xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx BULLETIN STUDENTS FOR A SEPTEMBER 1964 VOLCNOI DEMOCRATIC S e c. G * i • - .• . , . r\ * nn s t e r c, .» ,«>, J SOCIETY PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT 119 FIFTH AVE., ROOM 301, NEW YORK CITY 10003 i n O. K By DOUG IRELAND In what may prove to be the key to building GOLDV/ATERISM a realigned and revitalized Democratic Party, the Mississippi Council of Federate AND HOW IT GREW- Organizations (COFO) is sponsoring a po­ By JIM WILLIAMS litical challenge to institutionalized racism. The challenge takes the form of The Goldwater phenomenon continues its the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, spread across the American body politic, an interracial group which, primarily causing increasing concern for American under the leadership of SNCC, is sending liberals, radicals and decent people gen­ an integrated delegation to the Democratic erally. In every community, new strength National Convention this year to challenge is being shown by the Goldwater forces. the seating of the lily-white official slate of delegates. Since the San Francisco convention the following events have taken place: This is but one part of a three-pronged , political attack that marks this year's • (1) Public sentiment is obviously swinging "Freedom Summer." The voter registration toward Goldwater at an unpredicted rate. Before the convention the polls (Lou. Har­ (continued on page i;) ris, et.al.) showed Goldwater with only 20$ of the public behind him whereas John­ son had the support of about 73$ of the Sumner BULLETIN Editor: STEVE SLANER, nation. In the very short space of three who is responsible for unsigned articles. weeks after the convention, a similar Signed articles do not necessarily reflect poll showed that Goldwater's support had the opinion of SDS as an organization. jumped to 39$'. Obviously, much of this was based on pure-and-simple party loyal­ — inside — ties and the Republican bureaucracy — but ERAP Director's Report ,., pp. 2- note that'at this point his support had ERAP Project Reports pp. 5- doubled. Goldwater has also made terrific Civil Rights News p. ] gains in the South winch are still hard to SPU Convention pp. 12- estimate simply because of the immensity Intellectuals in Retreat pp. 13- of his effect. The abdication of George Community Organizing pp. 15- Wallace from the race has boosted Nat'l Secretary's Report p. " Chapter Reports p. j (continued on page 20) AuH20 Jump pp. 20- By RENNIE DAVIS, ERAP Director than two months have been impressive and generally encouraging to those who now The first phase of the SDS program to or­ dedicate themselves to organizing a new, ganize ten communities around economic and powerful constituency among the American social issues is nearly over. There is poor. But in this short time we have less than a month before a sizeable por­ Joae __i appreciate much better what we tion of the nearly 150 ERAP fi_ld staff are up against, to see the enormous bar­ leave their project areas. As this crucial riers and to understand the heed for summer railroads to an end, all of us, still better anlysis, strategy and pro­ wherever we stand in relation to our com­ gram. munity action program, need to begin the hard task of evaluating the ERAP organizing Probably ell of the ERAP community work­ effort. ers have developed a deeper sense of the extreme slowness of building permanent It is important, I think, that the evalua­ community organization on a program of tion be centered around common questions fundamental change. Todd Gitlin talks and central issues and not become two (or of the enormous time consumed in Chicago more) debates unrelated to each other, developing neighborhood associations of carried on, on the one hand, by those who unemployed. Scores of unemployed are spent the summer-in.;community work and, talked with in the JOIN office adjacent on the other, by those who did not. The to a large Chicago unemployment compen­ evaluation of ERAP should engage the en­ sation center. An organizer can spend tire organization as much as possible at two or more hours with a single individ­ the same level. ual. Through hundreds of conversations, slowly, clusters of unemployed contacts Hardest of all to answer is the question: are made and identified on city maps. Did the projects succeed? was the enormous One person in a large unemployment area expenditure in human and material resour­ is approached about having a meeting: ces worth it? The difficulty lies in agree­ he agrees, but hasn't the time to contact ment as to what would constitute "success." neighbors. So the JOIN worker calls No project succeeded in giving life to every nearby unemployed by phone or sees our slogan, "an interracial movement of them in person. Thirty people are con­ the poor," and certainly none "organized tacted; eight turn out. One is a ra­ a community." cist, but his arguments get put down by the group. One (maybe) is willing to The projects did succeed, however, in de­ work and has some sense of what needs veloping scores of viable block organiza­ to be done. The others go round and tions around economic (particularly hous­ round on their personal troubles. The ing) issues. They did demonstrate that process is slow, particularly when there college students could organize in poor is no visible example of what unemployed Negro and white areas. In virtually every people can do to create pressure for job% area, solid and substantial contacts were made in the community. A base for contin­ On the other hand, one often gets a ; uing the initial program with the partici­ sense that the potential for a militant pation of local people was laid. Dozens community grouping exists in the tender, of small victories could be counted: lib­ beginnings of a neighborhood tenants' erating congested streets for community council, block organization or organi­ play areas; getting people who were drop­ zation of welfare mothers. In Cleveland ped from the welfare lists back on; for­ (near West Side) where a recently-formed cing unemployment compensation offices to neighborhood group donated food to a come through with overdue checks. mother who had lost her son in a summer drowning, poor white people are discov­ The accomplishments of_a period of less ering for the first time in their lives - 2 - 1 n! yJ r n jJU C the community they live in — that it can be to demand an end to income differen­ act collectively, that it shares common tials and to call for redistribution of problems, and that something should be power and new concepts of public control done about them. over the economy. Should our strategy be to "take power" in a local community In Hazard one gets the same sense: that by building our support in Negro and people are seeing new possibilities be­ white communities around a series of im­ cause they are meeting and talking. Among mediate, conscious issues (bad schools, in the hollor organizations that have devel­ adequate housing and recreational facil­ oped this summer, there is utter disgust ities, no housing, etc.)? Should our aim with the way school funds are administer­ be to establish small "islands" of power ed, particularly those for the school (a Congressional district, a city, a town' lunch program. It would appear that only with a base of radicals to serve as a a few steps need be taken before the Haz­ symbol or an example for others? Should ard community would mobilize to vote out our strategy be more modest — simply to three (among the five) school members up test organizing techniques, to gain ex­ for re-election in November. perience and knowledge before finalizing any long-term strategy at all? But those few steps can meet enormous re­ sistance from a threatened power group. The list could be extended at length. Already, supporters of the school board And it should be. Practical questions of are attending the hollor meetings on strategy are being explicitly raised by better schools, intimidating the partici­ the summer ERAP work and must not be back­ pants and disrupting the sessions. Since ed away from now. most of the people attending the meeting are on welfare, they fear any controver­ This is not to say that we should ignore sial action, particularly if it looks the closely connected issues of program like it could fail, because of the real or goals (the "strategy for what" ques­ possibility of being dropped from welfare. tion) . The summer has pointed up numer­ ous gaps in analysis and programmatic de­ From these and related experiences, major tail which need filling. In particularj problem areas are emerging. One central I think, the summer has shown that we concern, hoever, has come to dominate the need solid information on the political discussions of those who organized this economy, the organizations and the tra­ summer, and should now dominate debate ditions of the communities where we work; in the organization. The"issue is "stra­ more subtle insights into the real maneu­ tegy." What do we do to prevent or with­ vering of the power structure; proposals stand city-wide smear campaigns? With that movements can adopt as programmatic what people are we most interested in demands; and a constant stream of expo­ working, and around what issues? What sure in leaflets, pamphlets, articles is the immediate political unit (city, and broadcasts. congressional unit, state) on which we should focus? Only some of this work can be done by the actual full-time organizers and the In my view, the primary considerations at people of the community. Much needs to this time should be those of political be done by students, teachers, union re­ strategy.