th is o u t at some cost to
themselves.
On the other hand, i t is p e r­
fe c tly tru e th a t ever since the
T w e n tie th Congress, a du a l process
has been a ffe ctin g the leadership
o f the w o rld C om m unist m ove­
m ent. P a ra lle l to the so-called “ deS ta lin iza tio n ” process a m ore and
m ore pronounced rig h t-w in g o rie n ­
ta tio n has appeared among the
leaderships o f nearly a ll the Com­
m u n ist parties in the ca p ita list
countries, im p e ria lis t and colonial
alike.
Because they rig h tly c ritic iz e the
neo - re fo rm ist, neo - B ernsteinian
theory and practice o f a “ peace­
fu l, p a rlia m e n ta ria n road to so­
cialism through gradual s tru c tu ra l
re fo rm s” ; because they condemn
the c rim in a l p olicy o f try in g to
convince the A m e rican w orke rs
and Negroes th a t they should sup­
p o rt the D em ocratic P a rty, w h ich
also happens to be the p a rty o f
the m ost rab id J im C row S outh­
ern Bourbons; because th ey v io ­
le n tly and correctly condemn the
sham eful ca p itu la tio n o f the Dange
leadership before the In d ia n b o u r­
geoisie; because they advocate th a t
the L a tin -A m e ric a n masses should
fo llo w the road blazed by the
Cuban revo lu tio n ists; in b rie f be­
cause they in general advocate in
most c a p ita list countries a m ore
le ftis t p olicy — a lb e it often n o t a
com pletely correct re v o lu tio n a ry
M a rx is t one — and defend the
ABCs o f L e n in ’s teachings on the
state and the dicta to rsh ip o f the
p ro le ta ria t, the Chinese Com m u­
nists have already w on m uch sym ­
p a th y among the ra n k and file o f
the w o rld C om m unist m ovem ent
and they can w in more.
Poor Policy
B u t the ra n k and file o f these
parties are w e ll aw are th a t i t is
u tte rly impossible to advance the
cause o f socialism b y “ defending
S ta lin .” T hey can o n ly feel em ­
barrassm ent over anyone w ho trie s
it. To tr y to “ re h a b ilita te S ta lin ”
w ill ne ith e r help them w in Com­
m unist m ilita n ts to the Chinese
position n o r fa c ilita te the task o f
w in n in g stronger positions among
the masses o f th e ir respective
countries. T his lin e also cuts them
o ff fro m the genuine le ft-w in g
Communists in the w o rke rs’ states,
w ho are against K hrushchev, not
because he has carried o u t “ deS ta lin iza tio n ”
b u t because he
doesn’t go fa r enough w ith it!
Since the elements m ost sympa­
th e tic to the Chinese CP are gen­
e ra lly
the m ost independentm inded in a ll these C om m unist
parties, the strange “ cam paign”
advocating a “ re tu rn to S ta lin ” in ­
stead o f a “ re tu rn to L e n in ” in ­
sults th e ir intelligence, clashes
w ith th e ir class consciousness and
p ro le ta ria n instincts and arouses
an opposition w h ic h they w ill most
c e rta in ly express.
The bureaucratic m aneuver o f
speaking up fo r S ta lin thus only
leads in to an impasse. In C hina
itself, the Com m unists w h o come
to understand th is w ill increase in
num ber fro m m onth to m onth. In
the case o f China, as has already
been shown in the case o f the
Soviet U nion, the e ffo rt to b u ild
an in te rn a tio n a l factio n w ill have
im p o rta n t consequences through
the in tro d u c tio n o f strong pres­
sures and contradictions w ith in
the m ovem ent of those w ho sta rt
it. I t is ve ry im p o rta n t to have
a correct program !
F or Chinese C om m unists the
choice today is ve ry clear: e ith e r
backw ard to S ta lin , to complete
isolatio n fro m the masses in the
‘‘so cialist" camp and g ro w ing iso­
la tio n fro m the advanced m ilita n ts
and le ft Communists o f the capi­
ta lis t countries; or fo rw a rd to
L e n in , to f u ll restoration o f Le n ­
in ism in correspondence w ith the
needs and aspirations o f the great
m a jo rity o f Com m unists in the
w o rke rs’ states as w e ll as the cap­
ita lis t states and in correspon­
dence w ith the objective needs of
the w o rld socialist re v o lu tio n to­
day.
Page S ix
T H E M IL IT A N T
M onday, N ovem ber 4, 1963
REPORT FROM SPANISH UNDERGROUND
Peruvian Peasant Leader
Mine Strikers Tortured by Franco’s Cops In Aid Appeal from Prison
[T h e re p o rt th a t follo w s was
obtained fro m the Spanish a n ti­
fascist underground by W orld O u t­
look. The shocking facts i t p re ­
sents squarely repudiate the re ­
cent ly in g claim o f the Franco
ty ra n n y th a t police b ru ta lity was
n o t practiced against coal mine
strike rs in
A sturias, northern
Spain. The regim e’s denial of
b ru ta lity came in response to a
protest m anifesto b y 102 Spanish
intellectuals. A co u rt in q u iry has
now been launched w ith
an
eye to charging signers o f the
m anifesto w ith spreading “ ten­
dentious” news.]
*
*
*
The p rin c ip a l d ire cto r o f the
repression is a captain o f the
C iv il G uard, Fernando Caro, 28,
son o f an a rm y colonel and a na­
tiv e o f M e lilla [M oro cco ], w ho
u n til recently was a captain of the
C iv il G uard in Málaga. I t was be­
cause o f his ta le n t as a to rtu re r
th a t he was tran sferred to A s tu ­
rias. One of his assistants, w e llkn o w n fo r his cru e lty, is C orporal
Pérez, a G alician.
On Sept. 3 at fo u r o’clock in the
afternoon, a m iner, Rafael G on­
zalez, 36, died at police headquar­
ters in Sama de Langreo fo llo w in g
to rtu re .
T he same day a t the same place
another m iner, S ilv in o Zapico, 34,
was castrated (presum ably by the
system in general use o f b u rn in g
the h a ir and skin in the g enital
a rea ). He is in a hospital in grave
condition. T his m in e r was ac­
cused o f being a “ C om m unist.”
H is w ife , s im ila rly accused, was
subm itted to h a ving her head
shaved.
S till another m in er, whose name
we have not ye t learned, is also
in the hospital in grave condition
fro m b u m s in the g e n ita l area.
Vicente Baragaña, w ho lives in
th e Lada, a q u a rte r o f Langreo,
was reduced to sexual im potency
b y b u rn in g o f the testicles d u rin g
a to rtu re session.
A lfon so X ., a fo rm e r w a tch ­
m an at the Fondón m ine, re tire d
because o f silicosis, w ho is at p re ­
sent a cashier in an insurance
company, P revisora B ilb a in o , was
savagely beaten d u rin g the strikes
la st year. T h is year a fte r his a r­
rest he was tied up and then
beaten b y C orporal Pérez in the
presence o f his w ife.
The w ife was incapable o f en­
d u rin g the sight. She attacked the
corporal.
L e a vin g the unconscious hus­
band, the corporal beat the woman
b ru ta lly . She is at present in p ris ­
on in Oviedo, h e r head shaved
lik e m any other w ives o f miners.
L a te r in the day, her b a d ly beaten husband was released to a
m an named Senén. A fte r ta kin g
the v ic tim home, Senén, a fe llo w
w o rke r, called a doctor. The to r­
ture d body o f the w o rk e r was in
such shape th a t the doctor said he
scarcely kne w w here to begin.
A n to n io Zapico o f Lada was
b ru ta lly m anhandled. H is cheek­
bone was broken and his m outh
W O R LD
Franco
to m open d u rin g to rtu re . He is in
the hospital.
Jerónim o Fernández Terente,
m a rrie d and fa th e r o f a son, and
Jesús Ramo Teva, together w ith
ten other m iners are now in the
Carabanchel prison at M a d rid
a fte r having been b ru ta lly m is­
treated.
Everardo Castra, m a rrie d and
the fa th e r o f three boys, is in La
Cadellada, a p ro v in c ia l m ental
hospital, fo llo w in g the ferocious
to rtu re in flic te d on him . He had
clim bed up the rainspouts o f the
D u ro Felguera Company to p a in t
the slogan, “ The people w ill
avenge themselves. Franco, m u r­
derer.”
Surprised by the C iv il Guard
w h ile he was doing this, he was
ordered to c lim b dow n. The m in e r
had the coolness to re p ly, “ W a it
u n til I fin is h .” He was te rrib ly
beaten.
T in a M artinez, w ho live s in the
q u a rte r of L a Jocara in Sama de
Langreo, was to rtu re d and h e r
head shaved. H er husband has
been in prison since the strikes
last year.
Juan A lb e rd i o f Lada was a r­
rested along w ith another m in e r
nicknam ed
“ C hocolatina.”
To
amuse h im s e lf C aptain Fernando
Caro ordered them to fig h t each
other. Since the fig h t, n a tu ra lly ,
was not carried on in earnest, the
to rtu re rs o f the C iv il G uard took
over and com pleted the beating
w h ich the tw o m iners had sought
to evade. L a te r th e y were bro u g h t
before C aptain Caro w ho iro n ic a l­
ly reproached them , “ B u t w h a t
beasts you are to beat each other
lik e th is !”
A woman, whose name has not
O UTLO O K
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freedom.
Features magazine-length articles on topics of prime world
interest such as the current Peking-Moscow conflict, the shift in
relations between the USA and USSR, underground struggles in
Spain, the Portuguese colonies, Latin America, etc.
Students of world affairs will find it of great assistance in
working out the deeper meaning of events.
Compiled weekly from the vantage point of Paris.
For 26 issues send $7.50 to:
PIERRE FRANK
21 RUE D’ABOUKIR, PARIS 2, FRANCE
yet been learned, trie d to escape
the i l l tre a tm e n t they were p re ­
p a rin g to in flic t on her at police
headquarters in Sama de Langreo,
by revealing th a t she was preg­
nant. Captain
Fernando Caro
punched her w ith a ll his force in
the stomach, shouting, “ One Com­
m u n ist less!”
I t should be added th a t this
captain wears sport clothes to
“ w o rk ” m ore co m fo rta b ly d u rin g
his “ interrogations.”
O u t of the m iners w ho have
been arrested, the whereabouts o f
m ore than fiv e hundred is u n ­
know n. Some s ix ty m iners o f H u l­
lera Española in the A lle r basin
asked fo r death in o rder to end
the to rtu re and bad treatm ent.
On Sept. 10 tw e n ty m iners were
arrested at the Camocha m ine in
G ijó n . T hey w ere b ro u g h t to po­
lice headquarters w here they were
beaten u n til three of them lost
consciousness.
M a ria del Rosario G arcia, 55,
was arrested fo r lodging a m iner,
her b ro th e r-in -la w . On being
asked w here she was being taken,
they replied, “ F irs t to police head­
quarters and then to ja il.”
I f companies n o t on s trik e h ire
a s trik e r, they are punished by a
fir s t fin e o f 1,000 pesetas, a sec­
ond o f 6,000. On the th ird offense
the place is padlocked.
C aptain Fernando Caro u tilize s
an “ o rig in a l” system to select his
victim s. He calls in the watchm en
o f a m ine and orders each one to
b rin g in fiv e men to go to w o rk.
Since they generally show up the
n e xt day w ith o u t any recruits, the
captain asks them w hom they
w e n t to see. The w atchm en re ­
p o rt the names of the m iners w ho
d id not respond and C aptain Caro
orders these men to be b ro u g h t in
im m e d ia te ly and then begins the
session of to rtu re .
On S aturday m orning, Sept. 4,
some 50 per cent o f the m iners
w e n t dow n in to the Camocha
m ine. Once inside the w o rkin g s
they decided th a t ra th e r than come
out and expose themselves to the
police repression they w o u ld stay
in the mine, b u t w ith o u t w o rk in g .
A lth o u g h th e y had made no p re ­
parations fo r th is tactic, m ost of
the m iners agreed to accept the
collective decision. They stayed
in a ll day and n ig h t. The dem­
onstration d id not end u n til Sun­
day m orning. The police reaction
to this move is not yet know n.
P E A S A N T L E A D E R S . Hugo Blanco, center, before his arrest, w ith
fe llo w fighters against rapacious P e ru v ia n land barons.
[T he fo llo w in g le tte r was w r it ­
ten by Hugo Blanco, m ain peasant
leader in the Convención v a lle y of
Peru, fro m his cell in the M ariscal
G am arra barracks at A requipa. In
his le tte r H ugo B lanco appeals fo r
c o n trib utio ns to help his legal de­
fense. Due to com m unication d if­
ficu ltie s, we are unable to specify
an address to w h ich funds can be
sent. We hope to provide this in
an e a rly issue.]
To the People o f Peru:
T his tr ia l is not against me per­
sonally b u t against the P eruvian
re volution . The reaction claims
th a t i t w ill place the g u ilty ones
in the dock. We w ill not adm it
this. In the dock m ust be placed
the oligarchy.
I t is precisely because the ju d g ­
m ent w ill not be levelled against
me personally, th a t the P eruvian
people and not the ca m a rilla of
o fficers and spokesmen in the
service of the monsters m ust be
the judge. A n d before th is judge
we m ust make o ur exposure of
the betrayals of our country, the
m urders, robberies, thefts and
v iolations com m itted by the entire
oligarchy, especially the landlords
in a ll corners of the country.
T his is the most favorable tim e
to do this. The P eruvian people
are fo llo w in g the tria l, ready to
W o r ld
Dominican Student Rallies
Assail New M ilitary Junta
The m ilita ry ju n ta in Santo
Domingo, w h ic h o ve rth re w legal­
ly-elected P resident Juan Bosch on
Sept. 25, has n o t been able to
stabilize its ru le or fin d a base of
p o p u la r support. Sensing this
weakness,
U.S.
diplom acy
—
w h ic h sees in the m ilita r y a
frie n d — has been q u ie tly u r ging
the brass hats to m ake some con­
cessions in the w a y o f “ democ­
ra tic ” w indow -dressing to tr y to
appease the populace.
The mass o f D om inican w o rk ­
ers, peasants, students and p ro ­
fessional people, w ho suffered
thro u g h 30 years o f p o ve rty and
dictatorship under T ru jillo , have
no stomach fo r a governm ent of
the same generals w ho supported
T ru jillo . F ro m the firs t, young
people have led dem onstrations
against the m ilita r y usurpers,
d ra w in g support fro m the c ity
w orkers, peasant unions, and those
p o litic a l parties w h ic h opposed the
takeover.
A s ig n ific a n t dem onstration was
held Oct. 20 in a w o rk e r’s dis­
tr ic t o f Santo Dom ingo led by
students and w o rke rs o f the p ro Castro 14th o f June M ovem ent.
On Oct. 28, as m any as 8,000
D om inicans a tt e n d e d
another
m eeting to denoun ce the seizure
listen and to judge. W hatever we
are able to do in th is sense w ill
be in su fficie n t. The unions, the
federations o f peasants, o f w o rk ­
ers, students, employees, etc., m ust
jo in to the utm ost in th is task.
I t is m y fate to be the one to sit
in the p risoner’s dock. I t w ill be
converted in to a trib u n e o f the
re vo lu tio n to accuse the accusers.
T ha t is w h y I m ust have a record
of the crim es of the landlords and
o f the w hole o ligarchy to th ro w i t
in to the faces o f the accusers w ho
symbolize the reaction. I ask the
comrades to send me th is record.
U n fo rtu n a te ly the tr ia l room is
not large enough to hold ten m il­
lio n people — w h ich means th a t
the real judges w ill n o t be able
to be present. T he y are in the
streets o f the cities and towns, in
the fields . . . I f we w a n t our ac­
cusation to reach them, now th a t
h isto ry has given us the pos­
s ib ility , i t is necessary to prepare
m illio n s o f leaflets, o f pam phlets,
perhaps a book. U n fo rtu n a te ly
money is re qu ire d fo r this and I
do not have any. I have never
asked fo r fin a n c ia l assistance, b u t
now I do i t not fo r m yself b u t fo r
the denunciation, fo r the accusa­
tion.
Land or death! We w ill w in !
H ugo Blanco
E v e n ts
o f power.
U .S .-trained
police
broke up an attem pted march
afterw ards.
Besides the m ounting w ave of
dem onstrations, the regim e’s in ­
s ta b ility showed w hen the tw o
parties th a t had supported Bosch
rejected the compromise offered
by the m ilita r y to give th e ir re p ­
resentatives some posts in the gov­
ernm ent.
A good exam ple o f the s p irit of
p opular resistance was the a n ti­
governm ent r a lly held Oct. 13 at
Santo Dom ingo U n iv e rs ity . The
m eeting was described b y the
D om inican paper, L is tín D iario , as
“ a noisy dem onstration” in w h ich
“ hundreds o f u n iv e rs ity students
proclaim ed th a t they w o u ld fig h t
to the end against the present
governm ent.” The m eeting was
punctuated by cries o f “ D own
w ith the governm ent,” “ Assas­
sins,” and the Cuban slogan,
“ C o u n try or death: we w ill w in !”
The newspaper re p o rt regretted
th a t the large gathering was led
by tw o le ft-w in g student groups,
Fragua and FURR, w ith no “ m od­
erates” represented.
The speakers made such state­
ments as these:
“ The u n iv e rs ity youth, conscious
o f th e ir h isto rica l d uty, m arch in
the vanguard against the d ic ta to r­
ships w h ich day a fte r day are
crushing L a tin A m erica.”
“ T his governm ent has p re ­
scribed our methods o f struggle
to us. I t has taken aw ay our
rig h ts; i t obliges us to fig h t w ith
arm s.”
“ The governm ent has decreed a
state o f siege, b u t we w ill show
th a t we have s u ffic ie n t strength
to fig h t the siege o f th is state.”
(The state o f siege was lifte d Oct.
24, in an e ffo rt to w in fa vo r.)
“ Legal means have been closed
to us. There rem ains o n ly one
w ay: to take arms in our hands,
everyone,
w ith o u t
distin ctio n,
women as w e ll as men.”
Nuclear Reactor for Diem
W h ile the K ennedy A d m in is tra ­
tio n made noises about c u ttin g aid
to the B u d d h is t-k illin g ty ra n n y of
the D iem fa m ily , P resident K e n ­
nedy sent a message o f congrat­
ulations to D iem on the n in th an­
n ive rsa ry o f his ru le and A m bas­
sador H e n ry Cabot Lodge accom­
panied d icta to r-p re sid e n t D iem to
the dedication o f South V ie tn a m ’s
firs t nuclear reactor. A lso present
at the dedication was a represen­
ta tiv e o f the A to m ic E nergy Com­
mission. The reactor was b u ilt at
a cost o f $350,000 b y General
D ynam ics C orporation.
W ill Mme. N hu have th is new
“ to y ” at her disposal, so she can
“ clap her hands,” im a g in in g k in g ­
sized “ barbecues” ?
T H E M IL IT A N T
M onday, N ovem ber 4, 1963
Page Seven
L e tte rs F ro m O u r R e a d e rs
[ This colum n is an open jo ru m
fo r a ll view points on subjects of
general interest to our readers.
Please keep yo u r letters under
400 words. W rite rs ’ in itia ls w ill be
used, names being w ith h e ld unless
a u thorization is given fo r use.]
G od Raises W heat?
Lakeside, C alif.
Today (Oct. 18) A rm y Coach
P aul D ietsel was H ugh Downes’
guest on the “ Today Show.” M r.
D ietsel said, “ The U.S. can raise
w heat because God is on our
side.”
H ow does Coach D ietsel ac­
count fo r the production o f w heat
in 1959? USSR, 69,100,000 m e tric
tons — U SA, 30,704,000 m e tric
tons. A n d b arle y in 1959? China,
19,'720,000 m e tric tons — USA,
9,148,000 m e tric tons. ( In fo rm a tio n
Please Alm anace fo r 1962, page
594).
L ife , Sept. 13, 1963, page 56,
reads: “ Since 1953 fa rm o u tp u t in
the USSR has gone up a solid 60
per cent . . . Nobody is re a lly
going h u n g ry . . . The a g ric u ltu ra l
system is tu rn in g out enough food
to give everyone an adequate, i f
not abundant o r va rie d d ie t . . .
1963 has been sh ockingly lo w .”
A n d he gave several basic rea­
sons: “ Savage c lim a tic conditions
—
extremes
of
heat,
cold,
drought.”
The U SA too is h a vin g extrem e
droughts at the present tim e.
D ro u g h t is a disaster and disasters
happen to every nation on earth,
w h e th e r i t be earthquake, fir e or
flo o d o r hurricane.
C h ristia n D ietsel should h u m b ly
p ra y fo r greater wisdom .
Leda Ferguson
Facts on Vietnam
“ B U F F A L O — P olice te rro r
once again h it the Negro com­
m u n ity in th is c ity e a rly in the
m o rn in g o f Oct. 10. T his tim e it
to ok the fo rm of an u n m e rc ifu l
beating o f tw o young w orkers,
N orm an and James D aniels, b y six
clu b -h a p p y policem en . . . a beat­
in g w h ic h a p pa re ntly continued in
tw o police vehicles en route to the
ja il. B oth men w ere hospitalized
w ith severe in ju rie s.
“ A fte r reading the distorted ac­
count in the B ig Business press . . .
th is re p o rte r w e n t to the home
o f N orm an Daniels, one o f victim s.
“ Y ou’re the fir s t re p o rte r th a t’s
been here,” M rs. D aniels to ld me...
“ ‘The p u b lic has got to do
som ething about police b ru ta lity ,’
M rs. Daniels said. ‘W e’re ta u g h t
democracy, b u t we get ju s t the
opposite in practice. We pay taxes
to support a police departm ent
and instead o f p ro te ctin g us they
m ake i t bad fo r us to w a lk the
streets.’
“ ‘T hat cor n er (w here the men
w ere beaten) is a b ig intersec­
tio n . . . I t ’s in the Negro d is tric t.
W here else have colored people
got to go? R e strictive covenants
keep them fro m liv in g anyw here
else in the city. The w hites should
be made to realize th a t!’ ” — Nov.
2, 1953.
20
YEARS
AGO
“ Roosevelt, in his headlong
d rive to w a rd reaction, has e n lis t­
ed m ore and m ore b ig business­
men as his d ire ct aides . . .
“ R ecently
Roosevelt dumped
S um m er Welles, U nder-S ecretary
o f State, and replaced h im w ith
E R. S tettinius, ex-ch airm a n of
U.S. Steel, a M organ m illio n a ire .
The President appointed th e r a il­
road and m in in g magnate, W. A .
H a rrim a n , as ambassador to the
S oviet U nion . . .
“ Nelson R ockefeller, C oordina­
to r of L a tin -A m e ric a n A ffa irs , has
become in creasingly p ro m in e n t in
a d m in istra tio n circles. Leo C ro w ­
ley, W isconsin banker and u t il­
itie s president, is given W allace’s
powers as czar of a ll fore ig n eco­
nom ic dealings. Ernest Fisher,
ex-research d ire cto r of the A m e r­
ican Bankers Association, is p u t
in charge o f ‘fu tu re economic
operations’ in the L o w Countries.
Chester Bowles, a dvertisin g t y ­
coon w ho serviced G eneral Foods
Corp., is made head o f the OPA...
“ In 1932 Roosevelt prom ised ‘to
d riv e the m oney-changers out of
the tem ple’ at W ashington. Today
the finance capitalists dom inate
his ad m in istra tio n . U nder cover
o f the w a r, W a ll S treet has taken
personal charge o f the ke y gov­
e rnm ent agencies in o rder to
tig h te n th e ir stranglehold on the
n a tio n a l economy and to super­
vise the a d m in istra tio n ’s plans to
subjugate the w o rld .” — Nov.
6, 1943.
B ro n x, N.Y.
A R euter’s a rticle in the New
Y o rk Post the other day said th a t
the V ie t Cong reported 600 A m e r­
icans a n n ihila te d o r captured in
1963 alone. The A m erican p u b lic
has o n ly been in fo rm e d o f about
100 A m erican deaths fo r the en­
tire w a r. Captures are never m en­
tioned. This gives us food fo r
thought. H o w m uch aren’ t we
being told?
H .L.
Plan DuBois Memorial
Cam bridge, Mass.
The recent death o f D r. W.E.B.
D uBois on the v e ry eve o f the
h isto ric M a rch on W ashington,
represents a grave loss to the
w o rld -w id e struggle fo r freedom
and justice. Y e t here in New Eng­
land, w here he was born and edu­
cated, there is danger th a t D r. D u ­
Bois’ life and w orks m ay pass
re la tiv e ly unnoticed. I t seems most
appropriate th a t H a rv a rd U n iv e r­
sity, w h ich granted h im three de­
grees and published his w o rk as
V olum e One o f the H a rv a rd H is ­
to ric a l Studies, should be the loca­
tion of a m e m o ria l m eeting, as­
sem bling notables fro m around the
w o rld , u n iv e rs ity faculties, stu­
dents, and interested people fro m
the su rro u n din g com m unities to
pay trib u te to th is great man.
W ith such a program in m ind,
w e o f the H a rv a rd -R a d c liffe So­
c ia lis t Club, an independent o r­
ganization, have reserved H a rv ­
ard ’s fam ed Sanders T heater fo r
the evening o f Nov. 20. In v ite d to
p a rtic ip a te are S h irle y Graham ,
w id o w o f D r. D uB ois; A le x Q u a ison-Sackey, Ghanaian Representa­
tiv e to the U n ite d N ations; Drs.
John Hope F ra n k lin and H e rb e rt
A p th e ke r, both leading scholars in
the fie ld o f Negro h is to ry ; Roy
W ilk in s o f the N A A C P ; James
F a rm e r o f CORE; John L e w is of
SNCC; Langston Hughes, James
B a ld w in ,
B ayard
R ustin
and
others. There w ill be extensive
p u b lic ity and press coverage, in ­
clu d in g perhaps a telecast b y the
local educational television o u t­
let.
The o n ly obstacle at the m o­
ment, as is so fre q u e n tly the case,
is money. The cost o f plane fares
and lodgings fo r the speakers, the
cost o f p u b lic ity and p rin tin g p ro ­
grams are c le a rly beyond our
lim ite d means. We are tu rn in g to
people such as y o u r readers, con­
fid e n t th a t the im p o rt o f th is
meeting w ill b rin g generous re ­
sults. Please m ake checks payable
to the H a rv a rd D uBois M em orial.
Henry S. Kahn,
President, H a rv a rd -R a d c liffe
Socialist Club, Adam s House,
B ox F-2, H a rv a rd U n iv e rs ity ,
Cam bridge 38, Mass.
Kennedy and Vietnam
F o rt Bragg, C a lif.
The K ennedy A d m in is tra tio n ’s
po licy of using A m erican ta x
money and our arm ed forces to
“ p rop u p ” the C atholic-dom inated
D iem d icta to rsh ip in V ie tn a m is
m aking m any enemies fo r our
country, both at home and abroad.
I t is in cre d ib le that, o f a ll the peo­
ple in V ietnam , the D iem fa m ily
should be considered the o n ly peo­
ple capable o f m anaging the po­
litic a l a ffa irs o f th a t country.
The V ie tn a m fiasco should be
taken out o f the ju ris d ic tio n of
President K ennedy and placed in
the hands of a com m ittee o f Con­
gress where the people w o u ld
have some voice in it. President
Kennedy is u n der too m uch pres­
sure fro m his religious superiors
to fa v o r the regim e th a t is d ic ta t­
ed b y th e ir fe llo w C atholic. This
places our president in an un te n ­
able position. He is to rn between
a desire to serve the best interests
o f his c o u n try and a fe a r of p u n ­
ishm ent b y his re lig io u s superiors
i f he does n o t support the Diem
dictatorship.
A s the situ a tio n now stands we
are becoming the m ost hated n a ­
tion in the w o rld as seen b y a n tiA m erican dem onstrations in m any
parts o f the w o rld . T h is fla g ra n t
d isc rim in a tio n in fa v o r o f the
Roman C atholic D iem fa m ily is
causing m any sincere people to
w onder w ho is d ic ta tin g the V ie t­
nam policy o f our governm ent.
M illio n s of d ollars of A m erican
ta x money is handed over to a se­
c re t G estapo-like police system
th a t is n o t req u ire d to give any
accounting o f how th is money is
spent. Is i t used to check the
spread of Com m unism in V ie t­
nam or is i t used to prom ote re ­
ligious persecution o f the B u d d h ­
is t people there? IT IS T IM E TH E
A M E R IC A N P E O P L E WERE
F IN D IN G OUT.
Jack Odom
New Definition o f Liberal
D e tro it, M ich.
I came across an interesting
d e fin itio n o f “ lib e ra l” in a sm all
newspaper
called
C om m unity
Vues. T his paper is the voice o f a
num ber o f in n e r c ity block clubs.
In the Oct. 12 issue, D r. J.H.
B ruce w ro te an a rticle blasting
D e tro it’s Common C ouncil fo r de­
fe a tin g an open occupancy o rd i­
nance. The ordinance was qu ite a
w eak one and w ould not have
changed m uch in housing d iscrim ­
in a tio n b u t i t was a test fo r a ll the
c ity o fficia ls — a test they flu n k e d
m iserably.
The ordinance was introduced
b y W illia m P a trick, the o n ly Ne­
gro m em ber o f the C ouncil, and
was supported b y Councilm an
R avitz. On Oct. 9, the C ouncil
defeated the ordinance seven to
tw o. One o f the seven was P h illip
Van A n tw e rp w ho ran against a
Negro in the last election and w ho
was supported by some o f the
c ity ’s N egro leaders because he
was supposed to be a great lib ­
eral. He was also supported by the
la b o r o ffic ia ls and ended up get­
tin g about 25 per cent o f the Ne­
gro vote.
H ere’s w h a t D r. B ruce w rote:
“ Van A n tw e rp calls him se lf a lib ­
eral. Negroes should kn o w exa ctly
w h a t a p o litic a l lib e ra l is. A po­
litic a l lib e ra l is one w ho straddles
a ll m oral re lig iou s and co n tro ve rsia issues hoping to gain the
plaudits o f everyone a fte r the
issue is settled — one w ho smiles
in yo u r face p riv a te ly , b u t w h o
w ill disem bow el you before yo u r
enemy. Van A n tw e rp is alleged to
have said, ‘You can’t legalize
morals. Y ou have to im prove peo­
ple and b rin g them up to a certain
level before th ey can be accepted.’
“ This statem ent should i ns u lt
every Negro throughout the w o rld !
C e rta in ly every N egro in D e tro it.
W ha t he re a lly said was th a t N e­
groes are on a low er level m o ra lly,
educationally, c u ltu ra lly and eco­
n o m ica lly than w h ite people . . .”
D r. B ruce also exposed another
great “ lib e ra l” w ho w on o ffic e
through the votes o f Negroes.
“ M ayor Cavanagh’s ‘jo h n ny-co m e la te ly ’ endorsement o f the P a tric k R a vitz proposed ordinance was
ludicrous . . . O n ly a fte r the pub­
lic hearing, and a fte r being con­
vinced o f the sentim ent and con­
sensus o f religious, civic, business
and union leadership in D e tro it,
in clu d in g the press and T V , d id
M a yo r Cavanagh "venture to ex­
press his approval o f the o rd in ­
ance.
“ He then b la ta n tly announced
the necessity fo r D e tro it going on
record in th is m a tte r as a m a t­
te r o f ‘p rin c ip le and p o licy.’ W h y ,
in heaven’s name, d id he n o t lead
ou t on the issue as E xecutive lead­
er in D etroit? No, he in te n tio n a lly
w a ited u n til he saw the v ic to ry
was im m in e n t; then he grabbed
the fla g and attem pted to w ave i t
in fro n t of the m arch fo r e q u a lity
and progress.”
Evelyn Sell
It Was Reported in the Press
The Press a t Work — R eporting
Eisenhow er’s disclosure th a t he
had opposed the atom ic bom bing
o f Japan, the Oct. 25 New Y o rk
Tim es stated: “ M a n y scientists
w ho had helped develop the bomb
raised the same m o ra l question,
and the c iv ilia n and m ilita ry
leaders o f the T ru m a n adm inis­
tra tio n were aware of the fr ig h t­
fu l damage i t w o u ld in flic t on
c iv ilia n s w ith in range o f the
m ilita r y ta rg e t selected.” (E m ­
phasis added.) T h is is a lie . H iro ­
shima and Nagasaki w ere n o t m il­
ita ry targets. In fa c t wom en and
c h ild re n had been evacuated fro m
other parts o f Japan to these
tw o cities precisely because they
w ere free of m ilita r y targets and
w ere therefore presumed to be
safe fro m bom bing attack.
M ight Roll Em in the Aisles —
A n Oct. 25 New Y o rk Tim es dis­
patch fro m V ie tn a m reported:
“ A n o ffe r by Bob Hope to enter­
ta in A m erican troops in South
V ie tn a m has been re g re tfu lly de­
clined, a U n ite d States m ilita r y
spokesman disclosed today. He said
i t was considered th a t big a udi­
ences o f A m erican servicemen
w o u ld o ffe r in v itin g targets to
C om m unist g u e rrilla s .”
Justice a t Work — A year ago
Joseph Page, w ho contracted to
provide w atchm en fo r N ew Y o rk
State construction projects, was
accused in a 145-count in d ictm e n t
o f grand larceny, fo rg e ry, fra u d
and ta x evasion. I t seems Page
Thought fo r the Week
“ W A S H IN G T O N , Oct. 24 — The difference between w h a t p u b lic
m en here say in p u b lic and w h a t they say in p riv a te is greater today
than any tim e since the w a r . . , T his is creating a m a jo r p ro b le m fo r
President K ennedy . . . w h ile he and his associates go on ta lk in g p u b ­
lic ly about the progress they have made, p riv a te ly they are beginning
to fe a r th a t, given the e xistin g fo rm o f A m erican society, and the ex­
is tin g balance o f p o litic a l pow er, the evils they com plain about sim ­
p ly cannot be rem edied.” — James Reston in the New Y o rk Times.
had been padding his p a y ro ll w ith
“ p h antom ” w atchm en. The prose­
c u to r claim ed Page had a cool
q u a rte r o f a m illio n tucked away
somewhere as a re su lt o f the
sw indle. Y e t the charges against
h im w ere reduced, w ith o u t e x­
planation, to one o f second-degree
larceny and last week Page dre w a
suspended sentence.
■Free-W orld
Forces —
The
A rm y , N a vy and A ir Force have
a ll o ffic ia lly rejected a proposal
b y the P resident’s Com m ittee on
E qual O p p o rtu n ity that, as a last
resort, the m ilita r y should have its
m en boycott bars and o ther places
th a t refuse to serve Negroes.
A Problem — N ew Y o rk Times
correspondent M a x F ra n k e l de­
voted an Oct. 25 colum n to the
problem s a risin g fro m the U.S.Soviet thaw . He reports there is
“ real concern” in W ashington
about how to m a in ta in “ the v ig i­
lance so c a re fu lly developed in
the non-C om m unist w o rld .” But,
he adds, “ I t is ne ith e r easy n o r
pruden t to voice th is concern o u t
loud. No one here wishes to con­
tend th a t the U nited States has
a stake in tensions.”
G iv in g H is A ll fo r England —
“ In London th is w eek a fo rce fu l,
plain-speaking Scottish noblem an
p u t his name to a docum ent w h ich
changed the name b y w h ic h he
w ill be kn o w n in the fu tu re . B y
th is sim ple, three-second p e rfo rm ­
ance . . . the Rt. Hon. the E a rl o f
Home, B aron Douglass and B aron
Home in the Peerage o f Scotland
and B aron Douglas in the Peerage
o f the U nited K ingdom , K n ig h t of
the T histle, P rim e M in is te r of
G reat B rita in , divests h im s e lf o f
titles, m any o f w h ic h have been
in his fa m ily since the B a ttle o f
Flodden in 1513 . . . In fu tu re the
P rim e M in is te r w ill be kno w n as
the R ig h t H onorable S ir A le x a n ­
der D ouglas-Hom e, K .T ., — ‘S ir
A le c’ fo r short.” — A n Oct. 25
news release fro m the B ritis h In ­
fo rm a tio n Services.
SPECIAL 50c INTRODUCTORY OFFER
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coverage of the Freedom Now Movement
we are offering a 4-month introductory
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A MILITANT
MILITANT
M onday, N ovem ber 4, 1963
INTERVIEW
DeBerry Raps Union Brass
The Frame-Up in Albany, Ga. For Backing Rich Republican
B y F re d H alstead
L a st A ugust nine A lb a n y , Ga.
c iv il rig h ts fig h te rs w ere in dicted
b y a fede ra l grand ju ry , three of
them on charges o f “ conspiracy”
to in tim id a te a federal ju ro r, and
the oth e r six on charges of p e r­
ju r y in connection w ith the case.
A m ong the nine are the leaders
o f the Negro protest organization,
th e A lb a n y M ovem ent. T h is is the
fir s t case in w h ich the federal
governm ent has ind icte d persons
fo r th e ir c iv il rig h ts activitie s.
The noted c iv il rig h ts a tto rn e y
W illia m K u n s tle r has character­
ized th e ind ictm en ts as “ a bone
th ro w n b y the K ennedy A d m in ­
is tra tio n to the segregationists.
T h e y are looking to the 1964 elec­
tions. W hen they are attacked by
th e segregationists th e y can say.
Look, we arrested these people
too; w e are n o t one-sided’ . . . I t
is a sinister and dangerous tre n d .”
One o f the “ A lb a n y N in e ” now
a w a itin g tr ia l is Jo n i R abinow itz,
a 2 2-yea r-o ld A n tio ch College stu­
dent w ho was in A lb a n y last sum ­
m e r w o rk in g on the S tudent N on­
v io le n t C o-o rd in a tin g C om m ittee
v o te r re g istra tio n pro je ct. She is
the o n ly w h ite among the de­
fendants. M iss R abino w itz visited
h e r parents (he r fa th e r is the
c iv il Liberties la w ye r V ic to r Ra­
b in o w itz ) in N ew Y o rk recently,
w here I in te rvie w e d her fo r The
M ilita n t.
First, I
the case.
asked her to explain
“ The w hole th in g started long
before I w e n t to A lb a n y . A Negro
m an named C h arlie W are had
been arrested b y the s h e riff of
B a ke r C ounty. W are was hand­
cuffed b y the s h e riff and then
the s h e riff shot h im fo u r times.
W are was la te r released and he
bro u g h t su it in federal co u rt fo r
damages against the s h e riff. The
ju r y decided against W are.
“ One o f the ju ro rs was a m an
Monroe Defendant
On Speaking Tour
H a ro ld Reape, a 19-year-old
Negro yo uth, w ho as a re s u lt of
h is fig h t fo r c iv il rig h ts no w faces
a 20 y e a r-to -life sentence, is m a k­
in g a na tio n a l speaking to u r to
in fo rm the p u b lic about the events
in M onroe, N o rth Carolina.
Reape’s a c tiv ity in b u ild in g the
M onroe N o n -V io le n t A c tio n Com­
m itte e in the sum m er o f 1961
w hen the Freedom R iders came to
M onroe b ro u g h t h im to the atten­
tio n o f th a t K K K -d o m in a te d c ity ’s
officia ls. A fte r a police-encour­
aged m ob o f 5,000 racists rio te d
against the M N V A C pickets and
Freedom Riders, Reape was one o f
those singled out b y police fo r in ­
d ictm e n t fo r a “ kid n a p p in g ” w hich
n e ver took place.
T w o other e q ually innocent
young
m en
were
s im ila rly
charged. A ll three are o u t on b a il
arranged by the C om m ittee to A id
the Monroe Defendants. A n o th e r
v ic tim o f the racist fra m e -u p ,
M rs. Mae M a llo ry , is s till fig h t­
in g e x tra d itio n fro m Ohio. The
m a in target o f the w hole fra m e up, M onroe’s fo rm e r N A A C P
president, R obert F. W illia m s ,
fo u n d p o litic a l asylum in Cuba.
H a ro ld Reape’s coast-to-coast
speaking to u r is being sponsored
b y the C om m ittee to A id the M on­
roe Defendants. Reape has already
appeared in B altim ore. He is now
in Ohio, being scheduled fo r
A k ro n and C leveland fro m Oct.
31 to Nov. 4. He w ill be in D e­
tr o it Nov. 5-10 and Chicago Nov.
11-13.
Those w ho w ish to book m eet­
ings fo r h im or to in q u ire where
meetings addressed b y h im w ill
be held, should w rite o r w ire
C A M D , P.O. B ox 1314, GPO, N ew
Y o rk , N .Y.
ju s t file the com plaints. B u t w hen
a w h ite m an lost some business
and made a com plaint, then the
F B I was a ll over the place, and
there was a grand ju r y and the
w hole b it.”
Joni R abino w itz
named C a rl S m ith, w ho owned
a superm arket in A lb a n y. L ater,
the A lb a n y M ovem ent had a cam ­
paign to get Negro clerks hire d
in m arkets. T hey negotiated w ith
a num ber o f m arkets, in c lu d in g
S m ith ’s. S m ith had refused to
h ire Negroes except in jobs lik e
sweeping floors. Some o f the
stores w ere being picketed and
boycotted,
in c lu d in g
S m ith ’s,
w hen I was in A lb a n y last sum ­
mer.
“ I d id n ’t p icke t any o f the
stores. I was new in to w n and
was not on any actions then.
I d id observe some o f the picke t
lines fro m across the street.
“ S m ith ’s m a rk e t w e n t out of
business, because o f the boycott,
I suppose. Then S m ith com plained
to the federal a u th o ritie s th a t he
had been boycotted, n o t because
he refused to h ire Negro clerks,
b u t because o f the w a y he had
voted as a ju r o r in the W are case.
Then the fe d e ra l authorities, the
F B I and a ll, moved in w ith a big
in ve stig atio n
of
the
A lb a n y
M ovem ent. F in a lly about 60 peo­
ple w ere subpoenaed before a fed­
e ra l grand ju ry .
“ I was one o f them. T hey asked
me i f I had seen the p ic k e t lin e
in fro n t o f the S m ith store. I to ld
them I d id n ’t rem em ber. I t is the
sim ple tru th . I had w atched p ic­
k e tin g a t some stores, b u t I ju s t
don’t rem em ber i f the S m ith store
was one o f them .”
“W hat did they indict yon for
then?”
“ I was one o f the s ix in dicted
fo r p e rju ry . T hey say I lie d when
I said I d id n ’t rem em ber. I t is as
sim ple as that.
“ The others in d icte d fo r p e r­
ju r y were S later K in g , acting
president o f the movem ent, Mrs.
G oldie Jackson, secretary, Rev.
Samuel W ells, Thomas Chatman
and R obert Thomas. T hey say the
s ix o f us w ere try in g to cover
up the ‘conspiracy.’ ”
Those in d icte d fo r “ conspiring
to in ju re and influence a federal
ju r o r ” are W.G. Anderson, who
was president o f the m ovem ent
u n til he moved out o f tow n, Rob­
e rt C olbert, and L u th e r W oodall.
“W hat Is the penalty if you are
convicted?”
“ I t could be fiv e to 10 years I
th in k . We are out on bonds o f
fro m $2,500 to $5,000. I t ’s r id i­
culous. The federal governm ent
has never touched any o f the
w hites
w ho
have in tim id a te d
v o te r re g istra tio n w orkers in A l­
bany. The m ovem ent’s la w ye r,
C. B. K in g has been beaten by
the sh e riff. S later K in g ’s w ife was
beaten and lost an unborn child.
There have been lite ra lly h u n ­
dreds o f ille g a l arrests to in tim i­
date c iv il rig h ts w orkers. The
m ovem ent has com plained about
a ll that, b u t the fe d e ra l authorities
“Were you arrested on anything
beside the perjury charge?”
“ Yes, by the local police. Once
i t was fo r d is trib u tin g h a n d b ills
u rg in g Negroes to vote dow n a
bond issue because o f segregated
fa c ilitie s . I stayed in ja il 15 days
w a itin g fo r tria l. E ig h t o f us fasted
nine days.”
“ W hen I was arrested, the po­
lice ch ie f had his secretary search
me fo r cigarettes. I was made to
s trip to the skin in v ie w o f the
male prisoners. We com plained
about th a t to the federal govern­
m ent, b u t n o th in g happened.
“ I was arrested a second tim e
ju s t w a lk in g dow n the street. They
w ere a rresting a ll the w h ite kids
on the SNCC s ta ff then fo r
“ vagrancy,’.’ T h a t tim e I was in
ja il seven days. I was convicted
both tim es and given suspended
sentences. In ja il th e y took e ve ry­
th in g aw ay fro m us b u t w e m an­
aged to hide one tooth brush and
a copy o f James B a ld w in ’s “ A n ­
o ther C o u n try.” W e shared the
tooth brush and tore B a ld w in in to
10-page sections and passed i t
around.
“ A n o th e r tim e, the ch ie f o f po­
lic e threatened to arrest me on
the m orals charge o f ‘so lic itin g ’
i f I d id n ’t stop canvassing on the
street fo r voters re gistration. We
com plained about th a t to the fed­
eral governm ent too, b u t they
d id n ’t convene a grand ju r y .”
“How did the voter registration
project work?”
“ We w o u ld ju s t ta lk to people
and tr y to get th e m to go dow n to
the re g istra r. P a rt o f the SNCC
p rogram is to e xp la in th a t vo tin g
is a w a y to im p ro ve liv in g condi­
tions, by such things as getting
Negroes in office, g e ttin g streets
paved in the Negro neighborhood,
and the sewers fix e d and so on.
In th a t p a rt o f Georgia, Negro
neighborhoods ju s t don’t get m uch
c ity services, streets are m uddy,
no street lig h ts, no sidewalks.
“W hat were the other SNCC
people there like?”
“ The SNCC kid s are p re tty
m uch lik e o rd in a ry teen-agers.
T hey lik e parties and ro ck and
ro ll, b u t th e y’d ra th e r go to a
mass meeting. T hey are v e ry de­
dicated. M ost o f them are local
people, alm ost a ll Negroes. SNCC
goes in to an area o n ly on in v ita ­
tio n b y local people, to help give
some organizational kn o w -h o w
and d ire ctio n .”
“W hat about the adults?”
“ W ell, S la te r K in g is about 35.
He has six brothers, one o f w hom
is C.B. He and his fa m ily are the
most courageous people in A l­
bany. T he young people I m et in
A lb a n y w ill never be satisfied
w ith things as they are. They
w ill fin d one w a y o r another to
get e q u a lity. The n o nviolent dem­
onstrations in 1962 d id n ’t get any­
where, so the people are w a ry of
going thro u g h th a t again. They
g enerally look up to M a rtin
L u th e r K in g , b u t at the same tim e
the m a jo rity o f the Negroes, p a r­
tic u la rly the young people, are
d isillusioned w ith n o n viole n t tac­
tics.
“ T h e ir fa ith in the federal gov­
ernm ent is changing too. They are
m uch m ore c ritic a l now. They
kn o w they have to re ly on them ­
selves.”
“Now that you are in all this
trouble, have you any regrets?”
“ W e ll, w e've got good law yers
on the case — C.B. K in g , Don
H o llo w e ll, H a l W itt, and V ic to r
R abinow itz. A n d no m a tte r w h a t
happens, I ’l l never be so rry I
w e n t to A lb a n y .”
N EW Y O R K — C lifto n D eB er­
ry , S ocialist W orkers candidate
fo r coun cilm a n -a t-la rg e in B ro o k­
ly n , in a statem ent Oct. 29 de­
nounced the N ew Y o rk C ity Cen­
tr a l L a b o r C ouncil endorsement
o f R epublican R ichard S. A ld ric h
fo r coun cilm a n -a t-la rg e in M an­
hattan. The C entral L a bor C ouncil
announced last week its endorse­
m ent o f A ld ric h , a cousin of G ov­
e rno r Nelson R ockefeller and —
lik e R ockefeller — a m illio n a ire
businessman.
The C entral L a b o r C ouncil
fa ile d to endorse the o n ly trade
u n io nist candidates fo r co u n cilm anic seats in M anhattan and
B ro o k ly n in the com ing elections.
These are D eB erry, a trade union
m em ber and a m em ber o f the Ne­
gro
A m erican
Labor
C ouncil
(N A L C ), and R ichard P arrish,
S ocialist P a rty candidate fo r M an­
ha tta n coun cilm an -at-large , lik e ­
wise a trade u nionist and na tio nal
treasurer o f N A LC .
D e B e rry issued the fo llo w in g
statem ent on the C entral Labor
C o uncil’s action:
“ The endorsement o f the m il­
lio n a ire R epublican A ld ric h is an
act o f p o litic a l scabbery.
“ T his s trik e -b re a k in g p o lic y by
the heads of the N ew Y o rk A F L C IO is an a rb itra ry and bureau­
cra tic act.
“ The endorsement o f A ld ric h
over R ichard P arrish, a union
m an and a Negro, is one m ore
exam ple o f the b lin d and reac­
tio n a ry n ational A F L -C IO p o licy
of boycotting the c iv il rights
struggle. The most d ram atic e x­
ample o f th a t was the refusal of
the A F L -C IO E xecutive C om m it­
tee to endorse the Aug. 28 M arch
on W ashington fo r Jobs and Free­
dom.
“ This is also an in d ire c t attack
on the Negro A m erica n Lab o r
C ouncil. The w ell-heeled w h ite
C lifto n D e B e rry
o fficia ld o m o f the A F L -C IO has
taken a d im vie w o f the N A L C
since its inception because i t was
organized to free the unions, as
w e ll as in d u stry, o f d iscrim in a ­
tion.
“ A . P h ilip Randolph, a vice president o f the A F L -C IO , p resi­
dent o f the Sleeping Car Porters
union, and president o f the Negro
A m erican L a b o r C ouncil, is one
o f the sponsors of R ichard P a r­
ris h ’s candidacy. B u t the so-called
trad e union ‘leaders’ on th e Cen­
tr a l Lab o r C ouncil p re fe r to sup­
p o rt a ric h w h ite businessman.
“ Speaking fo r the
S ocialist
W orkers P a rty I w ill g la d ly jo in
w ith the S ocialist P a rty and w ith
M r. P a rrish and M r. R andolph in
a jo in t statem ent to protest the
C e ntral L a b o r C ou ncil’s fa ilu re to
support the Freedom N ow stru g ­
gle and represent la b o r’s tru e in ­
terests in the p o litic a l arena.”
New Haven Negro Candidate
Blasts Both M ajor Parties
R aym ond H . Paige, independent
Negro candidate fo r m ayor o f N ew
Haven, in a recent speech assailed
charges b y
D em ocratic T ow n
C hairm an A r th u r B a rb ie ri th a t he
was a “ stooge” fo r the Republican
P a rty.
In re p ly in g to B a rb ie ri’s charge,
Paige said: “ In m y fir s t state­
m ent to the press, I made i t clear
th a t I fe lt n e ith e r p a rty , Demo­
crats o r Republicans, was a frie n d
o f the N egro.”
“ The
R epublican
P a rty
is
k n ow n,” he continued, “ as the
spokesman fo r B ig Business and
the open in stru m e n t o f the banks,
the b ig corporations and the real
estate interests.
The Democrats
are a tool o f the racists and the
R aym ond H . Paige
pow er stru ctu re in a m ore deceit­
fu l w ay. T hey get po p u la r sup­
p o rt b y paying lip service to the
cause o f Negro e q u a lity. This
should be apparent in the recent
se ll-o u t o f the C iv il R ights B ill In
Congress accomplished b y R obert
K ennedy . . . b u t the R epublican
p a rty is no better.
“ C e rta in ly the ro le o f H e n ry
Townshend [R epublican candi­
date] in the pow er stru ctu re o f
N ew Haven should n o t be ne­
glected w hen the voters go to the
polls. W hat are his b a n king con­
nections, and w h a t are the re la ­
tions o f these banks to Negroes
w ho apply fo r loans? H o w m any
Negroes are em ployed in bu si­
nesses in w h ich H e n ry Townshend
has connections? H ow m any Ne­
gro tenants are there in real estate
in w hich H e n ry Townshend has
connections?”
Paige said th a t Townshend’s
campaign had “ fa ile d to indicate
or dram atize the m ain issues in
w h ich Negroes are interested such
as housing, education, the high
unem ploym ent rate and a ll the
problem s th a t are p a rt o f con­
tin u in g poverty.
“ We cannot expect any k in d of
positive results to im prove these
conditions fro m eith e r p a rty ,” he
said, “ and i t is fo r th is reason
th a t I am ru n n in g . . . as an In ­
dependent. I anticipate th a t large
num bers of Negroes w ho have
voted D em ocratic or R epublican
in the past, w ill vote fo r me and
I expect th a t honest w h ite liberals
and progressives w ill see throug h
the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle
D um p o litic a l shell game o f both
parties.”