Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Transcript of Conference Call with Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Clarence Jones, and Walter Fauntroy." May 28, 1966.
Date Issued: May 28, 1966
Date Declassified: [1983]
Length: 4 pages
NOT Sanitized
FULL TEXT
Time Initial IC
OG Activity Recorded
Coretta K: Stan on the 30th of June Im doing this Concert at Flushing, N.Y. and I would
like to have you come.
10:34 PM OC White 2195- 1.
Stanley Levison Places a Person to Person Call to King at the Washington Holton Hotel.
King is in Cabana 335 he asks if he is the only one on. D: yes King: I wanted to put in a
call with you Andy Buyard and Harry I wanted to go over this program of Face the Nation which
Im going to be on tomorrow. King finds out that the operator was puting the call thru right
now Levison says he will hang up and wait for the call.
10:56 PM IC White 2195-
Jones Fontroy and Levison on the line with King King I got to be on Face the Nation
tomorrow and wanted to run thru it with you the most important question is SNCC the Black
Nationalism and the Black Panther Party second the Alabama elections and them the Washington
conference. We got this Powell speech at Howard and it is a very nationalistic thing and is
awful but that wont come up because he made the speech at 5PM and I guess the other thing
will be Chicago and Vietnaum. so I wanted to get some of your thinking in the area.
We should get a statement if the ask about SNCC and the Black Panther party and Black Nationalism.
Jones mentions the Times article made by Martin.
Levison says that Martin should always remember that the press always makes him a moderate
and that he should urge Non violence but militant attitude and urge the negro not to take abuse
and that the economic and Political are means and the end is a brotherhood is the end.
King: Yes the thing that should be brought out that we have been militant tho non violent.
One other thing that we have to show the public is that their Isolationism breed such
reaction as Sncc has.
Levison: Yes on the one had you have to make it clear that you are not part of a sepuratist
trend and the more you use the word seppuratist rather than Nationalist is better and that
you hope to achieve unity in the Negro movement. and that you don't want to be pitted against
others even if they are mistaken and you will undertake the task of handeling the differences.
King: Well they may not have heard Powell's speech but they will probably have read it and
ask me about the having conferences as a whole.
JONES: Well I read yesterday the attack on the recomendations of the conference and the fact
that Sncc isn't going to take part in the government processes to care for the american negro
and the act that such groups as SNCC are negative and will not even try will hurt the whole
group.
King: Well couldn't I say it that way and that they could be at the conference and make some
constructive beginnings. because the government will listen to that.
Levison: Martin maybe you could bring up an illustration of the late 40's and President Trumans
committee that came thru with many recomendations and they even pointed out that the Fed
Government was the biggest violator of segregation and such recommendations finally saw life
and now the Administration has committees which have unearthed important conditions and spot
lit them but in the absence of a militant movement that compels the government to act nothing
is usually done.
King: I think that is a very good way to say it.
Fontroy: Martin I think one question you will get is where is the money going to come from
the Billions of Dollars.
Levison: I think one answer would be where did the money come for a war the answer is that
it was necessary and so was the beautifying of the highways etc.
King: Yes and if the point can be made that if the negro employment was as high as the white
employment it would add money to the economy by 27 billion. Now about the Long hot summer
I always feel uncomfortable predicting riots and violence. How should we deal with this.
Jones: I think you should go no further than the President did when he said of Watts there
was a condition of unrest there and that unless something was done there would be unrest and
that programs should be gotten underway.
Levison: Couldn't you say that Social Science doesn't allow you to predict riots but that
where injustice is located it could be there. If you answered it in a guarded way and say
you can generalize when conditions are bad. One more point about the Washington Conference,
one of the values of these conferences is that the people do not become concerned unless
there is what I call Atrosoty times.
King: I don't believe the Alabama elections will come up. What about HUAC and the petition
of 100 and nine thousand persons from 48 states urging an investigation of the SCLC and
Communist influence and me. I will just handle that like I did before. Now anything else.
Levison Viet Naum.
Jones: The text of your remarks should be what you said at that resolution from SCLC you
should stick to that. The thought that the South Vietnamese Government retrubutions against
their own people and the Buddist right to engage in non violence demonstrations.
Levison: One additional point regarding Negros and the war and the burden of the war is
heavier on them than on others because of the Economic status of the negro and the fact that
more nros are at the front than other americans and they are making a bigger contribution
than anyone else and It's an unfair position for them. You can say that $% of negros is
double to the number in the army, unemployed etc.
King Yah that ' good now about the Draft.
Levison: Yah anything that involves deprevation the negro gets twice as much.
King: What about MacNemaras statement on the Peace Corps and the Poverty Corps and the Draft.
Jones: I think you should comment favorably on that that it would be better to do that than
going to war and killing someone. Can't you start with the basis program of non violence and
carry it to not killing another human being because it is violence.
King: Yes that we do not see violence and murder as the true method of resolving social problems.
Levison: Yes and about government service you could say you can agree if the government
provides equal opportunity and equal justice but if not then it is unequal to call on anyone
and that that the government is unfair to negros and underpriveledged whites in this draft thing.
Jones: Yes for example the students taking the draft exempt examanation students from North
East as opposed to other students. there is no recognition of the students that did not have
the same opportunities and there is unequal
Levison: But Clarence that is awful complicated.
Jones: Yes I know but I wanted Martin to know of it.
Levison: Martin the Middle class and the upper class have an advantage that the other do not have.
King I think that does it now we got to have a meeting on the letter. Could we have it in
Chicago We need Harry Wachtel there and Miss Mac to come up from Atlanta.
Levison: Well whatever you do you may need someone from the Executive group the Staff.
King: Yes we will need Andy and Jose What if we had it the following week.
Jones I can make it any time except thursday Evening the 9th.
King: I think it might be better, if we had it in Atlanta. What about Saturday the 11th.
let's think about that and decide later in the week.
Levison: O.K. I had a luncheon with Harry Wachtel and he talked about getting Randy part
time for A fund.
Jones: Stanley Is okey with Charley Silvermen and he is wants to take the Article to Life
to see if they will be interested and I have to get him a copy early Tuesday morning.
Because of his editorship with the Time Life. I don't think they wanted it (Time) because
it disagreed with their position I don't think they like to be dissagreed with. Harry and
I thought that A Fund would handle the large contributions and that foundations would be
for Dialogue, School of political Canditates and Sponsering of negros and getting them into
the business world. I think that Randy can be developed in this kind of smaller operation
and he may work out well if he isn't with all kinds of people and Sclc will be believed of
his salary and he can research for OEO.
King: I think it's worth keeping in mind.
Levison: Now about you endorsing a peace canditate in Westchester county in District 65 and
you coming to speak for him I took the position that your envolvement should be at a level
at your status in the Robert Kennedy's and the Fulbrights and that group. So I think you have
to stay away from that kind of peace activity it's not your roll.
General conversation and End
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