REVIEWS

...Newly discovered manuscripts reveal that currently accepted notions about the Communist International's first decade are substantially incorrect, Theodore Draper reports...

...They argue, sensibly, that one cannot admit that liberal legislation has failed to bring black progress, and at the same time call for the continuation of such programs...

...those earning more than $8,000 include blacks near poverty, working-class blacks, middle-class blacks, and even upper-class blacks...

...Are there better programs, or should we simply attempt to continue the old ones on a larger scale...

...Draper also maintains that Bukharin held a "Right" position on domestic policies in 1927-28 but a "Left" position on foreign policy, an acrobatic feat not unmatched in the annals of Marxism...

...it can slow down as it did after World War II, or can even be reversed...

...Inasmuch as blacks are "last hired, first fired," the economic downturn raised the rate of black unemployment faster than that of white unemployment...

...2. Most blacks are not middle-class...

...continued from page 495) Draper acknowledges that shortly after 1928, Stalin made use of Bukharin's "Left" concepts, in extreme forms not intended by Bukharin, as in Stalin's formulation that the "Social Fascists" were the "main enemy...

...Finally, Morsell points out, blacks cannot be secure about racial progress...

...How about those living in "multi-problem" families...

...Recent Census Bureau evidence indicates that it is not inevitable that black income will continue to increase relative to white income...

...Clearly, the situation is neither rosy nor simIN THE MAGAZINES ple, and Scammon and Wattenberg's optimism is, at least, premature...

...Young northern black families in which only the husband worked did not gain at all on similar white families during the sixties...

...For instance, the Census Bureau reported in 1970 that Northern black couples under the age of 35 had essentially equaled the average income of their white counterparts...

...one simply selects those statistics that buttress one's argument...

...CRISIS, June—July 1973...

...By arguing that blacks are no longer doing terribly badly, they hope to make it appear more reasonable to deemphasize race as a political issue...

...No one lies, no one presents invalid statistics...

...However, the Census Bureau later re ported that the finding was incomplete...

...American blacks have made such remarkable progress since the inception of the New Frontier that their current condition is far better than most people realize, according to Scammon and Wattenberg, spokesmen for the "center" of the Democratic party...

...Of course, it is possible to agree with their political strategy without agreeing with their assessment of black progress...

...The Strange Case of the Comintern," by Theodore Draper...

...Is the black community becoming bifurcated...

...John Morsell denies that black progress has been rapid or that conditions in the black community are good...

...Nevertheless, Draper's researches buttress the position of those who view Soviet adventurism as a result not primarily of Stalin's personal instability but rather of the growing isolation and self-absorption of the developing Soviet bureaucracy...

...Yet there is more at stake, as Morsell's angry reply indicates...

...Humbert-Droz reported, for example, that Stalin supported a 1928 electoral strategy of Communist-Socialist cooperation...

...This would probably be important in bringing a halt to the relative improvement of black income...

...when Bukharin and Humbert (continued on page 528) IN THE MAGAZINES Droz dissented, calling for separate Communist electoral activity, a policy of "class against class," Stalin backed down...

...They want liberals to adopt a rhetoric of concern for the needs and aspirations of middle-income Americans, as well as of blacks and the poor...

...These latest Census Bureau figures, shortterm though they are, seriously challenge the wisdom both of Moynihan's advocacy of "benign neglect" and of Scammon and Wattenberg's analysis of black progress...

...Scammon and Wattenberg's argument about rapid black progress makes three points...

...While some blacks have taken advantage of liberal programs to flee poverty, have others been unable to take advantage of them...

...What sort of evidence do we have...

...4. The gap between black and white income is still large, and it will remain so for quite some time...

...Morsell fears, on the other hand, that if it were admitted that blacks have made sub stantial progress, blacks might no longer com mand sufficient moral pressure to ensure continued progress...

...Third, black progress is likely to continue because of the South's economic development and the youthfulness of the black population...

...Beyond these unsurprising conclusions, the figures suggest something quite important...

...Obviously, one's commitment to various strategies for future black progress will pre dispose one to accentuate, or minimize, the ex tent of black progress since 1961...

...They live in families with incomes of at least $8,000 per year...

...Black Progress or Illiberal Rhetoric?," by John A. Morsell...

...To support their arguments, both sides present numerous statistics, with which one must be very careful...

...Scammon and Wattenberg claim their findings of black progress under Kennedy-Johnson are helpful for those trying to defend liberal programs against the attacks of Nixon and Moynihan...

...In response, Morsell argues that black progress has been slow, especially if the proportion of black income to white income in 1945 (57 percent) is compared with that of 1970 (61 percent...

...If Draper's view is correct, we must see Bukharin as a major force in Comintern policy in the period between Zinoviev's fall in 1926 and Stalin's emergence in 1928, not as merely a pawn of Stalin's...

...It seems fair to assume that the economic downturn of President Nixon's first term was partly responsible...

...What's going to happen to those 50 percent of "Negro males in the 18-25-year-old category" in large urban ghettos "who have never worked and may well never in life enter the labor force...

...Hence Morsell accuses Scammon and Wattenberg of playing Nixon's game by providing justification for the policy of "benign neglect...

...For Scammon and Wattenberg use their findings to lend support to a political strategy they developed years ago...

...If such a bifurcation is taking place, it would mean that liberal programs may be inadequate to reach a segment of the black community...

...the figure for young black couples was so high because more young black women worked than did white women...

...SURVEY, Summer 1972...

...3. There is still a large group of poor blacks, despite the fact that more government aid is available now than in 1961...

...Replying in Crisis, Assistant Executive Director of the NAACP Dr...

...Morsell argues, too, that there is still much poverty in the black community...

...According to manuscripts left by Jules Humbert-Droz and Angelo Tasca, Comintern representatives during the '20s, it was Bukharin in 1927-28, rather than Stalin, who initiated the "Third Period" in Comintern world policies, which involved a switch from Communist electoral cooperation with Socialists to an attack on "Social Fascism" and a dual union policy in Europe and the United States...

...Throughout the debate, both sides are exceedingly conscious of the political implications of their analyses...

...DAVID BENSMAN 0 528 LETTERS...

...First, black income has increased from 53 percent of white income in 1961 to 63 percent in 1971...

...It would appear that continued black progress is not to be taken for granted and that economic prosperity and federal action are essential if that progress is to continue...

...Will the young blacks suffering the diseases bred by poverty catch up...

...Can we expect their income to approach that of whites...

...Black Progress and Liberal Rhetoric," by Ben J. Wattenberg and Richard M. Scammon...

...in fact, the Census Bureau reported that black income had decreased from 61 percent of white income in 1970 to 59 percent in 1972...

...Scammon and Wattenberg agree...

...I WOULD OFFER this evaluation of the arguments of Scammon and Wattenberg, and of Morsell: 1. Black income did increase significantly as a proportion of white income in the years 1961-71...

...Bifurcation in the black community could also lead to a political split in the black community with middle-class blacks ceasing to identify their interests with those of the poor (the Atlanta syndrome...

...Moynihan cited this finding in his 1970 "benign neglect" memorandum, and here Scammon and Wattenberg cite it in their article...

...Second, a majority of blacks are now "middleclass...

...in fact, young black families gained even more...