The New Model Trojan Horse
LEWIS, WALTER K.
The New Model Trojan Horse By Walter K. Lewis These are hard days for the members of liberal organizations who have been fighting Communism for a decade or more. Almost all these anti-Communists...
...They are not looking for someone to guide their way...
...Obviously, this is a task far beyond the scope and capability of the FBI or Congressional committees...
...The necessity for resistance to reactionary smears is apparent to most liberals...
...liberal complacency on this score is appalling...
...If Communist infiltration is to be stopped before it makes headway, the job must be done by liberals themselves, by the responsible men and women who have devoted their days to constructive liberal efforts which would be wrecked if the Communists took over...
...The weaker a group, the easier it becomes for the Communists to infiltrate it...
...Then, says an anonymous Communist educational commissar in New York: "It is important to remember, when doing parents' work, that you join a well-established organization many of whose members have been active for many years and are giving leadership...
...What is the role of the Communist party clubs in such a huge operation...
...They live around your house and have the same problems of high rent and high food costs...
...Quite a few innocent liberals have begun to think that even those who call a Communist a Communist are guilty of McCarthyism...
...In this article, I would like to illustrate the new Communist method, through official Communist documents designed for intra-party use which have come into my possession...
...Almost all these anti-Communists deplore the activities of Senator McCarthy...
...The Communists tell each other: "Our party must grasp that the essence of a vanguard party under all conditions is to react and act upon conditions--to play a positive role, and in certain periods a decisive role--to change them...
...No community organization is too small or too large, too specialized or too broad, for Communists to infiltrate...
...That is the period we are now entering...
...Make friends and you'll find yourself with a 'mass base.' "The active women do have a social relationship with each other, and if you isolate yourself from their social life, no amount of bright contributions on the floor of a meeting will gain your influence," The Communists discuss how their propaganda can be introduced: demands that book-burning be condemned, McCarthyism fought, civil-defense drills for children curtailed...
...this is the official CP position...
...Emphasis is placed on united-front activities...
...Whenever a demand comes up with which the Communists can even minutely agree, they will...
...so is the palpable Soviet Communist threat to our democratic institutions...
...They want women for their committees, typists, ad-getters for the PA paper, Jimmy Higginses--not presidents...
...They are good, honest women and they can and should become your friends...
...This is an organization in which you work your way to the top patiently...
...And in this category belong scores of local and national social grievances held by liberals and even some conservatives...
...yet, there is a growing tendency around them, caused by the anti-McCarthy revulsion, to pooh-pooh their warnings of the renewed Communist infiltration of their organizations...
...Nor can it be done by local vigilantes who are hostile to the aims of the liberal groups which are the Communist targets...
...The CP says: "If we work correctly and gain the respect and affection of the other mothers, these issues can be made the property of the PA...
...Many anti-Communist members of a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People would be skeptical of charges of Communism when they were hurled by people who have never spent an hour fighting discrimination...
...The Communists plan to infiltrate, among other groups, the various Parent-Teachers Associations...
...Well, here is the official definition: "The members of such a club belong to mass organizations, and the club gives leadership to struggles...
...Few members of a Parent-Teachers Association would listen long to anti-Communist advice proffered by foes of public education...
...Secondly, don't join PA (or any organization) with the attitude of 'I'm going to build myself a mass base.' PA is made up of fine women, genuinely concerned about the education their children are getting, anxious and willing to work hard for better schools...
...And so, those who have combined years of constructive liberal activity with knowledgeable anti-Communism are faced with a great new battle: to make clear to their friends and colleagues the necessity for vigilance against Communist infiltration, even while expressing their rightful animosity at the smears of anti-liberal vigilantes...
...What is true of parents' associations is true elsewhere...
...They have rehearsed clearly with their members all the legitimate grievances that assail parents and teachers (overcrowding, insufficient pay, backward curriculums, dearth of new construction, etc...
...How can this new infiltration effort be combated before it achieves results...
...What is not clear is how the Communists intend to infiltrate community, labor, political and minority groups and how difficult it will be to stop them...
Vol. 37 • March 1954 • No. 12
