Congress. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Subversive Influences in Riots,
Looting, and Burning. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1967, 1968. Pt. 1: Subversive Influences
in Riots, Looting, and Burning (October 25, 26, 31, November 28, 1967).
SuDoc No.: Y4.Un1/2:R47/pt.1
Date(s) of Hearings: October 25, 26, 31, November 28, 1967
Congress and Session: 90th - 1st
 EXCERPTS
SYNOPSIS
On October 25, 26, 31, and November 28, 1967, a subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American
Activities held public hearings in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building, on the subject
of subversive influences in riots, looting, and burning.
The subcommittee was composed of Hon. Edwin E. Willis, chairman; Hon. William M. Tuck, of
Virginia; Hon. Richard H. Ichord, of Missouri; Hon. John M. Ashbrook, of Ohio; and Hon.
Albert W. Watson, of South Carolina. Hon. John C. Culver, of Iowa, was appointed October
25, 1967, as an associate member of the subcommittee to serve at such times as Chairman
Willis was unable to be present.
The purpose of the hearings was to determine "the extent to which, and the manner
in which" acts of rioting, looting, and burning in various cities in the United States
had been "planned, instigated, incited, or supported by Communist and other subversive
organizations and individuals, and all other questions in relation thereto that would aid
Congress in any necessary remedial legislation."
On October 3, 1966, Chairman Willis had directed the committee staff to undertake a
preliminary inquiry into the rioting, burning, looting, and other tragic acts of violence
which have afflicted a number of principal cities in the United States. The chairman
appointed Representatives Tuck and Watson to oversee the general conduct of the preliminary
inquiry. Mr. Tuck rendered a report to the full committee on August 2, 1967, which clearly
indicated that Communist and/or other subversive elements have been involved in acts of
rioting, looting, and burning in the United States to a significant degree.
In his opening statement, Mr. Tuck stated that there had been "well over 100
riots" in the past few years, several dozen of which can be classified as "major
disturbances." Property damage estimates were staggering, as were the cost –
in the millions of dollars – of overtime for police and fire departments,
mobilization of National Guard and Federal troops, in addition to millions of dollars
in lost business in the riot-torn areas.
Congressman Tuck stated that while poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and lack of
educational opportunity may be factors contributive to riots, these factors have existed
both in this country and abroad in years past – and to a greater degree than in recent
years – without rioting.
Mr. Tuck said:
It is not the view of this committee that Communists or other subversive elements are the
sole cause of the recent riots; that without these elements there would have been no riots
at all.
It is my personal view that those persons who have gone about counseling, urging, and
advising so-called civil disobedience – which is no more than calculated violation
of any law you do not like, the root of anarchy – have created disrespect and
contempt for law and order which has contributed to the mob violence.
Congressman Tuck stressed that only 2 to 5 percent of the Negro population had taken part
in the riots, and these figures represented a small minority of the total Negro population
in America. He added that even this small minority was comprised, in significant part,
by youths, teenage gangs, and persons with criminal records.
In his opening statement, Mr. Tuck also noted that other inquiries have been undertaken
for the purpose of judging the factors contributing to the riots, but that the jurisdiction
of the hearings of the House Committee on Un-American Activities was limited to subversive
activities (in the perspective of the riots) and would "not embrace social problems
as such."
Commenting on the historical aspects of riots, the Virginia Congressman said:
Throughout history riots have been used for political purposes. They can be and have
been, deliberately instigated to weaken and undermine existing governments and pave
the way for the establishment of a new and different type of governmental system.
In 1960 the Annual Report of the House Committee on Un-American Activities stated:
There is considerable evidence that in the United States, as well as on a world scale, the
Communists feel that the present tactical situation calls for increased utilization of
rioting and mob violence.
Mr.Tuck regretted that the committee analysis had proved to be accurate.
TESTIMONY OF ARCHIE MOORE
Former professional light heavyweight boxing champion, Archie Moore, now a resident of
San Diego, was the lead-off witness, in the committee's hearings.
Mr. Moore, recipient of the 1968 outstanding citizen of San Diego award, stated that he
did not see any sense in rioting and submitted a statement he had earlier delivered to
the San Diego Union. The article by the boxing champion, published as a
page-one feature, was reprinted by many other newspapers. It stated in part:
Granted, the Negro still has a long way to go to gain a fair shake with the white man
in this country. But believe this: If we resort to lawlessness, the only thing we can
hope for is civil war, untold bloodshed, ad the end of your dreams.
We have to have a meeting of qualified men of both races. Mind you, I said qualified
men, not some punk kid, ranting the catch phrases put in his mouth by some paid hate
monger. There are forces in the world today, forces bent upon the destruction of America,
your America and mine. And while we're on the subject, do you doubt for a minute that
communism, world communism, isn't waiting with bated breath for the black and white
Americans to turn on each other full force? Do you want a chance for life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness in the land of your birth, or do you want no chance at
all under the Red heel?
Mr. Moore stated that he had devised a program – called ABC, Any Boy Can –
based on "truth, honesty, respect for self and for other people, their rights
and property." The ABC program teaches young Negroes and whites in the ghettos
the basics of moral, physical, and spiritual self-defense.
He added:
A good student in the ABC class does not lie, steal, cheat, smoke, gamble, refuse to
go to church, play hooky from school, get into trouble, participate in riots, throw bombs,
smoke dope, smoke weeds, use narcotics of any kind, use LSD. We do teach them
this is wrong.
TESTIMONY OF CLARENCE MITCHELL
Clarence Mitchell, director of the Washington Bureau of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was sworn in and stated that he had been
director of the Washington Bureau since 1950 and began his work with the well-known
civil rights organization in 1945.
Mr. Mitchell read a prepared statement into the record in which he praised committee
chairman Edwin E. Willis for his courageous challenge of the Ku Klux Klan.
In his statement, Mr. Mitchell said: "It is my opinion that it is an insult to the
millions of law-abiding colored people to align them with the terrible destruction and
violence that we have witnessed in some of our cities." He added: "It is
my opinion that the vast majority of colored people in this country seek to settle
their grievances and to achieve their objectives just as all other Americans, through
the lawful channels of the land."
Mr. Mitchell noted that his impression was that "Communists have never made any
great headway in recruiting colored followers and they do not have any substantial
following at this point."
The NAACP bureau director noted that long before many other groups were conscious of
Communist infiltration his organization had avoided contacts with Communists. The
NAACP had "an ironclad rule that we didn't want anybody who was Communist affiliated
or any out-and-out Communist."
Further, Mr. Mitchell stated that the NAACP had initiated a concerted campaign at the
local level during the summer of 1967 in hopes of heading off violence in communities.
Demonstrating just one facet of this campaign, Mr. Mitchell offered for exhibit several
printed cards and bumper stickers which had been printed and distributed by the NAACP.
The cards and bumper stickers read:
KEEP COOL, Let the Other Guy BLOW HIS TOP
THE OTHER SIDE WINS IF WE LOSE OUR COOL
BRICKS THROUGH WINDOWS DON'T OPEN DOORS
The NAACP director said that it was his opinion that a "great deal of the turmoil
in this country is fomented by the playing up of those who are wiling to say anything
that is irresponsible for the purpose of getting on television or getting into the
papers." He recalled getting a call from a lady who represented a very reputable
lady's magazine. She asked Mr. Mitchell to "help her find a Negro who was a
college graduate, who was disillusioned by the war in Vietnam, disillusioned about our
domestic policy, and therefore had decided to become a sniper." The woman had been
assigned to "keep looking for that particular kind of Negro" for a
"Christmas story."
TESTIMONY OF ASA T. SPAULDING
Mr. Asa T. Spaulding, resident of Durham, N.C., and president of North Carolina Mutual
Life Insurance Company, was the next witness. Mr. Spaulding had started with the
insurance company in 1932 and worked his way up from assistant secretary to comptroller
to vice president in 1948 and finally to president in 1959.
The witness is a member of the board of directors of a number of large financial
institutions and a trustee of Howard University and Shaw University. Mr. Spaulding
is a recipient of a Presidential citation in 1946 for his work in helping to stabilize
the economy of the United States Government during World War II. The witness had
recently returned from a trip to Africa as a member of a trade mission for the U.S.
Department of COmmerce and had recently completed a tour of military installations
in this country under the auspices of the Department of Defense.
After reading his personal statement to the committee, Mr. Spaulding read a statement on
his company's position in the current civil rights struggle.
In conclusion, Asa T. Spaulding, himself a Negro, stated:
I am of the opinion that Communists never miss an opportunity to capitalize on
dissatisfaction, strife, and turmoil no matter what the cause. ...their alliances are
more or less "marriages of convenience," subject to being dissolved when it
will serve their interest to do so.
I, therefore, doubt that Communists "sincerely have the interests of the Negro at
heart," or that they will work with the Negro in his efforts to achieve full equality...
TESTIMONY OF WHITNEY M. YOUNG, JR., ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE, INC.
Mr. Young was unable to appear before the committee on October 25, 1967. However, he
submitted a statement which the chairman authorized to be inserted in the record. The
statement read in part:
In the light of the deaths, injuries, arrests, and destruction of Negro-owned property
this past summer, it is obvious that the interests of Negro citizens are not advanced
by riots...
In answer to the question concerning whether or not Communists sincerely have the interests
of the Negro at heart, the statement pointed out that the "Communist Party has spent
much time and effort in wooing the Negro population, all to no avail" and that there
"is little evidence that Communists have any significant influence on the civil rights
movement..."
TESTIMONY OF EVELLE J. YOUNGER
At the start of the afternoon session of the committee hearings on Wednesday, October 25,
1967, the first witness to be called and sworn in was Evelle J. Younger, district attorney
for Los Angeles County, Calif. Mr. Younger told the committee that he grew up in Nebraska
and received his A.B. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Nebraska. He then went on
to graduate studies in criminology at Northwestern University.
After Northwestern, Mr. Younger joined the FBI as a special agent. He served with the
Army Counterintelligence Corps.
He has been deputy city attorney in Los Angeles, in the Criminal Division; prosecuting
attorney in the city of Pasadena; and on the municipal and superior court in Los Angeles
for 11 years before becoming district attorney in 1964.
Mr. Younger stated that his first major involvement with rioters and rioting was in 1965
during the Watts riot, where approximately 2,500 felony cases were prosecuted. The
district attorney defined a riot as "thousands of people enraged in burning, looting,
assault, and murder." A riot, he said, "involves a complete breakdown of law
and order... it most certainly is one tremendous crime spree."
Commenting on his own experiences with rioters, he said:
We have been experiencing a number of actions by persons who resort to physically coercive
methods to effect change which, in effect, amount to a repudiation of the orderly
governmental process – professors and clergymen urging young men to resist military
service; the editor of the UCLA student newspaper urging students to violate the laws
against the use of marijuana; public figures advocating a refusal to pay taxes because
the Government finances programs with which they disagree.
...
When police are called upon to perform their duty to preserve order and protect life and
property, they are often jeered, insulted, and spat upon by the very people they are paid
to protect.
Screams of "police brutality" drown out those who urge higher standards of
training and better pay and a higher degree of professionalization to produce better
law enforcement...
Concerning technical developments in our society which affect a riot situation, Mr.
Younger said:
Unquestionably, the television medium can be a major factor in contributing to or
sustaining a riot. A newspaper can also do much to mold and influence public opinion over
a period of time.
However, he noted:
Only TV can inspire immediate action – good or bad. TV can be the monster or the
Jolly Green Giant, depending on how its power is used.
Mr. Younger said that the TV stations in the United States are licensed to be operated
"in the public interest, necessity, and convenience." He added that –
if Rap Brown is making an inflammatory speech before 20 people... should TV come along and
give him an audience of several million... is it in the public interest?
...
When does TV stop reporting the news and start creating news? At a recent Ku Klux Klan
convention in southern California, there were literally more TV cameras present than
delegates.
...
Should rioters be able to use TV as a means of publishing battle orders?
He stated that the "riot-prone group" comprises only about 5 to 10 percent, and
most of this extremist fragment of the Negro race are "young and they are psychotic.
Each is a potential killer."
Mr. Younger opined that:
These racists, haters, political extremists, and agitators and the confirmed criminals
are the real villains (in any riotous situation)... They comprise at most 20 percent of
the participants in any modern American riot...
The Los Angeles district attorney continued:
Certainly, after a riot starts, this group moves in fast and pours fuel on the flames and
tries to make the riot as bloody, as damaging, and as extensive as possible. The fact is,
though, that while this 20 percent could probably start a riot, they cannot sustain it.
Only the remaining 80 percent of the 5 to 10 percent can sustain a riot, make it last anywhere
from 24 hours to a week.
Mr. Younger was asked if he had any suggestions toward eliminating or reducing the possibility
of riots in the future. He replied:
First, we must insist that all Americans obey all our laws at all times, period.
Not just the laws they like, but all laws, period...
...
Step II: Free the slaves... And we must be honest with the Negro and say we are not talking
about equal cars or equal homes or equal salary, but equal opportunity.
In concluding his testimony, the Los Angeles district attorney said:
While we are working out our problems, let us get rid of our national inferiority complex.
Government should cease its preoccupation with introspections and feelings of guilt and
should stop espousing the idea that society is at fault for riots. This self-pity
syndrome is extremely dangerous...
Mr. Younger was thanked for his contribution by Mr. Tuck and was questioned on certain
points of his testimony by various members of the subcommittee.
The district attorney noted that his statement was not a criticism of television, but rather
"a concern that television is so powerful that the potential for doing great damage
during the riot is there."
The district attorney restated an earlier point made in his testimony – that the
Communists and other extremist elements are quick to move in once the riot starts in order
to exploit the disruption to their own ends.
TESTIMONY OF ADRIAN H. JONES
The next witness, Adrian H. Jones, was sworn in and gave his address as 8365 East Beach
Drive NW., Washington, D.C. The witness attended public schools in Roslyn and Spokane,
Wash. He received a master of arts degree in psychology from the University of Kansas
in 1963. The witness had been studying for the past 4 1/2 years in the sociology
department of the American University. At the time of the hearings he had completed all
the course work and qualifying examinations for a Ph. D. and was writing his dissertation
on civil disturbances.
The witness served two tours of duty in Europe and participated in the occupation of
Japan from 1946 to 1949. He is former commanding officer of the Harlem Military Police
detachment and former provost marshal of Fort Leavenworth, Kans.
For 4 1/2 years prior to the hearings, he had been engaged in research and study in the
area of internal security. He is employed by the Center for Research in Social Systems
of the American University.
Mr. Jones is the coauthor of a study entitled "Combating Subversively Manipulated
Civil Disturbances" and is guest lecturer at the International Police Academy. He
is also a guest lecturer for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
The witness noted that "law enforcement has not been extensively researched."
Due to the controversial nature of investigations into riots, his studies were systematically
approached from three separate areas: (1) political subversion, (2) community conflict,
and (3) the control of mobs and crowds. His study encompassed historical, social science,
police operational, and news media references.
Addressing the question of salient basic elements necessary for any riot, the witness
noted that group hostility or antagonism, latent or active, "must be aroused to a
high emotional stage in order to trigger a crowd to violent action."
Mr. Jones gave "dissident groups with real or imaginary grievances" as the
number one basic component element in a riot situation. He added that dissident groups
may be subversive or nonsubversive.
Another essential element for a riot is a physiological crowd. These crowds may be
"spontaneous, casual, or planned and intentional." Other important components
essential to riots are: the agitator, who may or may not intend to trigger a riot; the
precipitating incident, either accidental, spontaneous, natural, or developed; internal
security forces brought in to try to control civil disturbances; and the general
population of the community.
In determining the "character of a riot" it must be considered that "the
subversive is interested in a riot for a political purpose." Normally, subversives
do not hope to overthrow a government through one riot, "but they do see in a riot
a means of weakening the existing power structure and of turning people against it."
The witness spoke of the evidence which indicates a riot is subversively manipulated
and noted that an analytical device or system had been developed in order to eliminate
speculation. The riot must be broken down into four phases and each phase analyzed
separately.
The four riot phases are: (1) the precrowd phase, (2) the crowd phase, (3) the civil
disturbance phase, and (4) the post-civil disturbance phase.
The precrowd phase is defined as a "preparatory period which is characterized by
the development of antagonisms within a community between groups which have a different
position on some economic, social, political, or other issue."
In a subversively manipulated riot, the precrowd phase is marked by: (a) the existence
of a subversive organization used to create conflict; (b) selection of target groups
"on the basis of the conflict potential in the community"; (c) preconditioning
measures to influence the attitudes of target groups; (d) the acquisition and storage of
weapons and explosives and the planning of escape routes for key individual leaders.
In the crowd phase, the crowd is "turned into a mob which throws aside all restraint
and engages in collective social violence."
Subversive elements bent on starting a riot "may themselves insure that a crowd
will be present" by planning a meeting or rally or "staging an incident"
which will draw a crowd.
"Once a crowd is assembled, the subversives deploy their personnel in the crowd
to agitate and excite it" by shouting slogans, circulating rumors, or making speeches.
The most vulnerable crowd is one which has been preconditioned in the aforementioned
precrowd stage to react emotionally to certain slogans, phrases, and accusations.
In the civil disturbance, or actual riot phase, the witness noted, the highly excited
crowd becomes a "mob which through a kind of emotional contagion engages in
large-scale, collective social violence."
In a riot which is manipulated by subversives, a "booster incident will be initiated
– rocks will be thrown, windows broken, a fire or fight started" and
"sniping or looting" may also occur. "A martyr will be exploited or
perhaps even created – someone who has been arrested, wounded, or killed by
riot-control forces or intentionally injured or killed by the subversives."
Mr. Jones, in answer to a question at this point in the testimony, stated "that
there is a formal organization that attempts to protect the very important subversive
manipulators in order to preclude their being arrested."
The witness then went into the fourth stage or "post-civil disturbance phase"
of the riot which is characterized as that "period when the violence is ended and
social order has been restored."
If subversives are involved, evidence of efforts to further violence will be noted in
a continuance of propaganda and agitation. "Demands which the Government cannot
possibly meet will be made."
The witness then directed his testimony to the question of counter-measures to the
rioting and said:
The basic objective of internal security forces is to restore order, the corollary
is to reestablish respect for law and order and public safety...
One of the techniques of controlling crowds is very solidly based upon the specific
panic response which is expressed by individuals in the desire to escape or take flight
from an immediate threatening area...
He noted that chemical munitions (i.e., tear gas) or streams of water cause individuals
to start thinking of themselves. Usually this has the effect of dispersing the crowd.
Clues which signify the plotting of a riot may include: "the observation of known
subversives moving into an area, the discovery of arms caches, the circulation of
propaganda, attempts to hire demonstrators, attempts to train and orient agitators,
arrangements for safe houses and escape routes."
Countermeasures suggested by the witness to an apparent plot to create a riot include
"either to disperse the crowd or to bring the crowd under control, to maintain
contact with the leaders, and possibly to give the dissidents some sort of outlet."
Mr. Jones commented on countermeasures in the actual riot or civil disturbances
phase and said:
The procedure of the United States Army is to first use a show of force; then to use
riot control formation; then to consider the use of streams of water; then the use of
chemical agents; then fire by selected marksmen; and finally, under very extreme
conditions, full fire power.
In the postdisturbance period, countermeasures include the use of intelligence in
identifying the subversive agitators. During this period the authorities involved
should listen to the complaints of members of dissident groups. It is equally
important "to get information to the public to undercut the lies, half-truths,
and rumors of subversives."
The witness was appraised of current investigation and research of the committee
which indicated that certain groups in the United States were actually advocating
guerrilla warfare and insurgency in this country. He was asked if he saw a
relationship between subversively manipulated riots and insurgency or guerrilla warfare.
He answered that he felt that subversively manipulated riots are definitely a part of
the political weapon system of the international Communist movement.
At the close of his testimony, Mr. Jones indicated that his research spanned a length
of time dating prior to the rush of riots in the summer of 1964.
The witness made a passing reference to the October 21, 1967, demonstrations at the
Pentagon, stating:
I think there is certainly some evidence based upon my analytical scheme to support
the contention that someone was trying to incite riotous violence in this particular
instance.
TESTIMONY OF HERMAN D. LERNER
On Thursday, October 26, 1967, the subcommittee convened at 10:25 a.m., and the
next witness, Herman D. Lerner, was sworn in. Mr. Lerner, who resides at 6825
Laverock Court, Bethesda, Md., stated that he was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1923.
He attended public schools in Baltimore and studied the physical and social sciences at
the University of Maryland. His studies were interrupted in 1943-46 for a term of
military service, after which he resumed college and graduated with an A.B. degree
in 1948.
Mr. Lerner did graduate work at harvard University, where he was a teaching fellow in
social change. Since that period he has done additional periodic graduate work at the
American University.
For the past 14 years, the witness had been conducting many studies of military systems,
research planning and utilization, social and economic issues, and political trends.
Mr. Lerner is a member of various professional associations in operations research,
sociology, management, and general science.
Concerning fields of study related to organized rioting, the witness stated that over
the past 10 years he had studied "national cohesion, military strategy, general and
limited warfare, political rioting, crime, and internal security, with special reference
to military-civilian relations, force, propaganda, and strategy."
Commenting particularly on an Office of Naval Research study into riots, during his tenure
with them, the witness said:
As for the possibility of rioting as a tactic in general warfare, this was a problem which
the study team looked into since it was believed that there would be enormous destruction
during a thermonuclear war and that military units might be required to cope with many
emergencies, including threats to naval installations and internal security which might
arise from political rioting and insurgencies.
The witness listed five headings under which an analysis of recent urban rioting in the
United States could be classified: (1) "urban disorganization and poverty";
(2) "community conflict (social, religious, economic, ethnic, racial, et cetera)";
(3) "criminality and delinquency"; (4) "domestic subversion";
(5) "foreign subversion."
The witness defines subversion as "any activity which has as its objective the
illegal displacement of power from one group to another; ...the weakening or destruction
of national cohesion through propaganda, military and industrial sabotage, or other
economic or political measures."
He added: "Subversion is political criminality."
Drawing a distinction between domestic and foreign subversives, Mr. Lerner said:
A domestic, or "benign" subversive is a person whose disloyalty, alienation,
and illegal activity are directed against our national institutions. Including our
political structure and the incumbents of power, but whose loyalty and allegiance to the
Nation – as a people – are still intact.
...
A foreign or "malignant" subversive on the other hand, is a person who is
uncommitted to the Nation and who may in fact be an agent of a foreign power with primary
allegiance to that power.
Turning to the circumstances under which political rioting occurs, the witness explained
that three subjects must be considered here: (1) "the functions of government";
(2) "how those functions are defined or interpreted by the persons governed";
and (3) "organized exploitation of real or alleged governmental inadequacies and
injustices."
In answer to the query of how "people react to organized exploitation of the failure
of governmental authority and power, either real or alleged," the witness replied:
The most important determinant of this reaction is the set of basic attitudes and
sentiments which people already have concerning the Government.
...
An urban Negro in a low income group in the U.S. is unlikely to compare himself with an
urban Russian or an urban Chinese or... a man in Harlem ordinarily will not compare
himself with one in Watts, and vice versa.
...But he is more likely to view himself with other nearby Negroes who have more than
he or with nearby whites...
This sense of comparative or relative deprivation which results from consistently
unfavorable comparisons causes frustration, which in turn may lead to aggressive
tendencies...
The witness observed that authorities in the field of crowds, mobs, and riots had
denoted certain "features of aggressive group action which are noteworthy for
an understanding of recent urban rioting in the United States."
These include:
(a) weakening of customary restraints or inhibitions which ordinarily block illegal
behavior and overtly aggressive action against authorities;
(b) moral support for aggressive action from other participants in the group;
(c) reinforced or increased power of the individual;
(d) intensification of the influence of what might be called negative or antisocial norms;
and so forth.
The witness reviewed the steps or stages in the development from a psychological point
of view. These stages are: the preconditioning or propaganda stage, a feeling of
resentment over unjust deprivation stage, the assembly or crowd-forming stage, the
"riot-inciting idea or incident," and finally the riot.
The riot will have several kinds of significance to the participants, including:
"physical and symbolic redress, or righting, of injustice" through damage,
looting, or burning, which "symbolizes the punishment of the guilty," the
"power holders and others identified with the established order."
Following the riot, the political goal of the rioter – ordinarily an increase
in legitimate power (actual or symbolic) – either is achieved or not achieved.
Mr. Lerner then stated:
These stages should be understood as general concepts which help describe much of
the recent political rioting. They do not necessarily apply to all cases... Also,
guerrilla units – one person or small groups – may take advantage of the
riot by sniping and by other specialized acts of theft, destruction, and terror.
Mr. Lerner was asked if he found evidence of subversion in political rioting. He
replied, "Yes. There is no question about it." He cited examples from
the testimony of J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, regarding subversion in certain riots
in the United States. He said it was also announced and documented by congressional
committees (that evidence of subversion in riots exists) and added:
But even if we were to cast aside the official information such as that which I have
just quoted... there would be no question about the existence of subversion in recent
urban rioting because the acts of many of the rioters – individually and
collectively – are themselves subversive.
Mr. Lerner stated that there "are definite patterns which are repeated over and
over again in subversively manipulated riots and in their development," and
cited as examples the "frequent, systematic repetition of... standardized events,
styles, and sequences in widely dispersed areas" such as Watts and Harlem.
Mr. Lerner pointed out the involvement of teenage gangs in riots and added:
Youths are more suggestible and impressionable... are more readily disposed to
physical responses to frustration... more idealistic, more highly sympathetic to
the underdog, and more highly displeased over apparent deficiencies in the social
structure than adults.
All of these characteristics make youths a good target for propaganda by those
who may wish to represent themselves as sincere, legitimate reformers or idealistic
revolutionaries.
Mr. Lerner presented his suggestions for dealing with riot situations. He divided
his recommendations into (a) "emergency steps" and (b) " long-term
programs," stating that: "Emergency steps are those which should be taken
immediately at the threat or outbreak of a riot."
"Among the long-term recommendations," he suggested:
(1) Make ethnic "hate" activities a Federal offense...
(2) Impose limited weapons control (on subversives and criminals)...
(3) Formulate a set of civil duties which corresponds to civil rights...
(4) ...selectively and temporarily reducing rights to speech and assembly of subversion...
(5) ...devise specific, workable programs for bringing the quality of Negro life
in this country to an acceptable level...
(6) Provide a program for rehabilitation of subversive and insurgents...
(7) Consider the advisability of broadening the mandate of this committee (House
Committee on Un-American Activities)... to encompass increased constructive action
toward dealing with the conditions which create subversives in this country and toward
rehabilitation of subversives.
Mr. Tuck thanked the witness for his testimony and discussed further the definition
and classification of subversives.
TESTIMONY OF HON. SAM YORTY, MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
On Tuesday, November 28, 1967, the subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American
Activities met in the committee hearing room in the continuation of public hearings
into "subversive influences in riots, looting, and burning."
The witness, Hon. Sam Yorty, mayor of Los Angeles, Calif., was sworn in and stated
that he was, by profession, an attorney at law.
Mayor Yorty was a Member of Congress in 1950 to 1954 and mayor of Los Angeles since 1961.
His tenure in the California Legislature in the mid-1930's gave him an opportunity to study
the subject of communism. Since that time, the witness has maintained an interest in
Communist activities.
In answer to a question concerning his opinion of underlying factors which caused the
riots in the last few years, Mayor Yorty replied:
I would certainly say that one of the factors is the constant repetition of subversive
propaganda, the agitation, and propaganda conducted by the Communist Party within the
framework of their historic objective to break down the respect for government, certainly
for law and order, and to personalize, as they always do, this objective mainly in the
police officer.
Asked if he believed these riots have been spontaneous or planned, the mayor said,
"I think that there are some of both." He added:
I think that the propaganda over the years has been so constant and at times very effective...
I also think there are some riots where subversive forces have actually planned...
incidents that they would hope would spark a riot.
Mayor Yorty introduced an exhibit into the record, a pamphlet entitled "The Big
Lie." The pamphlet, produced by the Los Angeles city government, contained a
short history of the charge of police brutality over a period of 21 years – or
since 1946, by the Communist Party.
The witness stated that law enforcement has been handicapped "by the reinterpretation,
really the rewriting of the Constitution by the United States Supreme Court..."
He cited examples of the exclusionary rules of evidence, the rules of search and seizure,
and the registration of known criminals.
Mayor Yorty recalled that Lenin, in his writings, as early as 1902, had made reference
to police brutality and noted that he knew of no period in history where the
"campaign against the police has been quite as effective as it is today."
The mayor was asked if police brutality charges were made in his city during the Watts
riot. He replied that an attempt was made "to blame the police for the rioting,"
and added: "This led to my unpleasant confrontation with Dr. Martin Luther King,
who –
persisted in arguing that the police were to blame for the rioting. Then he went out
and got before the cameras and newspapers and made that same charge. I felt it necessary
to answer that charge and to tell him that it was very unfair for him to come out to Los
Angeles and try to blame the police for the rioting.
Mayor Yorty then stated that he did not "know of any case where an officer has had
to be dismissed for brutality."
The mayor noted that there were many people who made charges of police brutality whose
motive was to discredit the police department and to carry on the so-called Communist
struggle campaign to "break down respect for the law enforcement officials...
eventually... break down the ability of our Government to operate."
The Los Angeles mayor said that:
Unfortunately, the nature of news is... usually negative. The bizarre makes more news
than the everyday hard work of law enforcement.
Mayor Yorty saw a need for people to understand the Communist Party and its apparatus.
He said:
The public has been conditioned to feel that the charge of communism is some kind of
smear on innocent people...
He cited several examples of "conditioning" of the American public "until
they have lost their understanding of the true effectiveness of Communist agitation and
propaganda."
The witness submitted that he "wouldn't want to go so far as to say that no
policeman has ever been guilty of brutality," but that "the major problem
is brutality to police on the part of citizen groups."
In considering a question propounded by staff director McNamara on whether riot
legislation should be levied at the State or Federal level, the mayor said:
I think you have to take whatever action you can at every level. I don't think trying
to maintain law and order is just a matter for any one level of government...
The Los Angeles mayor commented on the Communist manipulated demonstration against
the President on June 23, 1967, in his city. He noted that the "police permit
for the so-called parade was issued to a person who has been identified as a Communist."
The parade was slated as a demonstration against the war in Vietnam, but, as the mayor noted,
the "war in Vietnam just happens to be the current issue that the Communists use
to try to cause citizens to confront policemen and to defy them."
The mayor also noted that the demonstration reached riot or near-riot proportions.
Don Healey, former husband of one of the leaders of the Communist Party in California,
Dorothy Healey, was the identified Communist who had obtained the parade permit for
the riotous demonstration on June 23, 1967, in Los Angeles.
Prior to the clashes with the police on June 23, about 10,000 had turned out to parade
past the hotel where President Johnson was speaking. As the parade reached the hotel,
elements in the front stopped short. Police were ordered to disperse the crowd, as
the parade permit stated that the parade was to continue its movement. Hard-core
agitators at the rear of the crowd got behind the crowd and pressed the people in front
onto the ranks of police. This led to clashes.
The mayor said that the people in America did not understand the Communist theory of
the struggle. He added:
We have a constant series of struggles in this country, all the time conducted, of
course, in most cases by legitimate and sincere people who will never understand that
they have become part of the struggle.
The June 23 demonstrations in Los Angeles were organized and sponsored by the Peace
Action Council. The chairman of this Peace Action Council is Irving Sarnoff, a fifth
amendment witness before the Committee of Un-American Activities on September 5, 1958.
Sarnoff is identified in a committee report as a member of the district council,
Communist Party, Southern California District.
The mayor quoted from a Communist Party Manual on Organization. The manual was
demonstrated to be a good example of where the Communists try to take advantage of a
movement in the country, such as the current civil rights movement.
Mayor Yorty stated:
I think it is rather apparent that over the long years the Negro people did not prove
very susceptible to Communist propaganda and agitation...
But I do think that in the civil rights movement today there is a growing success on the
part of the Communist apparatus to manipulate some of the organizations...
The Los Angeles mayor was asked if he had any recommendation, in addition to antiriot
legislation, which might help solve the problem of rioting and looting.
He indicated that some action in the nature of a reversal of recent U.S. Supreme Court
decisions which have restricted "the ability of law enforcement agencies to do
their job" might be in order.
The chairman, Mr. Willis, and members of the committee expressed their gratitude to
Mayor Yorty for his excellent contribution to the subject under investigation.
TESTIMONY OF ROBERT H. MEHAFFEY
On Tuesday, October 31, 1967, at 10 a.m., the subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American
Activities met in the continuation of hearings into "subversive influences in riots,
looting, and burning."
Mr. Mehaffey was sworn in and stated that he was employed with the House Committee on
Un-American Activities as a research consultant.
Mr. Mehaffey read excerpts from Committee Exhibit No. 3, the staff papers on various
organizations in this country whose activities have included racial agitation.
Prior to Mr. Mehaffey's testimony on the investigation and research carried out by
the committee staff in conjunction with the present inquiry, Mr. Smith, general counsel
of the committee, stated:
Because some of these organizations are relatively new and others are small and little
known, the subcommittee has agreed that staff documents containing basic data about these
organizations and also statements which they or their recognized leaders have made
concerning riots, the use of violence, and related issues should be made a part of the record.
General Counsel Smith stated that the purpose for inserting the staff papers at this
point in the chronicle of testimony "is to make the record clear." Mr. Smith added:
When facts are presented about these organizations and individuals in these hearings,
the general nature of the groups will be known and understood...
Mr. Smith emphasized that the documents to be presented "are not intended to convey
any more than they actually say." He noted that some of the organizations are
openly Communist and subversive. "Others have been cited as Communist and/or
subversive by official agencies." Other organizations, not cited, should not be
interpreted as a committee finding or implication that the organization is Communist
or subversive.
Committee Exhibit No. 1 is headed: "International Communist Statements on Racial
Agitation and Riots in the United States."
Committee Exhibit No. 2 is headed: "FBI Statements on Communist Racial Agitation."
Committee Exhibit No. 3 contains the following organizational reports:
Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA).
W.E.B. DuBois Clubs of America (DCA).
Freedomways (magazine).
Progressive Labor Party (PLP).
Socialist Workers Party (SWP).
Workers World Party (WWP).
Youth Against War and Fascism (YAWF).
Spartacist League.
Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM).
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (also known as SNCC, SNICK).
Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC).
Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc. (SCEF).
Liberator (magazine).
ACT.
Organization for Black Power.
Freedom Now Party.
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
Nation of Islam (NOI).
TESTIMONY OF ARCHIE MOORE (EXCERPTS)
Mr. McNamara. Is it not a fact, Mr. Moore, that in addition to being
the former light heavyweight boxing champion of the world you are also "Mr. San
Diego"?
Mr. Moore. A title that was given me this year for 1968, "Mr.
San Diego."
Mr. Ashbrook. Will you repeat that? The acoustics are very bad.
Mr. McNamara. "Mr. San Diego." It is an annual award presented
to an outstanding citizen of San Diego, or the outstanding citizen, I should say.
Mr. Moore, the instances of rioting, looting, and burning which have taken place in this
country during the past few years have been a matter of deep concern to all Americans,
no matter what their race, religion, or national origin.
Will you tell the committee your reaction to these riots?
Mr. Moore. My reactions to the rioting are that it does not make sense
for people to riot in this sense. It does not make sense to loot and burn and destroy
people's property or do any kind of things that are wrong, morally or physically wrong;
to harm other people, to shoot at people whom you don't even know, and this sort of
malicious disturbance.
Mr. McNamara. As indicated in the chairman's opening statement, Mr.
Moore, and in a committee release of August 2, there is evidence of Communist and other
subversive involvement in these riots. That evidence will be presented for the record
in later hearings of the committee.
Will you state for the committee your belief concerning the Communists' professed
interests in civil rights for Negroes and other minorities? Are they sincere in this?
Can minorities accept them and work with them in their efforts to win full equality?
Mr. Moore. This is only my opinion.
I do not believe the Communist doctrine. I have been to an anti-Communist meeting, at
which Senator Dodd was present, in San Diego to hear a speaker who was also a writer
of a book on communism, Dr. Fred Schwarz.
What Dr. Fred Schwarz relayed to the public at this meeting thoroughly convinced me
that the communistic area was not one I wanted to be in and that they would seek to
destroy a nation the way, mostly, worms destroy fruit, from the inside.
(At this point Mr. Watson entered the hearing room.)
Mr. McNamara. Mr. Moore, a few months ago you wrote a statement
about rioting which you submitted to the San Diego Times, which published it
as a page-one feature. This statement has won national acclaim. It has been
circulated abroad by the USIA, the United States Information Agency.
Will you be good enough at this point to read that statement for the record please?
Mr. Moore. I will.
The devil is at work in America, and it is up to us to drive him out. Snipers and
looters, white or black, deserve no mercy. Those who would profit from their brother's
misfortunes deserve no mercy, and those who would set fellow Americans upon each
other deserve no mercy.
I'll fight the man who calls me an Uncle Tom. I have broken bread with heads
of state, chatted with presidents and traveled all over the world. I was born
in a ghetto, but I refused to stay there. I am a Negro, and proud to be one. I
am also an American, and am proud of that.
The young people of today think they have a hard lot. They should have been around
in the '30s when I was coming up in St. Louis. We had no way to go, but a lot of
us made it. I became light heavyweight champion of the world. A neighbor kid down
the block, Clark Terry, became one of the most famous jazz musicians in the world.
There were doctors, lawyers and chiefs who came out of that ghetto. One of the
top policemen in St. Louis came from our neighborhood.
BAIT FOR SIMPLE-MINDED
We made it because we had a goal, and we were willing to work for it. Don't talk
to me of your "guaranteed national income." Any fool knows that this is
insanity. Do we bring those who worked to get ahead down to the level of those
who never gave a damn? The world owes nobody – black or white – a
living. God helps the man who helps himself!
Now then, don't get the idea that I didn't grow up hating the injustices of this
world. I am a staunch advocate of the Negro revolution for the good of mankind.
I've seen almost unbelievable progress made in the last handful of years. Do we
want to become wild beasts bent only on revenge, looting and killing and laying
America bare? Hate is bait, bait for the simple-minded.
Sure, I despised the whites who cheated me, but I used that feeling to make me
push on. If you listen to the professional rabble-rousers, adhere to this idea
of giving up everything you've gained in order to revenge yourself for the wrongs
that were done to you in the past – then you'd better watch your neighbor,
because he'll be looting your house next. Law and order is the only edge we have.
No man is an island.
Granted, the Negro still has a long way to go to gain a fair shake with the white
man in this country. But believe this: If we resort to lawlessness, the only thing
we can hope for is civil war, untold bloodshed, and the end of our dreams.
We have to have a meeting of qualified men of both races. Mind you, I said qualified
men, not some punk kid, ranting the catch phrases put in his mouth by some paid
hate-monger. There are forces in the world today, forces bent upon the destruction
of America, your America and mine. And while we're on the subject, do you doubt for
a minute that communism, world communism, isn't waiting with bated breath for the
black and white Americans to turn on each other full force? Do you want a chance
for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the land of your birth, or do
you want no chance at all under the Red heel?
NOT ONE SQUARE INCH
There are members of the black community who call for a separate nation within
America. Well, I do not intend to give up one square inch of America. I'm not
going to be told I must live in a restricted area. Isn't that what we've all been
fighting to overcome? And then there is the element that calls for a return to Africa.
For my part, Africa is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
If the Irishmen want to go back to the Emerald Isle, let them. If the Slavs want
to return to the Iron Curtain area, OK by me. But I'm not going to go any part
of Africa to live. I'm proud of ancestry, and the country that spawned my forefathers,
but I'm not giving up my country. I fought all my life to give my children what I'm
able to give them today; a chance for development as citizens in the greatest
country in the world.
I do not for a moment think that any truly responsible Negro wants anarchy. I
don't think you'll find intelligent – no, let's rephrase that –
mature Negroes running wild in the streets or sniping at total strangers.
God made the white man as well as the black. True, we haven't acted as brothers
in the past, but we are brothers. If we're to be so many Cains and Abels, that's
our choice. We can't blame God for it.
Something must be done to reach the Negroes and the whites in the ghettos of this
country, and I propose to do something.
'ANY BOY CAN'
As a matter of plain fact, I have been doing something for the past several years. I
have been running a program which I call the ABC – Any Boy Can. By teaching our
youth, black, white, yellow and red, what dignity is, what self respect is, what honor
is, I have been able to obliterate juvenile delinquency in several areas.
I would now expand my programs, change scope. If any boy can, surely any man can. I
want to take teams of qualified people, top men in their fields, to the troubled areas
of our cities. I know that the people who participated in the recent riots, who are
participating and who will participate, are misguided rather than mad.
If some bigot can misguide, then I can guide. I've spent too much of my life building
what I've got to put it to torch just to satisfy some ancient hatred of a man who beat
my grandfather. Those men are long dead. Do we have to choke what could be a
beautiful garden with weeds of hate? I say NO! And I stand ready to start
"Operation Gardener." I invite the respected Negro leaders of our country
to join me.
TESTIMONY OF HERMAN D. LERNER (EXCERPTS)
Mr. Ichord. I have heard many speakers say and have read many times
that the Negro riots are the result of a hundred years of deprivation and discrimination.
You indicated that you partially subscribe to that theory when I believe you said at one
time to a great extent we are victims of the past.
Don't you think this is somewhat oversimplifying the matter; that is, in terms of
relativity, the Negro today, even in the urban ghetto, is much better off politically,
economically, and socially than he was 25 or 50 years ago or for that matter at any time
in the history of the United States?
Mr. Lerner. It is true that it would be an oversimplification to state
that the riots are just the result of generations of disadvantage or to state that we
are victims of the past and nothing more. Apparently there is some misunderstanding
because I said that we were not responsible for the acts of previous generations.
I do not feel that it is valid or constructive to say that the problem we face today
is simply a result of what has happened over the last hundred years, or 350 years.
The problem is what is happening now in this generation. Certainly Negroes are much
better off today than they were a hundred years ago. They are much better off today
than Negroes and whites in other countries, or some whites in this country, for that matter.
I am reminded of a statement attributed to Dick Gregory by Life magazine recently:
At a national conference of Black Power leaders held in Newark after the riots there,
Dick Gregory... summed up in one word the direction of the 1967 riots. If asked what
they wanted, Negroes, he recommended, should reply, "Nothing." Gregory
explained: "How in the hell are you going to make a list of 400 years of them
misusing you?"
But it would be unrealistic and almost meaningless to think of compensation for
the deprivations of past generations. other groups besides Negroes also could make
lists of past deprivations and grievances. What would we do about the white Anglo-Saxon
Protestants in the Appalachia and other descendants of the early settlers whose
standards of living are lower than that of urban Negroes? What would we do about the
families who lost 780,000 in the war which freed the Negroes? What would we do about
southerners who were economic and social victims of that war and its aftermath and who
sometimes even today are regarded as social inferiors by some persons in the North?
A complete social and historical accounting would include a fantastic inventory.
This sort of thinking would lead to impossibly complex, impractical, and meaningless
tradeoffs. We can try to arrive at equitable settlements only within the framework
of living generations.
The point I was making earlier was that Negroes compare themselves with those who
are immediately contiguous with them. People in Watts do not compare themselves
with those in Harlem or in Cuba, but with those in Bel Air or some other community nearby.
This comparison results in a sense of deprivation that brings about feelings of
resentment and aggression.
When I said that we are all victims of the past I meant that the entire community
– all of us, white, blacks, everyone – are victims of our history.
None of us has created the circumstances, the prejudices, the attitudes, and the
values which constrain us, although we can influence them.
Therefore, none of us can be held wholly responsible for the situation. No one
is really guilty. All of us are products of our heritage. I would say that the
best that each generation can be expected to do is to make a determined effort to
provide dignified social treatment and sufficient opportunities for satisfactory
education, employment, and quality of life for everyone and to base compensation
for work on uniformly applied standards of performance rather than group membership,
except where physically and mentally handicapped persons are concerned. And I do
not know of any scientific evidence that Negroes are a physically or mentally
handicapped race.
********************************************
Mr. McNamara. Mr. Lerner, when Mr. Younger was testifying yesterday
and outlining the steps he would take if he wanted to start a riot, he said that he
would not go to a city where no progress had been made but, on the contrary, he would
select one where there had been definite improvement of the lot of the Negro. He did
mention the fact that this might sound surprising to many people.
I have here a quotation from a study of the Los Angeles Watts riot made by some
professors of the University of California Department of Sociology and based on what
they found it would seem that they would agree with Mr. Younger. This is a quotation
from their report:
Our data contradict the common notion that those persons who are the most deprived
will sense the greatest frustrations and express the highest levels of discontent.
Instead, they support the other common contention that those most aggrieved are those
who have begun to overcome traditional barriers but who are impatient with the
yet-existing constraints placed upon them. This point of view is well expressed by Pettee:
(They quote George S. Pettee, The Process of Revolution.)
"The consciousness of repression leads to discontent only when it is felt
unnecessary. This is the reason why a rising class, which is actually becoming
constantly better off objectively, generally rebels most readily, and why the most
severe repression has so often failed to cause a revolution."
Would you care to comment on that finding as it is related to the view of Mr. Younger?
Mr. Lerner. That point of view has been expressed very widely
by social scientists in recent months as one explanation for the fact that, even
though there has been objective improvement in the lot of the Negro, there has been
a tremendous amount of overt, violent aggression.
I think that there is a great deal of soundness to it. It is consistent, by the way,
with a classic study in sociology which was done in a different field but which
expresses a similar principle, a study which was published under the title of
"The American Soldier."
This was large-scale studies of soldiers' attitudes on a wide variety of subjects.
It was observed regularly that the adjustment to military life, feelings about
military service, attitudes toward promotion, and other characteristics seemed to
depend to a significant extent on the comparisons which soldiers made with others.
Their standards, expectations, and aspirations seemed to arise from these comparisons.
For example, Air Corps personnel, whose opportunities for promotion were substantially
greater than those of men in the ground forces, nevertheless were more critical of
promotion policy than the latter. Men in the Air Corps, when comparing themselves
with others, apparently learned to be more highly sensitive to promotions and more
expectant of them than ground forces personnel.
(Similarly, it may be reasoned, in recent years Negroes have begun to expect more,
have been more likely to compare themselves with whites, and therefore have
experienced greater impatience and resentment than before.)
An idea that has been expressed several times during this session, the idea that was
referred to as relative or comparative deprivation and which was brought up during
the discussion with Mr. Ichord, was developed and used by analysts in that study to
explain many of the findings.
However, I think one other point ought to be made about this. To those concerned
with constructive remedies, simply referring to comparative deprivation does not
explain sufficiently the rise in Negro and other urban violence. And this is not
just a question of the impatience of those who have recently begun to taste a
change for the better. Nor is it simply discontent over what may be felt to be
unnecessary repression.
I think other important elements also are involved. I am not completely clear on
what those are, but I think the situation should be looked at very carefully. For
example, I believe it would be highly dangerous to ignore the needs of youth in
slums – of all races. In terms of job opportunities their lot is worsening,
not improving. It would be at least equally dangerous to ignore the divisive
influences of the very small groups of professional agitators and revolutionaries,
a number of whom obscure and aggravate the problems with intensification of race
hatred. And it would be disastrous to overlook the potential insurgency implications
and the coordination with groups in other countries.
We cannot simply dismiss such matters and say that Negroes have more freedom than
before, that they have had a taste of the good life, and that they want more. Some
of this may be true. But we must look at the situation more carefully than this,
both as scientists and as lawmakers.
TESTIMONY OF HON. SAM YORTY (EXCERPTS)
Mr. McNamara. It is my understanding, Mayor, that you had planned
to introduce as an exhibit a publication entitled Day of Protest, Night of
Violence, published by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union of Southern
California report, July 1967), in reference to this general matter we have been
discussing in reference to Los Angeles.
Mayor Yorty. Yes. This is a publication put out after the President
appeared in Los Angeles and where I feel you had what I would call a manipulated mob
that turned into – whether I would want to term that a riot or not, I am not
sure, but it was very close to it.
Mr. McNamara. That was on June 23d of this year?
Mayor Yorty. When the President appeared in the city of Los Angeles.
Of course, some elements of the manipulated riot were certainly present. The police
permit for the so-called parade was issued to a person who has been identified as a
Communist.
The police commission actually did not want to issue the permit because it felt that
we were opening the door to the very sort of thing that happened. The city attorney
ruled that we had to issue the permit; we had no choice.
Mr. McNamara. This permit, Mr. Mayor, was issued for a parade in
front of the hotel, is that right, where the President was speaking?
Mayor Yorty. It was to start in a park. They had authority to come
up to the hotel. I have forgotten whether they were under that permit, permitted to
come in front of the hotel. I believe they were; yes.
Mr. McNamara. The purpose of this parade and demonstration was to
protest the war in Vietnam; is that correct?
Mayor Yorty. That was the stated purpose; yes. But I would say that
again you have to look in the background. The war in Vietnam just happens to be the
current issue that the Communists use to try to cause citizens to confront policemen
and to defy them.
I would say in the real background is the Communist Party's movements to attempt to
break down law and order. Of course, as far as the war in Vietnam goes, that is the
current issue that I think has been the most successful of any that they have been
able to use in the past. They have created a highly emotional situation. They are
far more effective now than they were, say, in 1940. In 1940, the slogans were
about the same. The peace delegations were the same and the same motivation.
But in 1940, of course, they were accusing the allies of conducting an imperialist war,
Britain and France on May Day 1940, Flag Day, when Paris surrendered. But in those
days, of course, Russia was an ally of Hitler. So, the allies were the imperialists,
and Roosevelt was called all kinds of names.
Strangely enough, in California, in that year, a peace delegation was also formed,
as is being formed now, and Roosevelt was denounced in about the same way that
President Johnson is now being denounced by the peace delegation formed.
I notice in my report written in 1940 I said:
The Communists are today finding themselves exposed by their necessary fidelity to the
rapidly changing whims of Comrade Stalin. Czar of all the Communists. In California,
upon finding themselves in this position, and thus unable to continue to work as
Democrats, they were recently forced to arrange for the filing of an independent slate
of Democratic Convention delegates, nominally pledged to Lieutenant Governor Ellis E.
Patterson – a slate which used as its slogan one borrowed directly and totally
from an official Communist May Day pamphlet which said in part:
"We, the working people, must promote the building of a new mass party of the
people – a broad peace party that will fight for us – only through such
an anti-imperialist people's front and party – can we best advance our fight
for JOBS, SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND PEACE."
That was in 1940.
I think in 1940 their propaganda and their peace slate would have been more successful
except for the fact that we were not actually fighting. So, today, because we are
fighting in Vietnam, they are more effective.
I was very much surprised the other day to read an account of a statement in the
Strike for Peace, in which this woman said that the demonstrations and the
dissent here in the United States area a second front. Certainly, that is true,
but I am surprised that she would say it.
Mr. McNamara. I might point out, Mayor that the Vietnam Courier,
which is published in Hanoi, has made the same statement, that there are two fronts
against the United States today, one in Vietnam and the other one here in our cities,
and it was referring specifically to the riots.
But going back to this demonstration in Los Angeles on June 23d of this year, is it
your recollection that the person who applied for the permit for that parade was
Don Healey?
Mayor Yorty. That is correct. He is the former husband of one
of the leaders of the Communist Party in California, Dorothy Healey, an openly
admitted Communist over the years.
Don Healey, back in the days of the united fronts, when they infiltrated the Democratic
Party in California, in 1936 and 1940, was the head of Labor's Nonpartisan League.
It was quite a bit later before he was identified as a Communist.
Mr. McNamara. In reference to this publication, would you care to
describe for the committee, Mr. Mayor, its general content?
Mayor Yorty. It is a highly inflammatory account of what happened
on June 23d, attempting, of course, to put the whole blame on the police for the
violence that ensued. I do have this copy with me, Mr. McNamara, if the committee
would like to look at it.
Mr. McNamara. We would like to have it.
(Document marked "Yorty Exhibit No.4" and retained in committee files.)
Mr. McNamara. Can you tell me this, Mayor? This demonstration
was primarily and allegedly a demonstration against the war in Vietnam.
Does this book which you have just turned over to the committee emphasize or
accentuate the racial issue?
Mayor Yorty. I would say, on the whole, it is not so much the racial
issue in that publication. It is an attempt to involve a broader spectrum of the public
against the police.
The police also told me that they felt that as they tried to get the crowd back, to move
them back so they could not carry out the threat of rushing into the hotel where the
President was, and so forth, that they felt that the hard-core manipulators of the
mob probably were at the back holding the mob in toward the police so that the
dupes were more in the front and therefore could say the police used force on them
and they could not get out.
They didn't know that the manipulators were blocking them in so they could not get
out and forcing them against the police officers.
Mr. McNamara. Am I correct in my recollection, Mayor, that what
happened on this occasion was that a permit had been granted for this group –
I believe it was some 10,000 people all told that turned out – to parade past
the hotel where the President was speaking and that when they reached the hotel,
instead of continuing on the march, some elements in the front stopped short, creating
a ganging-up of all these demonstrators in front of the hotel, and then, because
this was in violation of the permit, the police were directed to disperse the crowed?
It was then, as you say, that the police have indicated to you that the hard-core
agitators got behind the crowd so that they could not be dispersed by the police.
This, of course, led to clashes.
Mayor Yorty. Of course, I feel myself from the very inception of
the planning of this demonstration that the Communists involved in it and the
hard-core subversives were hoping to manipulate the mob so as to cause violence.
Of course, I don't have to tell the members of this committee this is their constant
purpose. It is part of what they call the struggle movement.
The best description of struggle movements I have seen in a long time is in the
book called Viet Cong, written by a man named Pike (Douglas Pike, Viet Cong:
The Organization and Techniques of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 1966) who worked for our Embassy, I think, in Saigon, who made
a great study of the Viet Cong. He points out in the early days of the Communist
struggle movement they would try to get the people even to protest like the location
of a school or the location of a post office or something like that because, to the
Communists, any attempt to organize the people and to take part in any kind of cause
that results in a struggle against authority is useful for their purposes.
I think this is one thing that our people don't understand, when you say that the
Communists are involved in something, say, like the erection of a public building
in a city and it may be where they can make a cry that you are destroying a park or
something like that. To the general public it sounds a bit absurd to say there is
a subversive influence in this, but they don't understand the Communist theory of
the struggle. It is any kind of dispute that the Communists can get in and infiltrate
and make contacts and cause confrontations with the Government where people can be
called corrupt. Anything that discredits authority, they will do.
We have a constant series of struggles in this country, all the time conducted, of
course, in most cases by legitimate and sincere people who will never understand
that they have become part of the struggle.
Mr. McNamara. There was a direct confrontation, am I right, on
June 23 in Los Angeles on the occasion of this demonstration we have just referred to?
Mayor Yorty. Yes; to protect the President and enforce the law,
the police had to resort to some physical force.
Mr. McNamara. Is it not a fact, Mayor, that the demonstration on
that day was sponsored and organized by the Peace Action Council?
Mayor Yorty. That is correct.
Mr. McNamara. Mr. Chairman, I would like to state for the record
that the chairman of the Peace Action Council is Irving Sarnoff, who was a witness
before this committee on September 5, 1958, and who invoked the fifth amendment in
response to various questions concerning Communist Party membership and activity.
The committee in its report on the Southern California District of the Communist Party
identified Sarnoff as a member of the district council, Communist Party, Southern
California District. It also indicated that he had been active in earlier years in
various Communist youth organizations, American Youth for Democracy, the Labor Youth
League, and so forth. He attended conventions, as a delegate, of the Southern
California District of the Communist Party.
Mayor Yorty. I notice, Mr. McNamara, that in my same report –
I gave you a copy of that 1940 report, didn't I?
Mr. McNamara. Yes.
Mayor Yorty. That there is one reference here to the Communists
trying to organize the Negro citizens. It is a quote that I made from a Communist
Party Manual on Organization. This is their own document. It says:
Who are the allies of the American working class? The Open Letter, adopted by
the Central Committee in July, 1933, very clearly answers this question.
Their open letter says:
The main task of the Party in its work among agrarian toilers is, above all, the
organization of the agricultural wage workers, organizing them into the trade unions
and the Party, organizing and leading strikes of the agricultural workers for better
wages and working conditions. Such strikes, in many places, have already played an
important part in the development of the farmers' movement...
The other important ally of the American proletariat is the mass of 13,000,000
Negro people...
The Party can stand at the head of the national revolutionary struggle of the Negro
masses against American imperialism only if it energetically carries through the
following tasks:
"The Party must mobilize the masses for the struggle for equal rights of the
Negroes and for the right of self-determination for the Negroes in the Black Belt...
I think it is a good example of where the Communists try to take advantage of a
movement in their country, and they call it a struggle, infiltrate and then turn
it into a confrontation between the Government and the people in a manner where
they can manipulate it and help the Communist Party.
I think it is rather apparent that over the long years the Negro people did not
prove very susceptible to Communist propaganda and agitation and showed a high
degree of resistance, which certainly most still do. That is obvious from the fine
performance of the Negro soldiers in Vietnam; it is really excellent.
But I do think that in the civil rights movement today there is a growing success
on the part of the Communist apparatus to manipulate some of the organizations. I
think the places visited by some of the so-called leaders of Negro organizations
recently would indicate more success than they have achieved in the past, the
Communists have achieved, in influencing some segments of the Negro people.
Now, Wallace Terry, who is a writer for Time magazine, and a Negro, recently
referred to some of these people, in a statement he made in Los Angeles, as self-appointed
leaders without constituencies, and was very critical of them.
Mr. McNamara. Do you have any comment to make, Mayor, on the manner
in which some of these self-appointed leaders have been built up?
Mayor Yorty. Yes.
It is the feeling of Negro leaders – real Negro leaders like Wallace Terry
– that these highly inflammable agitators have been given more attention than their
following warrants. This has a tendency to build them up.
********************************************
Mr. Watson. May I ask one further question along the same lines that
we were interrogating on a moment ago?
While some of these causative factors have been in existence for many years, I will agree
with you that we have some new ones, such as the migration of these minority groups into
the urban areas. But do you not agree, sir, that there is more effort on the local,
State, and national level today to eliminate some of the economic and sociological causative
factors than there has ever been in the past 100 years of this country?
Mayor Yorty. That statement is not refutable; there is no question
about that.
Mr. Watson. So we would have to say that the rioting or we would
have to conclude, I think reasonably, that the rioting and the other conditions that
we have had during recent years would more nearly be the result of the Communist
agitation in these particular areas, rather than just blaming it on the sociological
and other factors which have been in existence for many years.
Mayor Yorty. Well, I think that the Communist factor is more
effective than it has been before and partly because of the movement of people into
the urban centers and the conditions with which they are confronted there. There
is no question about it that when you have people who are not really part of the
American economy, they have no training for a job that is available to them and
they are simply put on relief, that they are certainly more subject to subversion
than a person who has training and has a job. Now, the kinds of jobs that untrained
people can do in the Los Angeles area are disappearing.
Mr. Watson. They are all over the country, are they not?
Mayor Yorty. So you have an aggravation of the problem. You have
tremendous want ads looking for employees.
Mr. Watson. There is no genuine interest on the part of the Communist
agitator or manipulator of this unfortunate circumstance to improve the lot of these
people, but rather to cause disunity and unrest and a general breakdown in law and order.
Mayor Yorty. The purpose of the subversive is always to exploit any
situation that he can find. That is not only true in our cities; that is true in the
Middle East; that is true every place.
The public has no idea of the success of the international Communist Party in the
world today. There is not a conflict, even in Nigeria, where they have moved in
with a group at Lagos to help them against Biaffra, at the same time they tell the
Biaffrans that we have refused help to them, that they have the situation confused,
both sides hate us: Biaffra because we don't help them and Lagos because they are
getting help by the Russian Communists. They move in every place in this world that
they can create more confusion, the more opportunity for their kind of propaganda
to make Communist incursions.
The Chairman. Thank you again, Mayor Yorty.
Mayor Yorty. I was pleased to be here.
SUBVERSIVE INFLUENCES IN RIOTS, LOOTING, AND BURNING
PART 1
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1967
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN
ACTIVITIES, WASHINGTON, D.C.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities met, pursuant to call, at
10:00 a.m., in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Hon. Edwin E.
Willis (chairman) presiding.
(Subcommittee members: Representatives Edwin E. Willis, of Louisiana, chairman; William
M. Tuck, of Virginia; Richard H. Ichord , of Missouri; John M Ashbrook, of Ohio; and
Albert W. Watson, of South Carolina; also John C. Culver, of Iowa, in absence of Mr. Willis.)
Subcommittee members present: Representatives Willis, Tuck, Ichord, Ashbrook, and Watson.
Staff member present: Francis J. McNamara, director; Chester D. Smith, general counsel;
and Herbert Romerstein, investigator.
The Chairman. The committee will come to order.
...
The Chairman. Mr. Mehaffey, please raise your right hand.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you give this committee will be truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. Mehaffey. I do.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, before he starts his testimony I have a
few documents I would like to introduce.
The Chairman. All right.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, in preparation for these hearings the staff
has prepared a compilation of statements by foreign Communist powers and organizations
on the recent riots in this country. Inasmuch as there are groups in this country which
have been involved in the riots and which take orders from these powers, or openly
adulate them and hold them up as models, it is believed these statements are relevant
to this inquiry.
Is permission granted to make these statements a part of the hearing record as
Committee Exhibit No. 1?
The Chairman. Without objection they will be included.
(Document marked "Committee Exhibit No. 1." See pp. 863-878.)
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, the staff has also compiled statements made
by the FBI and its Director, Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, during the past 6 years on the
subject of Communist activity in the area of racial agitation. Because the FBI has
a network of informants within Communist and other subversive organizations and is in
a better position to know what these organizations are doing than any other agency of
Government, and because these statements are relevant to this inquiry, permission is
requested to make this compilation a part of the record.
The Chairman. That compilation will be mad a part of the record.
(Document marked "Committee Exhibit No. 2." See pp. 878-883.)
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, in connection with Mr. Mehaffey's testimony,
investigation and research which have been carried out by staff in connection with this
inquiry have revealed that certain organizations as such have been directly involved
in riots and racial incidents involving violence; that individual leaders and members
of other organizations have played a role in certain of the riots; and, finally, that
certain organizations and/or their leaders have been engaged in the dissemination of
inflammatory racial propaganda and agitation which, expert testimony has indicated,
may well contribute to the outbreak of riots.
Because some of these organizations are relatively new and others are small and
little known, the subcommittee has agreed that staff documents containing basic data
about these organizations and also statements which they or their recognized leaders
have made concerning riots, the use of violence, and related issues should be made a
part of the record.
The purpose is to make the record clear. When facts are presented about these
organizations and individuals in these hearings, the general nature of the groups
will be known and understood. It is emphasized that these documents are not intended
to convey any more than they actually say. Some of these organizations, as the
documents make clear, are openly Communist and subversive. Others have been cited
as Communist and/or subversive by official agencies. Still others have not. In
such cases, the inclusion of these documents in the record is not to be interpreted
as a committee finding or implication that the organization is Communist or subversive.
Permission is requested at this time to enter these documents, to be presented by
Mr. Mehaffey, into the record.
The Chairman. Permission is granted.
Mr. Smith. It was originally planned that all these exhibits would
be placed in the record before receipt of testimony concerning the Harlem riot of 1964
and racial agitation in New York City prior to and since the riot. A number of
factors prevented this being done. Therefore, it is requested that these exhibits
be placed in the record before the testimony of Detective Hart and immediately
following that of those witnesses who testified as authorities on the subject of rioting.
The Chairman. The request is granted.
TESTIMONY OF ROBERT H. MEHAFFEY
The Chairman. At this point, Mr. Mehaffey, just in a thumbnail
sketch form, can you read highlight excerpts from some of the staff documents referred
to by counsel which you are now submitting for the record?
(Documents marked "Committee Exhibit No. 3." See pp. 884-922.)
Mr. Mehaffey. Yes, sir.
Mr. Smith. Give the reporter your full name.
Mr. Mehaffey. Robert H. Mehaffey.
Mr. Smith. Where are you employed?
Mr. Mehaffey. I am employed with the House Committee on Un-American
Activities as a research consultant.
Mr. Smith. Will you proceed.
Mr. Mehaffey. Thank you.
(At this point, Mr. Mehaffey read excerpts from Committee Exhibit No. 3, the staff
papers on the Communist Party, U.S.A., the W.E.B. DuBois Clubs of America, and the
Progressive Labor Party. As he finished the excerpts from the document on the
Progressive Labor Party, the following exchange took place:)
The Chairman. Off the record, gentlemen.
There is a quorum call going on. I think I will try to make it.
The committee will stand in recess for 20 minutes.
(Brief recess)
The Chairman. The committee will be in recess until 10 o'clock
tomorrow morning.
(Whereupon, at 4:50 p.m., Tuesday, October 31, 1967, the committee was recessed, to
reconvene at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, November 1, 1967.)
(Committee Exhibits Nos. 1 through 3 follow:)
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 1
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST STATEMENTS ON RACIAL AGITATION AND RIOTS IN THE UNITED STATES
Foreign Communist parties and capitals, in statements and commentaries broadcast to all
parts of the world and published in international and national Communist journals, have
not only welcomed and supported the racial riots in this country, but have made it clear
that it is their desire that additional riots take place – a message that will not
be lost on their U.S. followers.
They described the "so-called riots" as justified "insurrections"
and "rebellions," as "revolutionary violence" which is a part of
the class struggle in this country and the worldwide struggle against U.S. imperialism.
They have placed full blame for the riots on the United States Government. They portray
the riots as "massacres" in which Negroes are "murdered" and
numerous "atrocities" are committed against them by the police and military
forces called in to restore order. The riot cities are "battlefields" in
the "limited war" of "genocide" being waged by the U.S. Government
against Negroes in this country.
The statements of Moscow, Peking, Hanoi, and Havana quoted in this exhibit, as well as
similar statements made by these and other Communist capitals not reproduced herein,
have a number of obvious purposes:
1. To discredit the United States everywhere by creating the impression that the Negroes
in this country are so brutally treated and oppressed that, unable to tolerate conditions
any longer, they have risen in rebellion against the Government;
2. To make it clear to Communists in all parts of the world that, in whatever way possible,
they are to publicize, support, and promote individuals and organizations in the U.S.
engaging in racial agitation and the instigation of rioting;
3. To convey the message to U.S. Communists that they themselves should do all they can
to promote the outbreak of riots which, for obvious reasons, are believed to assist in
the accomplishment of Communist objectives both here and abroad;
4. To convince civil rights organizations and activists, and Negroes in general, that
Negroes in this country cannot achieve full equality unless the United States ends the
war in Vietnam, i.e., pulls out of Vietnam and permits the Communists to take over
that country;
5. To the degree that these statements reach Negroes in the United States, they are
clearly designed to arouse hatred, resentment, and enmity against the Government and
create a willingness to riot in the future against an allegedly coldblooded, oppressive
regime that is making a calculated effort to wipe out the Negroes in the United States.
THE SOVIET UNION
MOSCOW RADIO, ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMMENTARY TO SOUTH ASIA ON THE WATTS RIOT, AUGUST 16, 1965:
"The residents of the Negro ghetto [Watts] staged a peaceful campaign against
segregation a few days ago. The racists tried terror to impede them... This small
civil war... has witnessed the local and federal administrations taking the side of
the racists. Tens of thousands of police and national guardsmen, reinforced by regular
troops are taking action against the Negroes.
...
"It is remarkable that the massacre in Los Angeles took place exactly two weeks
after Congress passed a bill on Negro voting... The bullets, bayonets, and teargas
used... is eloquent disproval of the fairy tale about race harmony for which the
present American administration is allegedly fighting... These events have proved
that the struggle for equality cannot be won by demonstrations and signing of psalms
alone."
MOSCOW RADIO ON WATTS RIOT, AUGUST 16, 1965:
"The Los Angeles events have further demolished the fairytale of freedom and
democracy in the United States. For the Negro population... these principles meant
thousands of arrests, hundreds of wounded, and dozens of murdered people... The
population, cut off from the rest of the world, is facing hunger. Police and National
Guardsmen are combing the ruined streets. Acting on the hysterical command of the
City Police Chief Parker, they go on arresting, arresting, arresting... The
bloodstained events in Los Angeles began six days ago with a peaceful demonstration
against racial discrimination. No one stopped the racists when they attacked the
demonstrators. But the full force of the strongest military power of the capitalist
world was brought to bear on the Negroes of Los Angeles when in their despair they
took up arms...
"The word 'ghetto' often occurs in reports from Los Angeles, sometimes in
conjunction with the term 'Warsaw.' Many people are reminded of the events linked
to rising of the population of the Jewish ghetto in the Polish capital occupied by
the Nazis. The Nazis quelled this rising with bestial and methodical cruelty.
...
"the soldier who disperses a Negro demonstration is being morally prepared
for killing people in Vietnam or the Dominican Republic... reports from Los Angeles
stress that the behavior of U.S. soldiers in the city's Negro quarters is reminiscent
of their action in Santo Domingo... It is no accident that Vietnam, Santo Domingo,
and the American city of Los Angeles are joined in one line, the line of the fight
against the common foe, American imperialism."
TASS INTERNATIONAL SERVICE, AUGUST 17, 1965:
"News coming from Los Angeles shows that the actions of the Negro population of
that city have been suppressed by the most ruthless means.
...
"politicians accentuate individual cases of 'violence' by the Negro population...
"Despite the demagogic statements of U.S. officials... the Negroes still remain in
the vise of inequality in all spheres of life... What is happening in fact is that
Negroes from rural areas, particularly from the souther states... pour into the big
cities in search of a better life... But in the city ghettoes they find the
same hopelessness...
...
"The bloody events in Los Angeles, just as last year's events in Harlem, have
a common basis... the absence of radical action by the government to restore the
elementary rights of the Negro population; that is, such measures which are not
in the interests of the monopolies.
"The demands for change in the status of the Negro population in America keep
rising, and where this movement encounters most reactionary forms of official
resistance... it takes violent forms...
MOSCOW RADIO BROADCAST TO U.S. TROOPS IN VIETNAM, MAY 17, 1967:
"The American FBI and the CIA sent a secret letter to the commander of the
American occupation forces in South Vietnam which dealt with the alleged unreliability
of Negro soldiers and proposed measures to strengthen controls over them... In the
United States itself, a new movement against racial discrimination has started...
Negro soldiers serving in the U.S. Army will not be indifferent to this... American
Negro soldiers are fully aware of all this and they themselves are subjected to racial
discrimination...
"...General William Westmoreland... issued an order for Negro soldiers to be
thrown into the most dangerous areas and to use them for cover for the white soldiers.
Because of his orders, the Negroes are sent to parachute troop detachments, which
suffer the greatest losses in the Vietnam jungle...
"Perhaps there are some Negro soldiers listening to this program. If so, do
they ask themselves in whose interests they have to rot in the Vietnam jungles...?
For the interests of those who lynch their fathers and brothers in America... The
Negro soldiers must not betray their ideals and their hopes for freedom and equal
rights. And it is exactly this that the Vietnamese patriots are fighting for. They
are fighting the same Yankee racists against whom today the black ghettos of America
are rising in their just struggle."
MOSCOW RADIO BROADCAST TO SOUTH ASIA, JULY 25, 1967:
"America has never seen the likes of it before and America is... accustomed
to racial disturbances. Real battles are raging in the streets of American cities...
"The United States is actually on the brink of civil war... Earlier it
was the South that was the citadel of racism. Now Negroes are beaten up and killed
in the North too... the full power of the police and the army, tanks and armored
cars, is thrown against the unarmed Negroes.
"American racism is celebrating a gory victory. It is suppressing, killing,
beating up, arresting, and imprisoning...
...
"The Negro movement is growing in scope and vigor... Experience has shown them
that only by fighting can they accomplish anything. In Newark... there was a national
conference by representatives of the Negro movement... The conference decided to set
up a single center to coordinate and unite the movement for Negro rights... Rap
Brown, one of the delegates, said: There are three forms of genocide in the United
States today. There is the genocide toward the Negro children in Mississippi...
Then there is the police genocide... Finally, there is the war in Vietnam...
American imperialist circles are now waging two race wars – one against the
Negroes at home, the other against Asians in Vietnam..."
MOSCOW DOMESTIC RADIO COMMENTARY ON NEWARK RIOT, JULY 25, 1967:
"The long, hot summer of Negro demonstrations... is now at its height... there
was an explosion in Newark. For six days the unarmed Negro population of the city,
rising in despair to the din of police shooting... tried to force the federal authorities
in Washington to listen to them. The response of the authorities was that dozens
of Negroes were killed, hundreds wounded, and thousands arrested... the wave of despair
and anger spread throughout the country... The rising in the Negro ghetto of Newark
spread to New Brunswick, Plainfield, Minneapolis, Birmingham, and finally reached the
country's largest cities, New York and Detroit.
AN ARTICLE IN NEW TIMES (MOSCOW) OF AUGUST 16, 1967, TITLED "REAPING THE
WHIRLWIND," AND WRITTEN BY HARRY FREEMAN, A U.S. CITIZEN AND TASS CORRESPONDENT
IN THE U.S., STATED:
"Last year there were insurrections in Negro ghettos of thirty-eight cities across
the United States...
...
"By cutting funds for the ghettos, they made slum insurrections inevitable, and
they were prepared to use force at home just as they were using it abroad...
...
"As the world knows, there were major ghetto insurrections in Detroit, Michigan,
and in Newark, New Jersey... The guardians of American 'law and order' were ruthless
in suppressing the ghetto insurrections in these two cities.
...
"the entire struggle of the embittered black slum dwellers across the land has
assumed a new character... It bears the heat of dynamite. ...the rules of the
United States... find themselves engaging in a thus far 'limited war' to suppress
black people at home... The battlefields and potential battlefields at home may be
less numerous than in Vietnam, but surely sufficient to cause concern to Washington
strategists as they try to calculate in what cities and in what numbers army troops
may be required to supplement reservists and police.
"No one can gauge precisely the power of the social dynamite stored in
the country's ghettos: no one can surely predict how far the 'limited war' on
the home front will escalate. What is clear is that the country is in the midst
of an internal crisis of major proportions.
...
"young and new leaders in the struggle, such as Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap
Brown of the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee, clearly welcome the
insurrections..."
COMMUNIST CHINA
On August 12, 1963, there was held in Peking, China, "The Rally of People From
All Walks of Life in peking Opposing U.S. Imperialism and Supporting the American
Negroes' Struggle Against Racial Discrimination."
Four days earlier, on August 8, while receiving a group of visitors from Africa,
Mao Tse-tung, at the request of Robert Williams (who was then visiting Peking with
his wife), made a statement on the theme of the above-mentioned rally.
EXCERPTS FROM MAO TSE-TUNG'S STATEMENT WHICH WAS READ AT THE RALLY FOLLOW:
"An American Negro leader now taking refuge in Cuba, Mr. Robert Williams,
...has twice this year asked me for a statement in support of the American Negroes'
struggle against racial discrimination. On behalf of the Chinese people, I wish
to take this opportunity to express our resolute support for the American Negroes
in their struggle against racial discrimination and for freedom and equal rights.
...
"The American Negroes are awakening and their resistance is growing stronger
and stronger...
...
"A gigantic and vigorous nationwide struggle is going on in nearly every city
and state, and the struggle is mounting. ...the struggle of the American Negroes
is a manifestation of sharpening class struggle and sharpening national struggle
within the United States...
"I call on the workers, peasants, revolutionary intellectuals, enlightened
elements of the bourgeoisie and other enlightened persons of all colours in the
world, whether white, black, yellow or brown, to unite... and support the American
Negroes in their struggle against racial discrimination. In the final analysis,
national struggle is a matter of class struggle. ...I am firmly convinced that, with
the support of more than 90 per cent of the people of the world, the American Negroes
will be victorious in their just struggle..."
EXCERPTS FROM OTHER SPEECHES AT THE AUGUST 12, 1963, RALLY:
Liu Ning-I, representative of the People's Organizations of China and
president of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions:
"The current struggle of the American Negroes which started in Birmingham is a
great revolutionary struggle... for the liberation of the Negroes. ...it shows that
the American Negroes have discovered a correct path in their struggle, that is, the
path of unity and resolute struggle against the reactionary ruling class... Just
as Robert Williams, a leader of the American Negroes in exile in Cuba, has said,
"The stranglehold of oppression cannot be loosened by a plea to the oppressors'
conscience. Social change in something as fundamental as racist oppression involves
violence. You cannot have progress here without violence and upheaval." Casting
away their illusions about the reactionary ruling class, the broad masses of Negroes
have moved from the courts to the streets and carried on resolute struggles. Here
lies the real hope of the liberation of the American Negroes. Robert Williams
said, "The future belongs to today's oppressed and I shall be witness to that
future in the liberation of the Afro-American...
...
"The struggle of the American Negroes against racial oppression and for freedom
and equal rights is a component part of the revolutionary struggle of the oppressed
peoples and nations the world over. This revolutionary struggle springing up in
the heartland of U.S. imperialism is of very great significance to the common
struggle of the people of the world against imperialism headed by U.S. imperialism,
and gives a powerful support to the fighting peoples of different countries...
...
"In our common struggle we shall for ever give each other encouragement
and support... By relying on their firm unity and resolute struggle... and on
the sympathy and support of the world's people, our American Negro brothers will
certainly win great victory in their just struggle...
"People of the whole world, unite! Stop the U.S. imperialists' fascist crime
of persecuting and suppressing the American Negroes!
"Long live the victory of the American Negroes' struggle against racial oppression!"
********************************************
On August 8, 1964, a rally was held in Peking to celebrate the first anniversary of
Mao Tse-tung's statement in support of the American Negroes.
EXCERPTS FROM SPEECHES MADE AT THIS RALLY FOLLOW:
Frank Coe:
"Comrade chairman, comrades, and friends: One year ago today Comrade Mao Tse-tung
issued his historic statement calling upon the people of the world to unite and...
support the American Negroes in their struggle... The statement was... widely
circulated among the American Negroes, despite the efforts of the U.S. capitalist
press to suppress it. ...By now almost every national liberation struggle in the
world has declared that the struggle of the Afro-Americans is part of its own cause.
So have all the Marxist-Leninist parties and groups in the world. ...Negro leaders
are reaching out to form links with the national liberation struggles throughout
the world...
...
"Afro-Americans are beginning to talk more and more about armed self-defense,
...about guerrilla warfare, and civil war. Why not armed self-defense?...
"The U.S. Marxist-Leninists advocate armed self-defense; black nationalist
organizations advocate it and are gaining ground. Some of the leaders liken the
stand of nonviolence to that of Khrushchev, and the stand of the more militant leaders
to that of Mao Tse-tung. Negro intellectuals are saying that the tactics of nonviolence
are not sufficient... These local leaders are tending to the view that violence must
be met with violence (applause).
...
"These 20 million people, battering down the walls of U.S. imperialism from within,
are a great support for every people's struggle in the world...
"Speaking for the people of the United States of America, whether white,
black, red, brown, or yellow, I wish to say to this rally in Peking: We the
American people oppose and condemn the aggression of the U.S. Government against
the DRV. ...support the North Vietnamese people... We want the Vietnamese people
to win and we are sure they will...
"Soon there will be no (Negro people?) willing to serve as cannonfodder...
"We, the American people of all colors, are grateful for the support the Chinese
people have given to the struggle of our Afro-American people...
"We thank the people of Peking for organizing this splendid rally of support
and for your confidence in our victory (applause). Long live the heroic American
Negro people! Victory for their struggle (applause)!
"Finally, on behalf of all the American people, I wish to thank Chairman Mao
Tse-tung for the statement he issued one year ago declaring the support of the Chinese
people for the struggle of the American Negro people and calling on all of the people
of the world to do likewise..."
********************************************
PEKING RADIO COMMENT ON WATTS RIOT, AUGUST 15, 1965:
"Leaflets distributed by the demonstrating Negroes... linked up their struggle...
with the battle fought by the other oppressed peoples of the world against U.S. aggression.
One leaflet reads in part: 'After years of frame-ups, brutalities, and intimidations, the
black people are throwing off control of the same rulers who are making war on people
throughout the world – in Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, and the Congo.'"
PEKING RADIO COMMENT (ENGLISH LANGUAGE) ON WATTS RIOT, AUGUST 16, 1965:
"The struggle of the Negro people in Los Angeles and other places in the United
States is a veritable revolutionary movement, and, like the revolutionary movement
of other peoples, the struggle of the American Negroes will be crowned with victory,
says the PEOPLE'S DAILY commentator today.
...
"The Chinese people firmly support the just struggle of their American Negro
brothers and strongly protest against the atrocities of the U.S. ruling circles
against them. ...On the surface the Negro question is a national question. But as
Chairman Mao Tse-tung said: 'In the final analysis, a national struggle is a
question of class struggle.' ...Class contradictions between the Negroes and the
monopolist groups are irreconciliable [sic]...
...
"One new characteristic of the Los Angeles struggle is that the Negro masses
link their struggle against the domestic reactionary policies of the Johnson
Administration with their struggle against its policy of aggression abroad...
...
"The American Negroes know full well that they are not alone in their struggle.
The anti-U.S. forces throughout the world are on their side and fight shoulder to
shoulder with them..."
PEOPLE'S DAILY, EDITORIAL ON THE WATTS RIOT, AUGUST 19, 1965:
"'more and more American Negroes are coming to realize... that they must meet
counterrevolutionary violence with revolutionary violence'...
"The editorial points out that the American Negroes' struggle against racial
discrimination is an inseparable part of the worldwide revolutionary struggle of
the oppressed nations and people...
"The editorial says that 'the 20 million American Negroes... have become an
important revolutionary force in the United States and cannot be over looked...'
...
"It notes that the American Negroes have, since the beginning of this year,
taken an active part in the widespread struggle in the United States against the
U.S. Government aggression in Vietnam. 'This important development in the Negro
movement in the United States marks a great advance in the revolutionary level of
the American Negroes' struggle for emancipation.'
"Two years ago Chairman Mao Tse-tung said in his statement in support of the
just struggle of the American Negroes: 'The fascist atrocities committed by the
U.S. imperialists against the Negro people have laid bare the true nature of the
so-called democracy and freedom in the United States and revealed the inner link
between the reactionary policies pursued by the U.S. government at home and its
policies of aggression abroad.'
...
"'...The African people and the other peace- and justice-loving people of the
world must join the Negroes... in resolutely carrying through to the end the struggle
against the U.S. imperialist policies... The bond which links the American Negroes
with the revolutionary people in other countries in their common struggle will be
strengthened as the Negro movement grows in the United States.'"
********************************************
On August 8, 196, a rally was held in Peking to mark the third anniversary of Mao
Tse-tung's 1963 message in support of American Negroes. The rally was reportedly
attended by Premier Chou En-lai and Vice-Premier Chen Yi and 10,000 Chinese people.
A message to Rober Williams from Robert Epton, vice president of the Progressive
Labor Party, was read at the rally. Williams was one of the rally speakers, as was
another American, Sidney Rittenberg.
EXCERPTS AND SUMMARIES FROM RALLY SPEECHES AND STATEMENTS, AS PUBLISHED IN THE
PEKING REVIEW, AUGUST 12, 1966, FOLLOW:
William Epton's message:
"'The black people in the U.S.A. are in the midst of their struggle to achieve
their self-determination and liberation. We, at the same time, offer our resolute
support to the heroic Vietnamese people who are waging a militant armed struggle against
U.S. imperialism to win their self-determination. We salute the Chinese people for
giving leadership to the world revolutionary movement against U.S. imperialism, and
revisionism led by the Soviet Union. We join hands with you on this occasion with
the knowledge that the world revolutionary movement will be victorious over U.S.
imperialism and its revisionist collaborators.'"
********************************************
Kuo Mo-Jo speech:
"The Chinese people hail the heroic struggle of their American Negro brothers!
...
"The facts have proved that the exploited and oppressed American Negro people
are the most staunch and most reliable revolutionary force in the United States.
...
"Chairman Mao has said that the fascist atrocities of the U.S. imperialists
against the Negro people have exposed the true nature of the so-called American
democracy... Like all reactionary ruling classes in history, the reactionary U.S.
ruling clique has all along relied on violence to maintain its rule. Therefore,
it is inevitable that the American Negro people should use violence to resist the
reactionary U.S. ruling clique...
...
"By striking hard at U.S. imperialism in the battlefield, the Vietnamese people
have rendered powerful support to the struggle of the American Negro people. Similarly,
by fighting against U.S. imperialist discrimination, the American Negro people have in
turn given important support to the Vietnamese people's struggle against U.S.
aggression... In the past three years, our American Negro brothers have firmly
opposed U.S. imperialism's expansion of its war of aggression against Vietnam by
refusing to enlist and burning draft cards... They have done a good thing, and
the right thing too! We are deeply convinced that... our American Negro brothers...
will surely rise in still more vigorous action and push their struggle against
tyranny to a new high in order to support the Vietnamese people in their struggle
against U.S. aggression... In the struggle... against U.S. imperialism, the Soviet
revisionist leading clique is playing the role of number one accomplice to U.S.
imperialism... It has never supported our American Negro brothers... it absurdly
describes the correct stand of supporting the national-liberation movement as
'substituting a racial point of view for the point of view of class struggle.'...
and consequently gives support to U.S. imperialism's reactionary internal policy.
Not only does it serve as an accomplice of U.S. imperialism in the latter's expansion
of the war of aggression, but it has at the same time placed itself in the shameful
position of helping U.S. imperialism attack the American people and the American Negroes.
...
"In the excellent revolutionary situation... it is our primary task at present
to form the broadest and most genuine international united front against U.S.
imperialism. This front includes the broad masses of the American Negroes and
the American people...
...
"The Chinese people are friendly to the American people. ...the mos |
