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». By their practice the Black Panther Party has earned the respect ‘of the entire left. The Panthers demonstrated the necessity of armed self defense to protect the black community. Tueir ten point pro- gram deals not only with the surface and legal manifestations of racism but with the basic oppression and exploitation. The Pan- thers projected on a national scale that even in the fight for black liberation, politics rathes than skin color is primary. This pro- vided the basis for Third-World people to work together and with whites in coalitions based on mutual respect and struggle against the common enemy. Specifically. rejected was the subordination of A one people to another as in the old civil rights and trade union A) () N movements (whites dominating blacks) or the sycophancy and tail- ending of whites ain the early black power “movement. : wt? Because they measured People by their ‘relationship to oppres~ sion rather than by their skin color or rhetoric, the Panthers openly opposed self-secking Negsves who served the ruling class, even if they wore naturals or used the Language of nationalisa. Xv The Panthers opposed Black Capitalism, and Negro Nemocratic Party Q Politicians, just as it oppoSed the white servants of the ruling class. . : “ The Panthers have led the way in pointing out that ultimately, the liberation struggle of black people was inseparabic from that of all people, Without subordination to the conservative conscious— Ress of the white working class, the Panthers have worked toward alliances withs-hites for destruction of capitalism and the build~ ing of a new nonexploitative society. : But the Panthers are not superhuman. Despite their many ad- vances, they are still capable of making mistakes and moving in the wrong direction in response to chnging conditions. Muting criticism in the name of support to the Panthers does no service a to the Panthers and the black liberation struggle. If there can ~. i be no debate and criticism in the left, the result will not be united action, but ossification and ultimately decay. A left which lacks respect for its own ideas and programs and cannot stand inter~- ‘nal debate, cannot possibly hope to win the support of the masses. It is within this context of fraternal support that e. wmake our Bete criticism of this conference. ou We believe that both the structure and direction of this con- ference point in an extremely dangerous direction for the keft. The so-called "United Front" seems to be turning into an excuse . for conservative alliances, a unity based not on common political Struggle but artificially constructed by top down control and the exclusion of unpopular left-wing groups from the movement. People are lectured, like sheep in a class room. Discussion and debate are ruled out. we are supposed to “get down to busi- ness” and not ask any questions about wat business we are getting down to. “he find the conservative, corrupt and discredited Cam- Mes munist Party and its establishment liberal allies elevated to share ee the platfo with the Black Panther Parvy as the leadership of our movement. : At the sawe time, left organizations are told that they cannot Present their points of view. While millionaire Liberal dilli- tantcs like Ecward Keating and discredited Communist Party liberais like Herbert Apthekar drone on from the podium, groups in the lobby (including the Independent Sociatist Club and the Sparti- cists) had their literature censored by Panther ideologists and then , banocd os various excuses, Progressive Labor Party and individuals ae rwhite radicals") Suppesedly, friendly to PL .-. Se cone the set from attz ding | the cont erence, This is nothing more