The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-11-20
international Workers Order In
the South

done and this question still remains to be thresh-
ed out.
In Chattanooga the paper decision of the
Branch remained in the minutes book and no
objection was made to the very occasional pres
ence of Negro comrade at the meetings and
lectures of the TWO Branch. Then the Chat
tanooga Branch of the LID. came before the
Two. with request for use of their hall for
a basket party to raise funds for the Atlanta
cases and to build the LID Branch. Immed-
lately the question came up, will Negroes at
tend the AFFAIR."" On being informed that every
effort would be made to have Negrose present
and participating in the affair, the chauvinists
jumped into action. The same old arguments
were advanced and long fight took place. The
struggle finally settled in typical opportunist
fashion by evading the issue altogether and by
deciding that nasmuch as the TWO is willing
to rent their hall to any organization they will
allow the LID. to use it. At the same time
the TWO. carefully refrained from endorsing
the meeting or calling on their own members to
attend, and by implication at least showed clear
ly that most of the members will not attend
the affair.
The basis OF this chauvinism is of course clear
1t arises from the bad social composition of these
branches which contain hardly one actual
sence of Jewish proletariat in the South the
whole prospective of the Two. branches for
future work and for increasing their influence
and membership is one of work among the petty
bourgeois Jewish elements. They realize quite
clearly that these elements will be antagoniZed
by revolutionary stand on the Negro question
and they are quite ready to compromise prin-
ciple in order to maintain and strengthen the
position OF their branches in this strata of the
population
The Party fractions in the Two. have some
what contributed to this bad situation by bad
tactics In some instances the fractions have
been stampeded into taking weak position due
to the pressure of the chauvinists In other
instances the Party members, relatively mex
perienced in fraction work, have incorrectly put
the question as if the Party line were something
coming from outside the TWO. to be arbitrarily
imposed on the membership with or without
their consent There has been insufficient effort
made to show the members of the TWO that
the practice of social equality with the Negro
workers is not some mysterious decision of the
Party which the Party is determined to force
on the Two. membership, but that 1t is the
only correct revolutionary line for any organ
ization which bases itself on the principles of
the class struggle-that only through the firm
application Of this revolutionary line can the l.
w. Q. grow and become in actual fact an In
ternational Workmans Order contributing its
bit to the destruction Of capitalism and the
emancipation of the working class.
The Two. membership must be made to
realize that one of the fundamental problems
of the revolution, not only in the South but in
all America, is how best to break down the
racial barriers the bourgeoisie has erected be-
tween the races They must realize that it is
the primary duty, not only of the Communists