A REPLY
SHUB, ANATOLE
A Reply From ANATOLE SHUB 1ET ME ANSWER BRIEFLY: 1. The members-of the execu¦* tive committee of SDA, who Wrote buf did not sign this letter, seem to doubt my, competence as an observer. I...
...Hollenbeck's oft-quoted "refutation" of the strike's more boisterous aspects was based on press accounts— by the very nature of his program...
...Seymour Reisin, CCNY '50, the New York regional vice-chairman of SDA, whom I consulted on my CCNY vi3it...
...5. The uptown Student Council (and, ipso facto, its executive committee) is, as I indicated, a non-representative body...
...It was again considered at least "convalescent" when Commissioner Spaulding subpenaed the evidence last fall...
...Last term, in .response to student ppjnion, the Student Council sent a petition to Commissioner Spaulding requesting a.review of the Knickerbocker case, but no reply was received...
...Incidentally, I am still skeptical about the 1948 election speculations re the "farmer," "rural" vote...
...15), wired Ben Gold, president of the CP American Jewish Labor Council that "we would appreciate the moral and financial support of your organization...
...Author Farrell might find it profitable to make *n exhaustive investigation of workers' education in the UAW-CIO during 1941 and compare it with what went on in 1943...
...Shub quotes Tom Andrews, "a non-Communist student," who calls the demonstration "a noisyKriotous strike" which was.dominated by the CP...
...1 , Dinuba, California, UAW Education Set-up Clarified From DICK DEVERALL Your edition of AprU •iciirries a most interesting item by James T. Farrell regarding , education...
...This to your depsrhnenrr let'* he«r from you...
...May I add that Ed Sparer, its vice-president, was organizer and president of Students for Wallace and that Council President William Fortunato was also a Wallace supporter...
...However, I notice that all labor education work In the UAW-CR> prior to Vic Reuther is classed as "Stalinist interference...
...This attempt was frustrated by some of the members of the "larger, slower moving coalition...
...They and other strike committee leaders spoke at a Young Progressives rally on April 18 at Manhattan Center...
...it is not a Communistinspired demand, as Mr...
...This is the origin of the demand for an open trial...
...Shub claims...
...It also seems to me that our farm worker is a sort of counterpart of the peasant in Asia and Europe...
...As a consequence of this inaction, the Congress of Racial Equality invited all organizations on the campus to form a coalition (later called "Equity"), whose purpose was to clear up the Knickerbocker case by attempting to secure a fair and open trial...
...It is conceivable that the "rural" wage worker vote (even the farm wage workers' alone) may have been just as decisive, if not more decisive than the farmers' vote...
...Student Committee Protests Article on City College Strike From EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, CCNT-SIM (Uptown Center, Day Session) WE ARE WRITING YOU in an effort to clear up the misconception fostered by "Class Struggle at CCNY," by Anatole Shub (April 23...
...As to the charge that the "Communists jsuccessfully revived two old acpusationa (each considered 'dead' on various occasions)," may we inform you that the'issue is not and never was dead...
...Goldschmidt's As You Saw shows that the majority of the vital participants in the farming industry are wage laborers: sharecroppers, hired hands, seasonal wokers, etc...
...If we did recoil and refuse to fight In situations^ such as this One, then the .boast of the CP'ers (stating they are in the forefront of the fight against discrimination) would become a reality and we would have lost' our fight for decent democratic government, New York, H. Y. Says We Shouldn't Lump Form Workers in Rural Bloc From PRINTISE WQMACK YoUI EPWOWAV'For LabprParity" (The New Leader, April 16), stirs up opinions...
...I would advise them to consult Mr...
...of, the workers...
...For a complete refutation of this irresponsible' statement, we cite Don Hollenbeck's April 16 broadcast of "CBS Views the Press...
...2. Mr...
...You say Mr...
...However, I can't see where it gets at the roots of the homogeneity myth which frustrates all of us more or less...
...But the essence of Western justice, as I learned it in CCNY's classrooms, is that a man is in- * nocent until proved/guilty...
...It seems to me, the farm worker is in a unique position to challenge the myth of homogenous "rural" life...
...In the course of their long letter, the writers never once dispute the contention that Knickerbocker has never been proved guilty...
...Farrell seems to be a newcomer to the field of workers' education and should be advised that before the war the UAW-CIO had one of the most vigorous and comprehensive labor education programs in the United States...
...Dear Edition: ' The Sew Leader encourage* att totters...
...Perhaps this is true, but the fact remains that he did not even attempt to give thejirtews of, or even to interview any of the student strike, leaders—such as Student Council President Bill Fortunato, Al Ettinger (Presi- ———---dent of the .CCNY chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality), and Leroy Galpern...
...4. There is little point discussing the assertion that "the coalition idea was occepted" by non-Communist groups or the regret that "many non-Communist leaders did not take action," or the fear that CP'ers will outdo liberals in fighting discrimination...
...Mr...
...Irrespective of subject or point of riew...
...And to the extent we ca,n comprehend and do something about his situation, to that extent %e can hope to cope with the challenges, appeals, promises of Communism...
...The coalition idea was accepted by the Student League for Industrial Democracy, the FDR Young Democrats, the Young Republicans, the Young Liberals, the United Youth of America (an organization devoted to interracial activities, now defunct) and the Students for Democratic Action., Our,position on the Davis case was that, since he had been forced to resign his position a3 administrator of Army Hall, for alleged discriminatory practices, and since no evidence of classroom .discrimination by him had been brought forth, there was no case against .him...
...Their committee, according to the Daily Worker (Apr...
...Perhaps Congressmen and editors should favor Brannan's proposed, program...
...And finally, only lack of a quorum prevented their Student Council from demanding the dismissal of CCNY President Harry N. Wright, in line with the policy expressed publicly by the Wilfred Mendelson Club of the Communist Party...
...Discrimination in the colleges is a serious problem, and just because the Communists and their fellow-travelers' try to exploit these situations for their own advantages, is no reason why we liberals should feel that we cannot fight on this issue...
...3. The Knickerbocker case was considered dead by all responsible leaders from December, 1946—when the Board of Higher Education cleared Knickerbocker—till the summer of 1948, when the Hart Committee of the City Council recommended his dismissal...
...But in spite of this, and the fact that the strike was a reality, many of the non-Communist student leaders did not take action, thereby giving the Communists an opportunity to try to take over the strike...
...As the Education Director of the UAW<CIO from 1939 through 1942 I can personally testify that there was no Stalinist interference...
...The responsibility for the unauthorised changing of the strike referendum and the linking of the two cases rests with the Student Council Executive Committee, which is composed of a majority of non-Communists...
...I feel that organized labor, liberal groups, etc., are missing the boat by not spotlighting the case of our outsiders...
...So that we can print the greatest number of divergent opinions on diverse subjects, wa request you limit your letters to 250 ¦words or lees...
...6. This writer agrees wholeheartedly that "discrimination in the Colleges is a serious problem...
...As a former farm worker, I am particularly aggravated because neither the "parity" * or "subsidy" farm programs are based on the heterogeneous structure of the society created by mechanized, industrialized farming...
...Neither program gives specific attention to all the participants In the industry...
...In view of this, and the admission that "there was no case against Davis," I am amazed that a student affiliate of Americans for Democratic Action could be so gullible as to cooperate in a witch-hunt...
...Shub "knows intimately all of the leading figure's on both sides of the CCNY controversy...
...Most witnesses of the strike's first day tell a different story...
...The Stalinist interference came when, in August 1943, the UAW-CIO abolished its education department...
Vol. 32 • May 1949 • No. 21
