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Jeaders and intellectuals have become Communists or “fellow travelers.” .. . To begin with, poor, un- educated, and socially disadvantages groups have never been particularly susceptible to radical propa- ganda. It is usually the intellectuals and higher strata of the working class that have been reached first. (The Negro in America, p. 166) National Council of Churches Penetrated Remembering James W. Ford’s statement about the Communist Party’s policy “of going into the church organizations,” some statistical data with respect to this question are enlightening. _ The Communist Party has been strikingly successful in its efforts at infiltrating the Federal and the Na- tional Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. during the past 20-odd years, In view of the fact that the philosophical bases of Communism and Christianity are as antithetical as two philosophies could possibly be, the success of the Com- munists in penetrating the ranks of the Protestant clergy ts hard for some to understand. Nevertheless, the cold statistical facts are a matter of public record. It is not necessary to rely upon anybody’s opinions. The National Council of Churches was officially constituted on November 29, 1950, in Cleveland, Ohio. It was, in fact, nothing more than a reorganization of the Federal Council of Churches. In the formal constituting of the National Council of Churches in Cleveland, one representative from each of ie participating communions signed the official book which became the Document of Record. Eleven of these 29 signers of the official book have public records of affiliation with pro-Communist enterprises. Their names and respective denominations are as follows: Bishop 8. L. Greene—A frican Methodist Episcopal Bishop W. J. Walls—African Methodist Episcopal Zion Dr. E. H. Pruden—American Bapist Convention Dr. Desmond W. Bittinger—Church of the Brethren Bishop Bertram W. Doyle—Colored Methodist Epis- copal Dr. Vere V. Loper—Congregational Christian Rev. Josef A. Barton—Czech Moravian Bishop ¥. Ralph Magee—Methodist Dr. W. H. Jernagin—National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. Rt. Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill—Protestant Episcopal Dr. Henry A. Vruwink—Reformed Church in America Tt will he noted that 4 of the 11 signers of the wocuméni of Record—Greene, Walls, Doyle, and Jernagin——were representatives of all-Negro denomina- tions. This is a disproportionately large number of Nogro clergymen. Whatever the reasons may be, it is a fact that Negro professional groups have been more 14 susceptible to Communist penetration than their white counter-parts. . There were 358 clergymen who were voting dele- tes to the constituting convention of the National Council of Churches in Cleveland. Of these clergymen. 123 (or 34 percent) have had affiliations with Com- munist projects and enterprises. That represents a high f penetration. oetpese 123 voting delegates were divided as follows: 84 white and 39 Negroes. The total number of their public pro-Communist affiliations is 659, of which 359 are affiliations of the white clergymen and 300 are affiliations of the Negro clergymen. Again, these figures indicate a disproportionately large number of Negro clergymen with Communist affiliations, and a higher degree of susceptibility to the appeals of Com- munist causes. The average number of affiliations for the Negro delegates is 7.7, while that of the whites is 4.2, The greater Communist penetration of the higher ranks of Negro church dignitaries is evidenced by the fact that ‘57 percent of the total number of currently active Negro bishops of four Protestant denominations have records of affiliation with Communist-front or- ganibations and enterprises. The following Negro bishops fall into this category: African Methodist Episcopal Church— George W. Barber, Philadelphia, Pa. Frank Madison Reid, Kittrell, N. C. Joseph Gomez, Cleveland, oO. Frederick D. Jordan, Hollywood, Calif. R. R. Wright, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa. Carey A. Gibbs, Birmingham, Ala. D. Ward Nichols, Jacksonville, Fla. Sherman L. Greene, Atlanta, Ga. Airican Methodist Episcopal Zion Church— William Jacob Walls, Chicago, II. Raymond Luther Jones, Salisbury, N. C. Hampton Thomas Medford, Washington, D. C. Herbert Bell Shaw, Wilmington, N. C. Stephen Gill Spottswood, Washington, D. C. Charles Ewbank Tucker, Louisville, Ky. Charles Cecil Coleman, Oklahoma City, Okla. Christian Methodist Episcopal Church— J. A. Hamlett, Kansas City, Kan. W. Y. Bell, South Boston, Va. F. L. Lewis, Shreveport, La. Bertram W. Doyle, Nashville, Tenn. A. W. Womack, Indianapolis, Ind. B. Julian Smith, Chicago, Hii. Methodist Church— J. W. E. Bowen, Atlanta, Ga. Matthew W. Clair, Jr., St. Louis, Mo. Edgar A. Lowe, Baltimore, Md. 15