Subversive Influences


House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

Protest on the Homefront >> "Subversive Influences" >> House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
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Source: Congress. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Subversive Involvement in Disruption of 1968 Democratic Party National Convention. Washington, D.C. GPO, 1968. Congress. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Subversive Involvement in Disruption of 1968 Democratic Party National Convention. Washington, D.C. GPO, 1968.

SuDoc No.: Y4.Un1/2:D39/pt.1
Date(s) of Hearings: October 1, 3, 4, 1968
Congress and Session: 90th - 2nd
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The Democratic National Convention of 1968 was as tumultuous an event the country had ever seen. The House Un-American Activities Committee conducted an investigation into the causes of the disturbances in October of 1968 and published their findings. A focus of the hearings was the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, and its involvement in the chaos that was the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968.

Presented in the record are minutes from a National Mobilization Committee meeting held in February of 1968 where a "separate but equal" philosophy was established between anti-war groups and black power groups who were both planning demonstrations for the Convention. Co-Chairman of the meeting Carlos Russell stated:

"Radical whites today are basically occupied with anti-war activity. Blacks are focusing on black liberation. Any participation of blacks in a parallel strategy with whites at the Convention will be based on a dual theme of racism and imperialism....We believe a parallel structure of anti-war and black liberation organizations around a Convention challenge is possible. Leadership for the challenge would be elected separately by anti-war and black organizations. The separate leadership would hire separate black and white staffs to work in their own communities. But on questions of common policy, the two leadership groups would meet together and function together."
Also included in the record is a letter from the National Mobilization Committee to various black militants around the United States asking for their opinions and input into the planned demonstrations and organizational structure of the Committee. The March 8, 1968 letter states, "Our emphasis must be on meaningful and effective action that helps us to build in the ghettos against racism and war and for black self-determination."

Finally, a list of people invited to participate in the Administrative Committee of the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam is included indicating several African-American organizations and individuals were invited to participate in this "separate but equal" planning. Individuals and organizations invited include:
  • Reverend James Bevel, anti-Vietnam War activist who previously visited Vietnam, and friend of Martin Luther King.
  • Stokely Carmichael, of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
  • Reverend Richard Fernandez, of the Clergy and Laymen Concerned about the War in Vietnam, whose leadership also included Martin Luther King.
  • John Lewis, former director of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
  • Lincoln Lynch, of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
  • The Nation of Islam.
  • Bill Pepper, of the National Conference for New Politics (which was co-founded by Julian Bond) and current lawyer for James Earl Ray.
  • Floyd McKissick, of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
  • Jose Ristorucci, of the predominantly black "communist front" organization, the W.E.B. DuBois Club.
  • Harriet Tanzman, of the Fort Hood Three Defense Committee.
  • Ruth Turner, of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
  • Reverend Andrew Young, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
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