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we mew . a +e oye UNIVFD STATES GCVERNME* * - [re sows ; ; - Sf pines TO: T.,#. H. Belmont | DATE: August 30, 1963 ieee : . Trotter From : Mr. W. C. Sullgyin, elaee C “ : te - SUBJECT: COLSIUNIST PARTY, USA * (NEGRO QUESTION _ , 18 - c Con al 3 ’ *{ 7 A Perel . .: .* ve} ° fT . . . - ee om Reference ig made to.the enclosed material’ on which the . Director has written: "This memo reminds me vividly of those I received when Castro took over Cuba’? ‘Yon contended then that Castro and his cohorts were not Communists and not influenced by Communists. Time ‘ ‘plone proved you wrong. I for one can't ignore the memos re King, et al as. having only an infinitesimal etrect on the efforts to exploit the American Negro by the Communists." \ The Director is correct. We were completely wrong about elieving the evidence was not sufficient to determine some years ago Ghve Fidel Castro was not a commuhist or under communist influence. On nv estigating and writing about communism and the Anerican Negro, we shed better remember this and profit by the lesson at should teesh us. I do think that much of the difficulty "relating to the memoran ‘dum rightly questioned by the Director is to be found centered in the word “influence,” We do not have, and no Government agency or privat Fee eae tt] Theanic past has, any yardstick which cen accurately measure “anf luence" this particular context, even. when we know it does exist such as in ithe case of the obvious influence ‘of over Martin Luther King and King's {nfluencé Gver Gther Nests Genders.” Personally, I believe in the light of King's powerful demagogic speech yesterday he stands head and shoulders over all other Negro leaders put together when it comes to influencing great masses of ‘Negroes. We must mark him now, if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this Nation fron, the_standpoiry”) iek. communism, the Negro_ an nd national $9 Security. . wo i L - " On deternining membership of Negroes in the Communist Fatty, e are. not confronted with the same problen, We do have here accurate yardsticks for establishing | membership. of course, cur standards are wery exacting. This mcans there are many Negroes who are fellow. ‘travellers, sympathizers or who aid the Party, knowingly or unknowingly, but do not qualify as members. These we must not ignore. The old communist pring}ple still holds: "Communism must -be, byilt with non- ‘communist hapisj" Therefore, it may be unrealistic to limit ourseivas a lwe bave been Hoing. to legalistic-proof or definitely conclusivs _avence are ‘ ‘Enclosure’ wt A ST _—