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But PL at least demands that “heey, be set free Willy brown, who is scheduled to speak from the podium, is a Democratic Party politician who refused to support the demand that. Huey be set free. thhat is the political meaning of a “United Front" which excludes or silences left groups but invites "Democrats, . Republicans, the NAACP, black police organizations, etc." If we are to measure groups by their practice, why isn't the demand to free. ~ Huey, or the willingness to attack the. repression in practice the "test" rather than “anti-facist" Lip-service and rhetoric. ‘ One of the signs of the disastrous direction the movement has . taken is the attitude tha any criticism of the Panthers is tobe ..°- interpreted as opposition. Just to make our position explicit, we : are supporters of the Panthers, The ISC was one of the first groups to publicly support the Panthers following their arrests in’ Sacra- -mento in 1966. l\then the Panthers were still a small Oakland-based organization, we were actively defending and explaining them while most liberals and the left were hostile to armed self defense or were looking to SNCC and Stokely Carmichael as the leadership of the. black movement. We continue to support them today, but like yesterday when no one else was around, this does not mean that we hide our differences. - . so ar Betduse of their leadership ‘role, the Panthers have earned - insisting that it conform to the direction of one organization. respect on the left and repression from the police and courts. In this sense, the Black Panther Party is a vanguard, But there is a difference between providing teadership in the form of ideas and action (the true role of a vanguard), and stifling a movement by . The best support for the Panthers, the best way to defend them from the vicious repre sSion coming down, is not by merely ate tending support rallies or organizing others to attend support rallies, Ultimately, the only way to end the repression is to end . the social System whose periodic crises produces that repression. This will require continuation of the open debate and discussion that has been one of the healthiest aspects of the new radicalisa. For a full statement of our views on the repression and the conference see the special issue of the 1S which the Panthers have banned from... the conference. INDEPENDENT SOCIALIST CLUB - P. Os BOA 910, BERKELEY. Loe July 19, 1969 . Lost BIB £