14-00000 on asked: that Jones and Levison, among others, submit five- ~minute - "speeches which King could use in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. King would’ select the best material. from. these speeches. “Kin Is Attraction for. Communi st Advisors : / : oe Po db ; * two gevious aides of King werd Gordy who | oe fonmanty nat ad as Director of Affiliates of the’ SCLC, =< and, i. 5.1 ' . 3'€ Randolph who at one time acted as S¢ Clprogram | 25,1 ~Coordinato®, | Both of these individuals” are former members arers Sparing the early stages of development and formation. ‘of thé SCLC, the following. eight individuals helped shape and. ''limold the' policies of this organization,, and, as noted, - ~ALh have " » had communist affiliations: ee are Stanley David: Levison Va) ttagedhtant Chief" 00 ry * tf Clarence Jones: { .:-+ - Advisory Committee ue ditt Harry Wachtel © =~ | Advisory Committee a - - th Cordy Ti Vivian «~~ ° | Director of Affiliates . . v!-7) Randolph Blackwell | , Program Coordinator _ Cg 2 iy Hunter Pitts O'Dell Administrative Assistant” 7..." Jo. ° Lawrence Reddick ':. = *' Advisory Committee “e oe od hayard Rustin Oo | Advisory Committee — . 4 OF ‘these, ‘Levison, Jones, and Wachtel contirued to exert: strong ‘influence on King and the SCLC. In addition, at. ‘the tenth anniversary, ‘convention of SCLC at atlanta, Georgia, : “on August'14, 1967,"a brochure listed L, D Reddick as: ie ‘ j historian of SCLC.’ " are boa voy ye Dotdbspde a, TIT. * COMMUNIST onsecrives' | - ooh Se vib During the early 1960's, the CPUSA was striving | 7 - to obtain a Negro-labor coalition to achieve its goals in _ this country. At that time, the CPUSA "Party Line" was: yp. , “Big business attacks on the rights of labor are continuing. “"In order to'defeat this offensive, organized labor, assisted by communists, must launch a countercrusade, which can _ Succeed’ only if it is based on the united action of the entire Le trade-union movement." : re ns ‘ as ap igmape epee 120 te pean parmnaNARE CANE CNEETEE Ham | 99% UH FS + iit 6 hele cular MET 4 : . a : 4 the ha , roe : ren a’ ry ‘oo? an .o
14-00000 seek complete economic, political, and social equality for - the Negro movement and bring. to it the backing of the _ Working peopie." pos ° o his group were demonstrating and. conducting voter-registration /°?!.. | campaigns to align the Negro movement solidly behind King..- - p23 ' the passage of the Civil Rights -Act..of 1964 by the Congress. . This was the most far-reaching civil rights act passed oat .Since the reconstruction era. -Now it was no longer newsworthy...” .. “.was one factor that: took « King off the front Pages: of the Oo Pa: daily newspapers. |" ane rr "lack | of publicity and change of policy was the Gulf: of on . . Machine that the escalation of the war in Vietnam be — : stopped. The activities in Vietnam were now more important * the CPUSA now: started touting a Negro- peace coalition that. eda ' would form a massive: movement to force the United States © . + i Tee hy " at “. Also, communists had-recognized the error of: " their ways by proclaiming that the communist program for "self-determination" of the Negro in the "Black Belt" area. of the South had been discarded: The new policy was to> . % 1 ? . a : o we tema Leet vos ot An eenebatmettn reper aeeteenneCtEt % Pa ee nemeune in aepony G Bampasio. eagre Bees gees & the Negro with all other American citizens. Ina May, 1961, : issue, the communist newspaper, "The Worker;' stated, ° !° - acre "Communists will do their utmost to strengthen and unite’ bid pee 9 ONE F808 WD: “Martin Luther “King, Sr., and his Organization | were made to order to achieve these objectives. King and © weye 8 nr ee The Peace: Issue Appears : a ‘This activity continuedywith ud fanfare until to demonstrate for Negro rights. The passage of this Act... apehoay, al ye . . BO The second factor that had a bearing on . Kingt 7 Tonkin incident on: August 2, 1964. Because of this, the: 0 us: .- United States took a more active role in the Vietnam. Were s - a The CPUSA then :-started to demand through its propaganda * news than was’ “the Negro freedom movement. © | . re ce e : . ee a eC CERRO 8 a cienteaeteeeacananctanaetanenenemn anemia oididenaameaenedecartones easetenmediinenementatemameee eae ee ei nn OT EE ne oe, . “ a oe - 08 to : The CPUSA also realized that even though | the peace issue was of primary importance, a secondary issue not to be forgotten was the freedom movement. Abandoning. its previous efforts to form a Negro-labor coalition, Government - to: ‘change its foreign and domestic policies. | Shope tare Pe yd 1g Bc eT ee ae coe ett cnnmnn  e ba ce et ce tee eee eee
14-00000 4.00 ale = "The Worker," in April, 1965, claimed that this . =, coalition was Starting to form when it stated, "The civil - | rights movement was ‘coming to see ‘the’ identity of interests -* of the Negro people's freedom movement with the anti- _ imperialist ‘objective of ending the neo-colonialist war i of the’ United States against the people of Vietnam," . IV. ‘THE EMERGENCE OF THE. PEACE ISSUE IN KING'S GROUP “yt H Panay ut . re wads voy sone mem tm et a 8 ae ee mo i “Role asa Peacanales' ve a oo King and his aides helped form this coalition oS A ‘of "peace! and "freedom" groups, They saw an opportunity | - _'-to again ‘propel King into the international. Spotlight. By an Proposing’.he .make peace in Vietnam, | On August 12, 1965, King announced publicly that ihe. would appeal personally to President Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam to” join a conference to end the Vietnam Ware - _ He said he would also send letters tg leaders of South Vietnam, : the Soviet Union, and the, United. States in this regard, oe - 7 “This ' move on the part of King was engineered ; by. cos | : Bayard Rustin and Harry’ Wachtel, ,in early August they met and - i diseussed how to inject King inte the Vietnam issue, It was of decided to:have King write these world leaders utilizing King's © prestige as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, This action, | they felt > would cast an image of King as a great moral “leader i) and "extend. hig influence “beyond ‘the civil _ELGRES Th movement \ aot bo pared at aoe ee Subsequently, a leading newspaper sent King 12 wt ‘questions to answer which would clarify his position on Vietnam, an Upon receipt of these: questions, ‘King xveferred them to Stanley | ; _Levison to answer» op RG . of ne ee TEE ip boa oe oe Because of the unfavorable public reaction to oe King's announcement, a conference with his top advisors was “held in: early September, 1965, at which time it was decided oe as bY : pt ; arth 1 “t ve - nt ry CE cats ics] Vethew es ye ee ays ieee “Eat har ge Lhe one, a, oo
14-00000 : - a . Fak Rietts tol . ™ + - In early. 1966, King was lamenting to Harry Wachtel. ue about | a. ‘nationally: known figure, who at one time was a heavy. _ bole ‘contributor ‘to and admirer of King but was displeased. because of: King's — stand on Vietnam, Wachtel reminded King, — "When we: went into this Vietnam thing, we decided that he oo: ‘ who controls’ the purse Strings doesn't control our * philosophy «! ul! ‘ghat King’ would ‘avoid ‘the Vietnam issue. Bayard Rustin y 7 nl Stanley Levison, Harry Wachtel, -and Clarence Jones were in Pd y. Lo attendance at this conference, . od, a gl | Admi ra Los ; ne Pb | i H fr. bed ! .- ~< . . : wy et te ee OB Te (or ame @ ek 5” After the resumption of bombing of North th Vietnam sth 7: (in February, 1966, King conferred with Stanley Levison and + -Bayard Rustin concerning a Statement for the press, King . 2. ‘informed them that ‘the press had, "been bothering him for a. 4 - ‘statement, but he dared not take"’any: adtion until he discussed + | < ‘the matter with them, It -was’dgreéd that King would say he.» - |: twas deeply: impressed by the large number of Senators who’ = - J) - ; toe called for a cessation of the bombings, Levison reiterated . : nde that King should point out how ‘much vopposition there, as to. Boy a the bombings... . ete, myte sow obi as pie, Zs : e a eee : ae . : Miami, was the scene of the Southern Christian Leader : “ship Conference executive board meeting in the Spring, 1966, _. During this _two-day,conference, the sessions ran into the _ ~Jearly morning hours attempting to draft a resolution on the - Vietnam war, While there appeared to be general agreement, Stanley Levison and Harry Wachtel continued to argue for a -Stronger resolution than was presented, They wanted a _ . resolution that would condemn participation by United States’ «=. troops in Vietnam, The conference finally adopted a resolution . calling on the Government to desist aiding the military junta _ oan. Vietnan | and . to. seriously consider a + Prompt withdrawal... green sua a xemcp ess ome emacma gags 8 7 eer tee pe ce pean ment stam ARON ON ND ORT ae, cay OE me Ot room n fmomen re rea we - . : : . . nn ihe hed tteb Ve ain ‘i . a eb detgert at li “ : i Sil gr mn 2 ash a i od baw Sows Ms the * . wy oe . . oy “ 1 ey sid a _— .. . a oo.