“THERE IS ONLY THE FIGHT..." An Analyse of tho Alinsky Medel. - ~- ‘A thesio oubaltted 4n partial fuls%1imont cf tho requirements for the Bacholor of Arta: dogreo undor the Special Honors Program, © = \ollesloy College, Nellosloy, fassachusotts. Hillary D, Rodham PoBitical Science 2May, 1969 [© 1969" Hillary D. Rodham)7 Se hore I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years—— Twenty yoars largely wasted, tho years ef ltentro deux querres Trying to learn te.use werds, and overy attompt . Is a wholly new start, ami a different kind ef failuro ‘ Bocauso ono has only learnt te get the bettor of werds . Fer tho thing ono no Jengor has te say, er tho Way in which One 4s no longer disrased to say At. And ge.oach venture Is a now boginiin raid on tho dnarticulate With shabby equipment always doteriorating In the general ress of imprecision of feeling, : Undiseiplined cquads ef exotien. And what thoro is te conquer By strength and subnission, has alreasy beon discevercd Once or twice, or sereral tines, by ron when, one cannot hepe, To emlate—tut there is ne conpetition-— There is only the fight to recever what has beon lest And feurd_ani lest again and acain: and now, undor conditiens That seem unpropitious. Dut porhaps noither gain nor loss For us, there 4s only the trying. The rest 4s net our business, “ $.Ss Eliot, "East Cokor” .oa . TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledconentserees .Chaptor * L. SAULODAVID ALINSKY: AY AMEXICAN RADICAL =, II. THE ALINSKY METHOD OF ORGANIZING: THREE ea we -CASE-STUDIESs ope ee ee ee ewe Ab IIL. "A‘PRIZE PIECE OF POLTICALPORIOGRAPHY" oe lh ' STOCTIVES ON ALINSKY AND MTS LODIe ee 53 ? BIRTH se ee eee 68 = 76 _ REALIZING LIFE AF”ACKHONL EDS Although 1 Mave no "Loving wife" to thank for keoping tho chiidron y while I wrote, I do havo many friends and “teachora who have contributed to tho procons of theolesweltings And I thank then for their tireless help and sneonragement. In regard to the naper Atself, thore are threo peoplo who deserve special agz ont tin. Alinsky for providing a tople, sharing his timo and offering mo a ‘Job; Miss Alona E. Evans for her. | thoughtful quostioning and careful editing that clarified fuzzy thinking and tortured prose; and Jan Krigbaun for hor spirited Antollectual companionship and typewriter rescue work. . { har ( SNCHAPTER I soa SAUL DAVID ALINSKY: AN AMBRIGAN RADI Whth cuetamary Dratich umierotatenent, The Bconomist referred to Saul Alinsky as "that rare specimen, the successful radical." This ° 4s ono ef tho blander descriptions applied td Alinsky during a thirty~ year career in which opithets have been collocted more regularly than paychecks. The epithpts are net surprising as most people whe deal with Alinsky need te categorize in order to handle hin, It 4s far oasior te cope with a man 1f, deporting on sdeelerical perspoctivo, he 4s olassi~ © ; fiod an a orackpot" than te prappla with the substantive damen he pre= eonts. Fer Saul Alinsly 4s mare than a man whe has ersated a particular appreach te community organising, he io the articulate prepenent. ef what: many censider te be a dangerous .cecto/political philesophy. An undor- staniing of tho "Alinsky-type mothod" (4.0. his organizing method) as Woll as tho philesephy en which it is based mist start with an under- standing of the nan hinsolf. e Alinsky was bern 4n a Chicago slum te Russian Jewish immigrant, parents, and these early cenditions of slum living and poverty in Chi- chro ostablished the centext of his ideas and modo ef action. He traces his identification with the peor back to a heme in the rear ef a stero where his idoa of luxury was using the bathroom without a custemer bang- . 2 ; ing en tho'deor, Chicage itself has also greatly influenced hint Where did J. come from? Chicago. I can curse.and hate the town bat let anyone else de At and they're in for a battle, There I've had the happiest ani the werst times of my life. Every street has’, 4ts.persenal joyand pain te mo, On this street 4s. the:church of. @ Catholic Bishep whe was a big part of ny lifes. further dew is anether church where the paster tee has meant 2 lot te me; -ard-a couple miles away is a conetery—voll, skip it. Many Chicage streets”< bre pieces of iny Life and werk. Things that happened here have recked a lot ef boats in a lot of cities. Nowadays I fly all’ ever, the country in the course of ry werk. But when these flaps g0 denn : ‘ever the Chicage skyline, I knew I'm-hone.3 ! Although Alinsky calls Chicage his "city", the place really rep- rosonts to him the American Drean-~in all its Nightmare and itd glery. Ho I4vod the Dream as he meved from the Chicage sluns te Califernia’ then back te attend the University ef Chicago. Alinsky credits his develeping an active imaginatien, which is ossential for a geed erganizer, te his majering in archacelegy. An imagination fecusing 6n Inca artifacts, hew-" _” ever, needs oxpesure te secial problems before it can beceme useful in commnity organizing, Exposure began for Alinsky when be and other stu- dents collected food for the starving coal miners in southern I1lineis whe Wore rebelling against John L. Lewis and the United Mine Werkors. Lewis becae a role model fer Alinsiy whe learned about laber's organ- jzational tactics from watching and working with Lewis during the early years of the CIO, Alinsky seen recognized that one of tho hardest jebs " of the leadér is an imaginative ons as he struggles te develep a ratienale for spontaneous actien: For instance, when the first sit-down strikes teck place in Flint, no one really planned then. They wore clearly ‘a viblatien ef tho law--trespassing, seizure of private property, Laber leaders ran for covor, refused to cerment, But Lewis issued a pontifical statement, 'a man's right to a job transcends the right ef private Property,! which sounded plausible .! : After graduating from tho University of Chicage, Alinsig re~ esived a fellewship'in-ctiminélogy with a first assignment’ te get a look at crime from the inside of gangs. Ho attached himself te the Capene gang : nae s-attaining e perspective frem tihich he viewed the gang as a huge quasi- public utility serving tho poeple of Chicago. Alinsiyts eclectic life during the thirties, working with gangs, raising money for the Interna= tone) Betesde, whMelvine the plight of the Southern. share eroppelyi fighting for public housing, reached a turhing point in 1938 whon he was offered the Job a3 hoad of probation and parole for the City of _ _Philddelphia, Socurity. Prestigo. Honoy. Each of theso inducements alone'has been enough to, turn many a lean and hungry agitator inte. —~ a woll-fed esteblishmentarian. Alinsky rojectod the offer and its - triple threat for a career of organizing the poor to holp themselves. Has first target zene was the Back of the Yards area 4n Chicago; the immediate impetus was his intenso hatred of fascism: eeeZ went into "Back of the Yards' in Chicago. This was Upton Sinclaix's ‘Jungle.’ This was not the slum across the tracks. This wes tho slum across the tracks fromhcross the tracks. Also, this was the heart, inthicago, of all the native fascist moves \.‘* ments--the Coughlinites, the Silver Shirts, the Pelley movement... I wont 4in there to fight fascism, If you had asked me then what ny profossion was, I would have told you I was a professional anti- fascist.5 G 7 Alinsky's anti-fascisn, built arouhd anti-authoritarianisn, anti-racial ~ superiority, anti-oppression, was the ideological justification for his move into organizing and the first social basis on which he began con- structing his theory of action. . WorkingsinChicago and other communities betworn 1938 and 1946 Alinsky refined his nothods and expanded his theory. Then in 1946, Alinsky's first book,Reveille for Radicals, was published. Since Alinsky is firstly an activist and secondly a theoretician,more than oneshalt the book is concerned with the tactics’of building "People's ongenttations.” There are chapter discussions of "Native Leadership," "Community Traditions and Organizations," "Conflict Tatties," "Popular Education,” and "Paych= . “gtocical Observations on Hass Organizations.” The book begins by asking ‘the question: What 4s a Radical? This is a baste question for Alinsky who. proudly wefare ta hicenif re a radials . aeHissanswar is prefaced by pages of Fourthwof—July rhetoric about” Amoricanst “They are a pooplo creating a now bridge of mankind in between the past of narrow ee chauvinism and the horizon of a new man. Kinde-a people of the world." Although the book was written right after World War II, whtoh deoply affected Alinsky, his belief trfimerican de- mocracy has deep historical root atleast, as ho. interprets. history: The Anorican people were,in the beginning, Revolutionaries and = “Tories.-The American People ever since have been Revolutionaries and Tories,..regariloss of tho labels ofthe past and presente. The clash of Radicals, Conservatives, and Liborals which makes up America's political history opens tho door to the most. funda- mental question of What 4s America? How do the people of America foel?.Thore were and are a number of Amoricans--few, to be sure-— filled with deep foolings for people. They know that people are thé stuff that makes up the dream of democracy. These few wore and are . the American Radicals and the only way we can understand the Amer dcan Radical is to understand what wo moan by this feeling for and with the peoples? : What Aldnsiy deans by this "fecling for and with the people™ 4s simply how much ono porsonfoally caros about people unlike himself. He Allustratesthe feoling by a sories of examples 4n whieh he poses questions such as: So you are a white, native-born Protestant. Do you like people? He then proceeds to demonstrate how,in spite of protestations, the Protes- tant (or tho Irish Catholic or the Jew or the Nogro or the Mexican) “only pays lip: service to the idea of equality. This::technique of confrontation in Alinsky's writing offectiyely involves most of his readers who will recognize in thoxsolves at least one of the characteristics he denounces. Having confronted his reders with their hypocrisy, Alinsky defines tho ,Amorican Radical as “...that unique porson who actually believes what ho " sayss.eto whontho common good is tho freatest’ personal value. .=who gen- 8 winely and completely belioves in mankind ee,Minsky outlines American history focu’sing.on mon ho would call. "radical," confronting his readors again with the “unique” way Amoricans . havo. synthesized the alien roots of radicalism, Marxism, Utopian soc- delism, syndicalion, the French Revolution with their om conditions and expericnees: Whore are the American Radicals? They were with Patrick Honry Anthe Virgina Mall of Burgessos; they wore with Sanjidans 4n Boston; they were with that peer of all Amc wn Radicals, Tom Paino,from the distribution 6f Co: h those dark days of the American Rovolution, The American Rac 2 colonies erimly forcing the ~ addition of tho Bill of Rights to o:r Constitution. They stood at, ‘ the side of Tom, Jefferson Anthe fir: + battle betwoen the Tories of Hantjton andthe Anorican ‘people. They founded and fought in, the FLoco-Focos, ‘Thoy wora dhthe first wiion strike inlimorica and they fought for the distribution of the tern Lands to the massos of -people instead of the fow,..Thoy © inthe shadows of tho under. Ground railroad andthey openly redc in the sunlight with John Brow to Herpors Forry,..Thoy were with Horace Mann fighting for tho ex- tonsion of educational opportunitics...They built the Anorican Labor movenant... ; Many of their deods aro not anghever will bo recorded in America’s ‘Hstory. They were among the grimy men dn‘the dust bowl, they swoated with ‘tho share: cropyers. They wore at the side ofthe Okies facing the California vigilantes. They stood and stand Uefore the fury of lynching mobs. Thoy wore and aro on the picket lines gazing unflinch- Angly at tho throatoning, flushed, angry facos of the police. Anerican Radicals aro to be found wherever and whenovor fmorica’ moves closor to the fulfillment of its democratic dream,” Whonever America's hearts are breaking, these fmerican Radfeals Were andiare. Jmerice was boqun by its Radicals. ho hope and future of America Lies with its Radicals.9 Words such as these coupled with his compelling personality enabled Alinsky to hold a sid ‘% seminar during tho 1968 Democratic Party Convention in’ Chicago. He socratically gathered around him a group of young demohstrators on tho corner of IMichigan and Bilbo on Monday night telling then that they * 10 3 were another genoration of American Radicals. . Alinsky attempts to encompass all those worthy offis description "radical" dnto an ideological Woltanschauung:What does tho Radical want? Ho wants a world in which the worth -- of tho individual is recognizeds..a world basod on tho morality of: mankind. ..The Radical believes that all peoples should have a high standard of food, housing,and health...The Radical places hunan’* rights far above property rights. Ho is for universal ,freo public @ducation and recognizes this as.fundanontal tonthe demouratic way of life...Domocracy to hin 4s working from tho bottom upes.Tho Radical believes completely inbeal equality of opportunity.for all peoples regardless of race, color, or creed.i1 . Huch of what Alinsky professes doos not sound "radical." His are the words tased.4n our schools and churchos, by our parents and their friends, by our _peors. The difforence “is that Alinsky really believes in them and ee nizes the necossity ofHanging the present structurns of our lives in ordor to realize them. Thera aro many Anconsistencios.4n Alinsky's thought which he himsolf recognizes and disnissos, He beldoves that Life is inconsistent and that ono needs flexibility in dealing with its many facets, His writings reflect the flavor of inconsistency which permeates his approach to organizing. They also suggest Alinsky's place in the Aijerican Radical. tradition. In order to discuss his plate, it is necessary to cireunvent his definition of "rad- foal" based onthno= psychological stofngth and commitment, and to consider nore conventional uses of tho tent. | Although thera is great-disagreemont among writers about the dof- inition of "Z:die2." and anong radicals themselves over the scope of the woni's meaning, there is sufficient agreoment to permit a genoral definition. —-A-radieal 44 ono ho advocates sweeping chancos-in the-ext sting-Laws-and— ) aimed at the roots of. methods of govornnent, Thoso proposod chanzos ai politiead problons which 4n Mamdan.teris aro tho attitudes and the behaviors» of mon, Radionls are not intorested in anoliorating the symptons of docay but in drastically altering the causoa of soctotal conditions. Radicalism — "euphasizos roason rathor than rovorence, althouch Radicals have oftdn boon 12 tho most emotional and Loast reasonable of men." * whee 3 3ie of the strongest strains in modern, radicalisa 4s the eighteenth t century Entightement's faith an human reason and ‘the possible pettecti bility of man.This faith in the continsing dmprovonnnt of man was and is)” doninated by valuos derived fron the French and American ReYolutions and profoundly influenced by the Industrial Revolution, The Industrial Revol- ution shifted the onphasis of radicalism to an urban ordentatdon. AMUnsgy holds to the baste radieal fonets of equality and tthe urban orientation, but he does not advocate imnediato change. He is too much in the world- rightenow to allow himself the luxury of symbolic suicide. He realizes that radical goals have to bo achieved often by non-radical, oven "anti-radical" means. For Alinsky, tho non-radical menns involve tho traditional quest for powor to chenzo oxisting situstions. To further understand’ AVAnsly's ne his attitude toward the use of powor. radicalism one must ox The key word for an Alinsky-type orgenizing offort is "power." "Yo individual or organization can negotiate without power . a . to compel negotiations." The question is how’one acquires power, and As he say: ‘iTo attempt to operate on good Alinsky's answer 4s through organizatéo vill rather thun on a power basis would be to attompt something which the world hs never yot exporkonceds=ponenbel ta make even good wi” ‘ 4 effective it must be mobilized into a powor unit," Ons of tho problems with ‘advocating mobilization for’power 4s tho popular dintruat of amassing power. Anotleans, es John Kenneth Galbraith points owt dn Jeerkesh Capitalism, are caught 4n a paradox regarding their cause it “obviously presonts awlward problems for a _viow toward yover b _tonmunity which abhors its existence, dsavous its possession, but-values _ we. its oxistenc.." “ Alinsky recognizes this paradox and éautions against allowing our toncuss to trap our minds? : ‘ We have become involved in bypaths of confusion or sonantics. . The ward . tmounrt hee throurh timo acquired overtones of sinister -corrupt evil, unhealthy dmofal-Machfavellianioa, ad a general phantasmagoria of the nether regions.16 _ ~~For Alinsky, power As the "ory essonco of life, tho dynanté of life" and © 4s found in "...active citizen papticipation pulsing upward providing'a unified strength for a common purpose of organization...eithor changing 1 circumstances or opposing change." ALinsky argues that those who wisH to change circumstances must” develop a mass-based organization and be propared for conflict. Ho is a neg-Hobbesian who objects to the consensual mystiquo surrounding political processes; for him, conflict 4s the route to power, Those possessing power want toretain it and often to extond tho bounds of it. Those desiring a change in the power balance generally Lack tho established criteria of. money or status ahd so pst mobilize numbers. Nobilized groups representing op- posed intorests will naturally be in conflict which Alinsky considers a healthful and necessary aspect of a community organizing activity. lie 4s supported in his prognosis by conflict analysts such as Lewis Coser who points out in The Functions of ‘Social Conflict that: Conflict with othor groups contributes to the establishment and reaffirmation of the group and-maintains its boundaries against the surrounding social ‘world.i8 In ordor to achieve a oe without bounds 4t appears dsential for many groups to solidify oe “‘{dentitdes both irfreLation to their own menbership and to their cxtcrnal onvironmont. This has been the rationale of nation ‘alist groups historically and among American blacks presently. ' The organizor plays a significant rolo in procipitating ana directing a Community's conflict pattern, As Alinsky views this tele, the organizer. ioe sdedicated to changirig the character of life ofa particular community and] has an initialfunction of serving as an abrasive agent to rub ~x + «raw thexosentnents of the people of the community; to fan latent /hos.- thidties of, many’ of the people to the point of overt expressions... ~ “a to providea.channel into which they can pour their frustration of the pasts to create a mechanism which can drain off underlying guilt for | having accepted the previous situation for so long atime. ~ ‘.Whén thoso who represont the status quo Label you\4.e.the com - munity organizorJ-as an ‘agitator’ they are-completoly correct, for that is, in one word, your function--to agitate to the point of rd conflict.19 . ’ . An approach advocating conflict has produced strong: reactions. Some of his critics compare Minsky's tactics with thoso of various hate groups such a3 lynch mobs which also "rub raw the resentments of the people." Alinsky anovors such criticism by roninfing his erities that the difference botwoon a’ "liberal" anda "radical" is that the liberal refuses to fight for tho’goals he professes. During his first organising venture in Back of the Yards he ran into opposition from many liborals who, althowgh agreeing with his goals, repudiated his tactics. They wore according to Alinsky "Like the folks during the American Revolution who said "America should be free but not through bloodshed." ° When the residents of Back of the Yards battled the hugo meat-packing concerns, they wore fighting for their Sobs ond or their lives. Unfortunately, the war-like rhetoric can obscure the con- structivenoss of the conflict ALinsly-orchostrates. : i In additionko aiding in formation of identity, conflict between Groups plays a creative social role hy providing a process through which diverse interos are adjusted. To indues conflict is a risk because there 4s no maranteo that 4t' will romain controllable. Alinsky recognizes the risk ha tekes bit bolieves it is worth the canblo 4f the conflict process results inkho resticturing of rolationships so as to permit the enjoymont of greator froeden among nen meoting ‘as oquals. Only through social oquality can mon detensins the structure of their om social arrangements.” Tho concest of social equality dz 4 pait of Alinsiy's'soclal morality ‘Bhat Assumes oll individuals and nations act first. to preserve their'pun: 1 : aeAntorests and then rationalize any action as_ Adealistic. 19. thinks ” 2 4s only through accopting ourselves as wo roally” are that xo can begin to praction "rosL" morality: 7 . a , Theré are two roads to everything-sa low road and a high one. The high road 4s the oasiest. You just talk principles and bo angolic rea garding thinge.you don't practice. The Low road 4s the harder, It 49 . tho tack of making one's solf-intorest behavior moral behavior. Wo have behaved morally iri the’ world in the past fow years because we want * the poople of tho world on our side. When you got n good moral position, look behin@ it to see what is self-interost. . The cyntetom of thig viewpoint wes mitigated sonewhat by my discussing tho question of morality with Alinsky who concoded that idoalism can parallel % the man who intends to act in tho wWorld- solf-intorost. But he believes tt: aswits mist not be rislod by d2lustons of tho vorldaas.Wo-would-likendtaton ve.” Alinsky clains a position of moral relativism, but his moral context As stabilized by a belief in the eventual manifestation of the goodness of man, He beliovas that if men were allowed to live froo from fear and want they would live in poaco. Ho laso belioves that only men with a sense of their om worth and a respect for the commonality of humanity will.-be able to create this now world. ; 7 Therefore, the main driving foree behind his push for onganization is the effect that beloricing to a group Working for a common purpose has had onthe hen he hes organized. Frustration is transformed into. confidence « vhen nen rococnizo their capability for contribution. The senso of dignity is particularly crucial in organizational activity among, the poor whom Alinsky warns to beware of programs which attack only their’ economié poverty. . Wolfar programs since the Now Deal. have neither redeveloped poverty areas nor even eata)yzod the poor nto holping thondelves A cyclo of den pondoney has beén creatod which: ensnares its victims inte esttation and, apathy. To dromati:o his warning to tho poor,Alinsky proposed sonding Nozroes, ; es dressed in-African-tribalse Chicayos This action would havo dranatized what ho refers to as the, "col- onialisn™ and the "Poaco Corps'mentality" of tho poverty pipe * '~ Alinsky ds interested 4m people helping thenselves without. tho Anof'footive inter? — from wolfarephiles. Charles Silberman in his book, Crisis Jr Black and White describes Alinsky's motivation in terns~ of his faith in peoplo: (Tho ossential. differonco betweon Alinsky and his enemles is that. Alinsky really believes in democracy; -he really Uelieves that the help--*--~ less, tho poor, tho“badly-educated can solve thoir om problems if fAven the chance and the, means; ho really belioves that the poor and uneducated, no less thanthe rich mdoducated, have the right to: decide how their lives should be run and what services shouldbe offored to . then instead of boing ministered to like childron.25 ‘This faith in democracy and in the people's ability to "make 4t" is pecul- | Aarly American anjnany might doubt its radicalnoss. Yot,Alinskyts belief and devotion 4s radical; demccracy 4s still a radical doa in a world where wo often confuso images with realities, words with sctions, Alinsky's boligf in self-interested denocracy unifies his views on the uso of . the power/conflic! model in organizing and the position of morality and welfare in the ‘phil~ osophy underlying his methodology. .* CHAPTER T FOOTC ime on tho Barricades," The Egonomist, May 13-19, 1967, p. 14. 2uthe Professional Radkeal Homents, Junoy 1965, pe 38. Sra.” : Tpid. y pa"HO. : “pel NS. Ssaut. D, ALinskyy Rows for Ro Press, 1948), ps (Chicago: University of Chicago Trbsd., ps ike Sroig., ps 22. Soma. . as Saul Dy AlAnsigyy private interview in Boston, Massachueotts, October, 1968. Wdicals, p. 23. 2 UW prinsigyy Revailie for § _ ohn W. Derry, Tho Radiesl Tradition (London: ifactiitlan, 1967), pe vid. 13p4n Dodson, "The Church, POWER, and Saul Alinsly," Religion in Life, (Spring, 1967), p. 11. toa, 15yohn Konnoth Galbraith, Arerican Canitaliss (Boston: Houghton Mifflin “Company, 1962), ps 2. . Sanason, pe 12. | oe ‘Thid. 18, ata st? The Functions of Social Conflict (New York: a Free Press 1956), pe Be z _ 19 : Dodson. ; onesies B, Silbeman, Crisis An Black and White (Now Yorkt Random Houses: 1964), Pe 331. i. snag: interview, Boston. ; aMeatrick Andorson, Maldng Trouble 1g ALinsig"'s Ductness," Tho Now York Mmes Macazino (October 9, 1966), p. 29. ag ‘Silberman, ps 332+CHPTERIT = : : ‘THE ALINSKY METHOD OF ORGANIZING: THREE CAS -STUDLES : - “Tho Alinsky method of community organizing lias two distinct © ‘ elomonts, One, tho "Alinsky-type protest" is “an,oxplosive mixture of rigid discipline, brilliant showmanship, and a street fightor's instinct for rathlossly exploiting his onomyts en Tho second, modelled safter trade. unson organization mothods, involyos the hard work of ree~ _ocnizing intorests,, seoking out indigenous leaders, and building an organization whose poser As viewed as Logitimate by the larger com- munity. It is difficult to discuss these two components soparately bo- causy they are woven into the organizational pattern according to sit- uational necessity. Sono organizational situationsneed tho polarizing effect of “rubbing raw the sores of discontent" vhilo éthors with well- definod resontnents noed Leaders. : Anothor distinctive featuro of the Alinsky mothod as mentioned in the pravious chapter is the uso of military Language. As Silborman points out,such language is appropriatafor groups engaged in “war-liko" struggles for, But hor do you gain a victory before you have on amy? The only method aver devised 4s quorrilla warfaro: to avold afixed battlo where the forces are arrayed and where tho new army's wealmess + Would become visible, and to.concentrate instead on hit-and-run tactics cesijmed to gain smal] but measurable victories. Honce the_ emphasis on such dramatic actions as parades and rent strikes whose mmin objeotive 4 to ereate’a sone of’ solddaiity and eonruntty.2 “gihough Minalgt 2 gon, of Gommunity solidarity and his war. on lower * Lossnoes | has'been couspted Antothe inibrie of the fedora) welfare Pro. grans, there do continuing mistrust’ of his tactics. As hag. been ote: siatt 5 ay posted, there is no sot pattern for oach of his organizational efforts. Thoro | are, however)? tactical guidelines which can'toopslicd.in onder to fulfill tho following Cai of an Alinsky organizations = (a) It 4s rootad inthe leeat tradition, the local indigonous Loader= —- --ghip, the local, organizations and agencies, and,in short, the Local people. (b) Its energy or driving force is generated by tho self-interest “of the local residents fox the wolfaro of their children and thenselvos. =~ (c) Its' program for action devolops hand in hand with tho organ Azation of the community council. The pro; that series of common afr.cments which results in the develop. ment of the local organization. (4) It 4s a program arising out of tho Local poople carrying with 4t tho direct ‘participation of practically all tho organizations inapartionlar area. It involves a substantial dogreo of indi- vidual citizon participation; a constant day sto day flow of vol. untesr activities and the daily functioning offmumerous Local com ritteos chargod with specific short-term functions, (o) It constantly omphasizes the functional relationship between prob~ lenis and therefore its progran is as broad as the social horizon of the community, It avoids, at all costs, circumseribed end sog~ nental prograns which in turn attract the support of only a seg- mont of tho local population. (f£) It recognizes that a democratic society is one which responds to poplar pressures, and therefore realistically operates on the basis of prossure.For the same weason it doos.not shy away from involvonont in‘nattors of controvérsy. (g) It concentrates! on the utilization of Andigenous individuals, who, df not leaders at tho beginning,can bo developed into Leaders. (h) It (ives priority to the significanco of self-interost. The organ= Azntion itself proceeds m:the idea of channeling the many diverse forces of self-interest within‘ the community into a common dir ection for tho common good and at the samo time respects the autonomy ef individuals: and organizations. (4) It bocomes completely.self-financed atthe end of, approximately: three years, This not only testifies to its representative character in that’ the local residents support their: own organization finans cially, but insures to the.lotal council the acid test of inde. 3 pendence: "the ability to pay one's wayet3 *ie SOHBRABE Sy) 5: CAGtAOR Abst Tigh His ations 48 12Ke capeusEenE “oii wes, current theories of international relations without mentioning Vietnam. Wo \A21: consider three of the organizations which Alinsky helped build. The first of the threo 4s the Back of tho Yards Neighborhood Council _vhten de the prototype cotmunity organization dating bitk to tho Late 1930's, Alinsky's involvenont with the Council’ lod to tho‘ostabliskment of the Industrial Areas Foundation which subsequently coorditated other organizing activities. One of the most important of these was The Woodlawn Organization, a black community group inthicago. Alinsky frequently oncountors blacks who viow Alinsky's efforts as just ono more exanplo of white man's power polities gamo, He tells such critics that,"Sunglasses, Swahild, and soul food won't: - win power for tacks. Thirdly,we will look at the organizational prob= Lons Anvolved in the Rochestor black community's confrontation with the Kodak Company. THE BACK OF THE YARDS NELGHBORNOOD cOUNCTL Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle, focused attention on the stockyards in Chicago and-the deplorable conditions of life in-the area surrounding the Yards. This area, Back of the Yards, was bigamously wedded to tho ment.packing industry and the Ronan Catholic Church. The meat fac tories provided jobs and tho Church minf’stored to the spiritual and social needs of 4ts parlshoners. The wavos of Polish, Slovak, and Irish imi grants © vefozo Wortd War I, nnd Noxdean Srtizration aftor, supplied both workers and parishoners: Tho dunigrants also successively lowered the wage scale and fragmented tho’ Church into bickering nationalistic divisions. The area's dopressod economy was accompanied by acute environmental problems such as overcrowded hiensingy dnsutfietent sanitation, unpaved Hiseoti, “fou. rece, reational. facilitics, high delinquency and orime ratody-abfinadaquate schools, Alinsky renenbers the Back’ of-the-Yards.as_the- nad of-Aslerioan. ms, worse Hran Haclem.% . EAlinsky's experiences in the Back ofthe Yards formed the basis for his: approach to organizing, bat thoyabe difficult to trace, Host of the information related to Alinskyts role in the formulation of the Neigh borhood Council cones from Alinsky, He gives a third Berson necount an. Rovailie for Radiaals, and he is always ready to reminisco about that ex .. perience. Evelyn Zyguuntowics's account of the fomation of the Council, which 1s considered "outhoritative” by tho presont members, of the Council, does not méntion Alinsky once by name excopt 4n the bibliography. When quostioned about tho omission in the Zyguntoules thesis, Alinsicy attrib. uted it to hi S great success in building an organization which did not need ad That Alinsky participated in the organizing,and that his par theipation led to the development of his organizational ‘strategy is unde- ‘batable. It is genorelly accepted-among orzanizers, reporters, and 2eae | + denies that Alinsky was tho moving forco behind the struggle. An examination of tho availeblo matorial about the Council's formation affirms that assumption. - . Tho oipantzation of the Back of tho Yards began at a méoting in the local YWCA to plan a community recroational prograiiy Before the meoting 4n the Spring of 1939 the Back of the Yards had been the scone of various community projects initiated by settlement housss, the Church, and unions, Tho Packinchouse Yorkers Organizing Comitton, on affiliate of tho CIO, { : began orgenising tio ‘employees of Swift, Amour, Wilson, and the other moat housos with rcLativoly little opposition. The lack: of managehent op= position might have besn anticipated sineo by tho late 1930's many of tho comptes started moving out of tho Chicago Yards, The succoss.of tho union - fobgind sdnrencourared: others both dn and out of tho community. A hon-res~ a social worker initiated tho mooting ee the YHCA ‘out cof thieh 2 eane the " SCP 40 4 Consimby Congres"! : 'For fifty yoars wo have waited for someone to offer a solution—' but nothing--has happened. Today we know that we oursolves must face” and solve these probloms. Wo know what poor housing; unemployment, . and juvenile delinquency means; and we are sara that 4f a way ds to be found wo can and.must find it, . Wo hava stopped waiting. We churchmen, businessnen, and union man have formed tho Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, This Council ‘ds inviting ropresontativos of all the organizations--church, business, social, fraternal,-and labor to particiapte in a conferonce...to thor- oughly discuss the problems of joint action which can effectively attack tho evils of diseaso, bad housing, crim9,and_punishnent.8 Alinsky who helped draft the Call continuod tising his straight. forward, self-interost approach to convince the community that ‘working to~ gether was tho only hope for then. For oxample,he a approached a Catholié priest intems of Christian ethics but on the basis of solf-interest such ag tho welfare ofthis» Church, even its physical property. Alinsky's rec. cognition of the Catholic Church as an “integral and dynamic factor in the experience and lives of the people" von hin the supsort’ of the Sentor Aux. Aldary Bishop of Chicago, the Host Reverend Bernard J. Shiel, pp His) ae - Support helped bring tofether the conflicting nationalistic Catholic: a ~GRurehoss Then hastility between the Church and the unions lessened as both recognized the necessity of cooperation. Tho primary question was, however, "cooperation" for what? The By-Laws of the Council (adopted Yay, ..1939) ddealistieally ee that ~ secthis orgemization 4s founded for the purpose o f uniting all organ dzations within tho community known as ‘Back of the Yards’ in order to promote the welfare of all rosidonts of that conmunity regardless of their race, color, or creed, so that they may all have the oppor- tunity to'find health, happiness and security through-the denocratic way of Lifost1 ir Alinsky remerfbors the ‘atuoaphere in the nei chborhood as. seem hell, holo of hatesse” + When penpl@ talk nbout Back of the Yards today, somo of thon co _ Linos 1iko "rub resentmonts raw? to describe my organizing mthods, Now’: oF do you think when I went in there or when I go 4nto a Negro community — today I have to toll then that they're discriminatod against? Do, you - think Z-go fn thore and get thom.angry? Don't you ‘think, they have re. “sontnents to beri tathy and how much raver can I rub thom?ees . -What happens when we come in? We say. "Look, ynii don’t have to take this; thoro is something you can do about 4t, You can get jobs; you can broak the Segregation patterns. Put you have toi have power to do 4t, and you'll only get it through organization. Because power Just goes to two poles-.to’thoso who've got monoy, and those who've t people. You haven't got noncy, so your own followmen are your & RNP end Win sh aaiinn gle nek MO AGAMA G EOCUL: Ate ne u're aetives And ait of a sudden you stand ups That's what happened dn Back Of tho Yands.12 Tho process of "standing up! however, took’ tine. - The Neighborhood‘ Council's two immediate “gozls, to achieve economic , security and, to inprove, the local environnont, catapulted 4t into a struggle with the meat compnaios.Vigorous activity stalled during World War Tm becasue there were faw groups ready to follow John 1. Lewis's lead and Anterefere An ony vay with tho var offort. During the War the Couneil. ald woldatty Ate support anohg all groups At constitutionally represented. Organ ized ‘business, for example, had been catalogued among the members of the °° 7 Council but did not officially form The Back of the Yards Businessuen's Association until 1945. Local residents were kept 4nformed of each othor's resentments through a community newspaper, the Back of the Yards Journal, The Journal, still operates on a cooperative basis with the owner and a i spocial- board of governors, representative of the Council, céntroLling the — wookly paper's policy. 7 The organization 6f the Counci, and its carly achLoveniznts in con- solidating power particularly impressed Bishop Shoil. After the fir st annual Commupity Congrass in 1940 he doscribed-it as “ono of the most vivid denon- strations of tho dsnocratie procoss. that I have evor cere Bishop. - Sof. enthusiastically introduced Alinsky tqllarshall Field who suggasted to Alinsky that-he carry nis ‘nodol ahd Adoas of organizing to other areas ‘of tho country by teans of a _taxcorempt foundation. When Atinaky was convinced that Fleld Yast did not/want, him out of Chicago, he accepted the posttion : of Executive Bi hocter of the Thdustehal, Areas Foundation. AR) woriding with’!: ; 14 : ; winning capital of $15,000. ~ ; a Lovee ts * the Council moved into action after the War by fully supporting tho Packinghouso Strike of i946 providing the community with an opportunity. to mobilize: financial, medical, and noral. help for tho strikers, Coordinated through ‘the Council, the Churches oponed soup lines and child care centers; businessmen suppliod food; landlords ignored unpaid rents;. physiclans of- : _fered free eae Tho community backing of the strike resulted both 4n a good sdttloment for the workers and in va.more powerful voice for the : Council. The Illinois legislature heard that loud voice when the Council. voted in 1948 to'lead a city-wide sales ce strike against the state ad . ministration's proposed cat in ADC funds. are state House of Representatives admitted: to having been swayed. by public pressure directed by the Council.” and restored the funds. As tho Council's political sophistication increased, it moved beyond tho tactical Lovol of dononstrating community solidarity, madnpulating public pressure, and threatening uncooperative ‘residents with ostracism. In a 1949 confrontation with the city's Hoalth ang Building Commissioners over its ontoréenont of the housing codes, the Council's Housing Committes compiled enough statistics to estiarrass the housing authorities and prepared to roloase thm to tho- newspapers, As a threat is often as effective as action, héuses were repaired, ae ; Tho Counci} also: took legal action agaizst the Pennsylvania Railroad on behalf.of tho residents whose health and property were damaged from-en. “ino smoke, and against the neat factories whose stonch fouled the air. The Railroad was “fined by the Mordeipal: Court of Chicago, oe the ee mere : forced to construct buildings to house their garbage.”In addition to each of its varied activities, the Council assumed an educational function by-.carefully explaining every project to the res- Adents, Occasionally: the educative process was an ond in itself as in the case of the Council's offorts to-Antroduco basic facts of niltrition to tho comunity, During the Spring of 1945 nutrition was discussed at union meetings,.in Sunday sermons, and at school assemblies, No resident could 4 nove sade his Aghborhood bciesalsie wired dienes ad drink his orange Juice. Hore often the educational progran was dixected toward specific actions, such as the creation of a local credit union. Although financial experts ex plained the credit operation, the union was managed by Council members who gained thetr-expertise through rete . : cos ‘The importance ‘of popular. participation 4n’ the Council s"activities, | essential in any community action project, was summed up in the 1948 Annual. Report of the Exectitive Secretary. 7 While the achievements of the Council are great in thomselvés, underlying each individual achievemnet is the thread of the most-im- — portant objective that we are working toward...tha most important el- _ ement in democracy. By that I moan participation. I mean tho recog- ° nition on the part,of the people that democracy is a way of life which: can only be sustained through the pdtt of the poople. Only when the people recognize that theirs is the decision, the right, and the duty to shape thoir own life, only then will democracy expand and grow. * That 4s why the cardinal keynote of the Back of the Yards Noighborhood Council 1s: 'Wo, the people will work out our ow destiny.’ It is for this reasonithat I am asicing you to koop in mind clearly that évery single achievement which I can report tonight has behind it a history of participation, of fighting and of awakening of a buming passion for justice and brotherhood of man by thousands of. our peopie.20 For the last thirty years the hope oxpressed by the Council's motto has ofteh been realized as the carefully nurtured community power in Back- of the Yards affocted the city, the stato,and even the nation. However, much of tho commmnitty's influence is traceable not to “its "burning passioh® but to its most Allustrions resident, Mayor Richard J. Daloy.Mayor Daloy!s assumption of political power in the oarly 1950's” curiously parallols the Council's growth in power, Many of the Nayor's 7+ staff are also residents and share tho Mayor's loyalty to the nel ghbor- hood. Whatever elo one may say about Daley, he has a gentine concern for tho “forgotten” (white?) man, and almost echoos Alinsky rhetoric-whon speaking abot the Council. As he said in 1966, seeIf we had in evdry neighborhood, in overy community, an-organization such as yours we Would havo a much better city...Tho efforts to sélve, * our problems mist come from the leadorship of the community which is so exeoilontly displayed in your creat organization. Tho leadership and the solution must cone from a willingness of the pooplo to par- ticipate dn solving their problens. No governnontal body...will re- solve these problems alone. seeuhat a great picture of the final essence of Anerican govornment this presonts. The businossnon, the religlous leaders, the tedchers, all sitting don together, all trying to find. tho answers, trying to do something to help bettor their community. 21 Such words from the Chicago political establistinent are enathema to ALinsky not only because of his habitual anta-ostabli shnont stanco, but also because of ‘presont conditions in Back of the Yards. The lower-class white . workers in the area feel threatened by the accelerating paco of sockat changes They.fear the Loss of their factory dr‘ clerical Jobs to automation, and their hi sto Negroes, The Council's ability. to fulfill most of tho residentirl néeds hag Locked the n@ighborhood: so that fow residents ever Leave, Onc criticisn of the Alinsky method is that such strong comunity organizations ten? to "nail down" a neighborhood, retarding social and political dovelopment. i . The’ collective nantfostation of such retardation 1s reactionary, * soprogationist polities. Alinsky recognizéd such tendonoies srftne -Antain . of 1968 when’ hevialked through the, nedighborhood, seeing Wallace posters and _ “ithite Power" ‘slogans on fonces axtcar bumpers. ca ‘The CounctL's octal worker, Phyllis Ryan, attributes much of the frustration in the area, to the younger residents who often do not ove= eh ab 5 _* Universalist erode. “ Alinsky romenbers that many young people from the = yards ‘area‘formed a crypto-fascist cadre in the late 1930's,He fought _.Bonditst and for thon onco and nay do 20 again. + THE. WOODLAWM ORGANIZATION The obstacles Tr Alinsky in organizing the Back of tho Yards were mitigated by several factors. The Roman Catholde Chureh as well. a2 tho meat industry provided a cohesiveness to tho community which facile Stated attonpts at mobilization, Various vsoctal pressures accompanying * the opened possibilities for entrance into the political struce ture to groups such as labor. The Depression itself produced widespread & questioning of the assunptions underlying existing | social conditions whteh lepitimtzed popular efforts to change. thems And tho Yar yoars wore wrod “ones for organizing similtancously against fascism at hone a8 We _ engendering community spirit. All in all, many of the problems associated with community organizing 4n the 1960'S wore not cause for anxloty in Back of the Yards. There was, for oxanplo, Little questioning of thd tra- @itionally accopted meaning of "community" as "a croup whose members occupy a given territory within which the total round of life can be pursued." * Tho rapidity of soctal change in modem Anorica has not merely altered the - previous description but has rendered it inapplicable. _ Its dnapplicability, howover, was not fully apparont as Alinsky con tinued his organizing efforts through tho 1950's. Operating with terri. : torlally dofined assumptions, he appliod his model to poor areas ali ovor ~~“ Ehie world. Thore'ds little information regarding the actual organtedng sit- uations betwoen 1946: and 1960, and Alinsky is vague about. them. One of the most significant of IAf!s efforts during theso years is,the Comunity = " BPR a é.ey: : i Sorvico Orcontzation, a coaltton of approxinatély thirty Nexd.can-Aneriean. Command thes, 4n California, Alinsky often worked -through the Catholte Church, fand at tho urging of his friend Jacques Maritain oven. consulted with the Vatican ‘about devolopnerit problens in southorn Tey. A small. group of organizers including Caesar Chavez, of California grape strike fame, ~ and Nicholas von Hoffuan, now’an oditor of tho Washinetan Post, wore trained during tho 1950's. Alinsky's baso of oporstions, tho IAF, remained in Chi- a cago, and “his involvonents thero led eventually to organizing the Woodlawn sootion of Chicaco. The organization of Yoodlam typifies many of the prob- did inithe 1930's, Tt also. lems of the 1960's just as Back of the Ya Allustrates changes in Alinsky's theory and technique which are erneial to ‘an understanding of his evolving socio/political philosophy. Overcrouded, dolapidated housing, an increasing crime rate, high unemployment, characterized Woodlawn in 1960 as "the sort of obsolescent, decaying, crowded neighborhood which social workers and city planners * assune can never help AteeLtn” with te predominantly black population, WoodLam oxemplified the disorganized anomic areas resulting from massive Negro mipration to northern citios. The dstortoration of the community, Loested in an eblong-area south of the University of Chicago, began during * tho Depression and accclerated after ‘Vorld War IT, so that by 1960 the only “people benefitting from the area were absentee slum landlords, Many groups, especially ninisters, tried to “stem the tide of stun ‘culture" but with vory Limited aor a 5 The Rekghborhodd's problens-wore compounded by tho, threat, of urban Banana The Chicaco Defender, a oF nowspeper, din dts series entitled: "Tho Battle of Woodlawm" charactorized the threat as follows:In tho contury since tho Negro von freedom from slavery in Aneriea, the battlo for freedom has never ceased and a veriety of racial organ A4zations has run tho gauntlet of devious bans...to aa the Negro less than a free and equal Americane.. But nothing has been moro difficuit to contend ' with than the newest. stratery of ratial discrimination introduced in the past decades... Ado OHS BLSABRTTG ABBAS ANA Wess EN teas tow honest But the experience of a decada has demonstrated beyond doubt hat dn many cases urban renewal has: meant Nagro removaless And increasingly as urban renewal spread, the question in the -com munity has been: how do you fight a bulldozer and erane?30 How, indeed, aro bulldosers and eranes halted when they move with. tha end couragement ‘of such powerful forces as a city administration and a univer~ sity behind then? Inthe Spring of 1959 this question brought together a group of three Protestant ministers and one Catholic priest dotersined to, do whatever they. could to-preserve the community. The action of theso religious: leaders was Andleatave of thei tnos. Ae Alinsky observed in 19651 The biggest change I'vo seen in the twenty years or so that I've been involved in social action is the role tho churches are playing. ' Back in tho 1930's and 40's an organizer might expect to got some help from tho CIO or from a few progressive AFL unions. There wasn't a church in sight, But today they have really moved into the social’ arena, the political arena. They havo taken over the position organ- Azed labor had a generation ago. They are the big dominant force in civil rights.31 Tkhus; Alinsky was hardly surprised when the clergymen approached hin for holp.-Ho turned avay the priginal small group, tolling then to return when they had ‘a more ropresentative committe and sufficient financial resources to support organizing activity. The emphasis on financing 4s Alinsky's version: of the "sink or swim" doctrine. A community’ which oan first organize to achieve financial inde. “ pendence ‘has already bogun to fight, The clergymen returned’ as menbers of foe Saf ' the Greater Woodlawn Pastors Alliance with support from many sécular Groups and with grants from the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicagos ‘the United Pres= __byterian Board “of, Missions and the Emil Sohvartzhaupt Foundations“te thesd grants, the communi ty itself had raised.$27,000. Atinsigy | thé Bor: pandoa 4 ¥o nove. Anto the jatasma of black inequality,.vhite, racisa, city. politics, university solfishnoss, and fedoral indifference, -- «But, Just how doos ono organize a nhasna? The organizing followed the. he flexible pattern of first sending LAF Hela {film Anto tho. nef ghborhood a 46 Uscover grievances) and to spot tho elusive “indigenous” Leaders, and then bringing the leaders together to plan action involving the comunity 4n a dononstration of power. Nicholas von Hoffman, tho otiginal field rep= ” resentative, answers the question about beginning offhandodly: "I found nyselt 32 at the corner of Sixty-third and Kinbark and I looked around.” sVon Hoffari elaborated on his views during a conversation with tho aithor, bit he found 4t difficult to vorbalizé tho procoss whereby a “wonder” 4s recognized. He stressed tho importance of listening to people as one attompts to get the "fecl" of an area, but, as with most successful - organizers, ho finally relied on his impressions ‘and intuitions, Von Hof “gman remepbers tho primary problem in organizing WoodLawi was the Lack’ of community leadership anong the blk residents, That“blacks themselves rece ognized the void was pointed out by a staff menber of the original Temp. orary Woodlaim Organization (TWO) An’ explaining tho primary ain of TWO: ” We're trying to say to Negroes acro$s the city, once you wake Up and start fighting back for true represéntation and begin to criticize and go.aftor the next politicians who do not stand for what you want, - then othor Nogroes who havo beon intimidated .and frightened will over= come their fears, once a small group of Nogroes roally azo emanchpated--psychologically and fundanentally emancipated--and begin to fight without fear for their full: constitutional rights you'll havo more than the seeds of a gon~ : oral, social revolution. You'll havo tho boginning of one. 34 : A Dedicated to neighting, back" the wecruitea leaders ‘had to. devise a strategy * during tho Spring of 1960 for Two's menborship, which by. then Ancluded ‘approx saat sixty local bushnessss, fifty block clubs and thrity , churches fép~ ‘poset atleast Forty thénvend of WoodLawm's onochundred thousdnd _yestidents:WMO's first project. Was a "Square Deak" campelpr to dbipledokt a. “new Code ‘of Business Ethics covering credit practices, pricing, and advortisine, During the early canvassing of the neighborhood to dis nd-others-had-heard-nany complaints re 7 —-cover-grievancess—von-offman-s garding tho Local-merchants who overcharged and’ shor’ weighted thelr _eustoners' purcheses, This typo of complaint was ono of the more “wisiblet | - resontments and could serve as a focus for an initial organizing attempt. ~» Most of the merchants ‘patronized by the community were in the .area and could bo directly affoetod through economic prossure. -The Square Deal. campaign was publicized by a big parade through tho NoodLaim shopping district, and by public woighings of packages suspected of being falscly, —; matkod. Cheating merchants agrood to comply with tho Code,'and thor." _sspitulition inpressod tho residents with T's effectiveness. | What TH really nevdod, according to the Alinsky proseription, was an enemy in order to trandate conmunity interest Ante communtty.fetion. ~ The University ‘of Chicago unvittingly fulettted thet role with dts an- : nouncenent on July 19, 1960, that it intended to extend its campus south into Woodlawm. There had boen a history of hostility between the Univer sity’ and tho comunity over the University's Negro renoval tactics in other south sido areas,and ovor its oncral disdain for the problens of thé bleck ‘slums. The Untyersity, for ‘its part, sat itself as ono of the few first rate attributes of the entire city necossarily possessing a longer-rango vision than’ that hold by a prosent-oriontea populace. The University, with the ‘support of the Mayor and business groups, was accustomed to having its way and expected no more an a few protests tn résponse ‘to. tts emomngonent. Before the creation ‘of ‘TWO: there had boon few. pro’ ts, Ono of the charactoristi¢s of what Silbersan refers to as 5 the "Life stylet of 2 stun, - “ke dts pervasive apathy 2 Thos0 who. 13ve-Z be 2 ue . thoy @ are on the atten of the’ social scale but ‘that they. often have more to Lose from ‘backing phe syston than their middle class eee ) years 1960 "Personal: experdonee with. elty polities in Chicago during t 1964-demonstrated to mothe arbitrary power whidh many politicians hold .-=, * over.thoir constituents, Welfare checks™can be withheld because of "neccept- "able behavior." The precinct captain carefully tours his neighborhood before each election reminding evoryono how to vote. How coiild an-individualy~even 4£ supported by frionds, risk the loss of a patronage -Job for sone sbstract principle when the tangiblo fact of a family's needs facod him? ee Silborman siimarizes tho conditions afflicting Woodlawn and still affecting our nation's slums: Quite frequently, therefore, the apathy that characterizes t%e _ tho slua represents what in xany ways is a roalistic responso to a hostile environment. But realistic or not, the adjustment that 4s reached 4s one of surrender to the existing conditions and abdication of any hope of change. The result 4s a comunity seothing with inartice ulato resentments and dormant hostilities reproased for safety’s sako, but which break out overy now and then in some explosion of deviant or irrational behavior. Tho slun dwellers aro incapable of acting, or seven joining, until these suppressed resentments, and hostdlities are Brought to the surfaco-whore thoy ean be soon as problens~dsas as gondition you can do sonething about.37 = + TWO's Anitial articulation of refontnents against tho University “was not an instance of mubbing raw the sores of discontent." Represonting |” tho comunity, At norely asked the University for nore detalled plans of its . land needs becxise mor? than fiftecn-thousand people wore involved in any coxpafision. The University insonsitively reftsed the request. m0 then de- : bea coat the usually acquiescent city defer its approval of the Univer. ” sity plang untit city planiers-Worked-out a comproherisive prodpectus on © Woodlawn! s futures. THO accompanied its demand with the throat of denonste lying in froht of bulldozers and litndreds of demonstrators at-a City Plan ~ 5 fe 3B: wi. F Eerste seg Comission hearing. The donands, thrests, and ‘dendnstration created of-ce : . . ee) wad fective countervailing political pressure_resulting-in-the-defernent’ of city approval... The University, probably with private agsiirances from the city officials, still did not take TW seriously and/ continued aldenating the Woodlawn residents. One example of their political ineptitude: occurred in tho treatment accorded local businosmen. Businos:non are not usually the ardent backers of community action since it is aimed at tho status aro that supports then, but ofter being insulted by spokesmen from the University at an informational gathering called to explain the ‘proposed 7 expansion, the Yoodlaim Bisinosman's Association voted unaninously to goin 39 T's fight. With their plans blocked and the forcos of the community arrayed against them,the University of Chicago launched a sméar campaign against Alinsky and tho IAF, ~ a ___- Tho attack, outlined 4n Silberman and other articles,-was-a-strange : ono ‘to Launch in Chicago, as its primary thrust concerned’ the IAFts Anvolvo- : nent with the Catholic Church, In a city whose leadership is publicly Roman Catholic, 4t makes little sense to fault a man for boing “SnvoLved” ~~ with tho Church, It is true, as University publicity men pointed out to the city nowspapors, that Catholic groups had aided Alinsly’s work since, , 71940, but nover under tho delusion that they ‘were aiding, whaton dstrib- 2 Catholic conspiracy to Totl tnteceation.” * poth of these’ charges wero echoes of ‘ones that Alinsky had heard before ‘and answered baforo. Ho once again pointed to the recond of the Archdiocese’in ‘the advocacy 4 _ of integration. Monsignor Join J. Egan, Aroctor of the offtca’ of. Orban. ‘airs of the catholte | eee of: Chicago, had challenged © ono of the Daven. 2 “. ao eee Nonsiigor Egan vigorously defended Alinsky froii the University. attack and sumed up the attitudes of many religious Leaders who have _supported Alinsky. in tho following response to a quostion about vty, he had worked with the marr” a Wo fet the bhureh had to Anvolve horsolf in Helping people develop the tools which would enable them to come to grips with the serious economic, social, and moral problens which were affecting their lives,:, families, and communities. "We also knew that there was needed a tool which would enable thom to participate ‘in a dignified way in the denocratic process and which vould give then the training necessary for achieving in action the meaning of the denocratic way of 13f¢ and of realising their human and’ diviwen dig- nity. The Industrial Areas Foundation appeared to us’ to be the only organ ized force with the skill, experience, and integrity to supply these © foots, ana ‘organize in noiighborhoods which had such a desperate need for them.42 28 Most reports about the development of THD stross the ecumenical nature of | the undertaking. And Alinsky credits himsolf with being the second most ime portant Jew in the history of Ghristiantty. ie = TWO's fight with the University-had implications for subsequent community action’ prograns because At directly questionedthe concept of bur- eaucraticallyscontrolled sécial planning. When the Clty Plan Comission came up with dts comprehensive program for $he Woodlawn area in March of 1962 Without having consultod the community, TW) indopondently hired a fim of * city, planners to examine the Commission's plan, Jano Jacobs, nationally recognized plenning expert; was 0 inpraosed with TH0's offorte that, sho agreod to tocone special consultant. Hrs. Jacobs secured the help of other planners ‘to Prepare proposals.for the.area that could-be Amplenented withoat ioving ‘the present population out. Before thé deys of Maat jm feasible participation" tho, residents of Hoodlum. were asking to. voice theix opinions to.tho sociologists “and planners, supposedly concerned wth their: .wolfare, Still, however, their existence was ignored© those"inen most sensitive to shifts in public participation, the palitt, Shas, decided to act. erises deserves careful, study. c= war Fae te another for years 2 brought together in hiy auspicious presence in sono back’room in the city | hall. after a few-hours of undisclosed activity everyone emerges smiling. In the Sumer of 1965 Daley forced the Chancellor off the University to meet with representatives from TWO and to agreo on a compromise which would create homes as others wero demolished ana afford TW majority represen= - tation on the citizens planning as Mayor's help, TO had won an dnportant battle, although in most of its othor struggles TWO. and the Mayor were squared off against each other. 5 One example of such a struggle was TM's sponscrship of a mass bus ride to register voters at the city hall. On August 26, 1961, more than- two-thousand Woodlawn resident boarded buses for the ride downtown. They had been warhed by tho local machine politicians“not to arrive on masse, but dn the psychology of Chicago politics, a warning has the connotation of meaning that somebody is worried. Pér the residents of Woodlawn thé realization that thoy sould affect the city adaini stration was a. _ Fevelation. ~ * An Line‘ with what Alinsly regards the primo achievement of a congerted popular effort. For Alinsky, as for many of tho participants, tho forty- : six buses wore a manifostation of newly found dignity. Men with dignity could attain some control over ed lives.as THO continued to demon strate in ts “fight Lor: non-segrogated schooLing;. decerit housing, “and sutfictont police protection. Thypde ‘tactics Aneluded plekoting ‘the: SchoolAeMpang garbage in front of the saritation Commission's ; ne eee gs ees idlords’ business. In many. casos slttingin. at banks which haidléd stun “the abrasive-tacties paid off with the eaneeLiation of doubte starts in the schobls, the increased hiring of Négroos by okt bastnesses, growing © "responsiveness fren tho machine politiel ans, Galea property repair. Tid by 1964 was a prossire griup within the city. It title was changod fron tho Teaposary WoodLawm Organization to The Woodley organiza ton. Its development had paralleled that sofenent of the civil-righte struggle. which ronched Sts eLinax in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Tu stood ag a ronarkable accouplishnont, and the Reverond Arthur Breater, then head’ of Ti, summarized Alinsky's contribution: "Sau} has dono more to’ alert. black pogple on how to develop real Black Power than any mon 4n the United = States.” The Silbermen_book, ee in-Black snd White, adnitttedly pies e Alinsky, is the definitive source both for undorstanding the development. of. TW and for sotting it within the oarly 1960's contoxt of our continuing racial eriats. Silberman considers TW's greatest contribution to be "ts most subtle: At. clvos Hoodlaim residents the sonse J of dignity thet makes At possible for thon to agcopt help." Unfortunately, that help was goon " Gorsing into Yoodlaim undor tho auspicos of tho War on Poverty in a project that both provortoa Auindig's philosophy and nisused his methodology. In 1965 the Offico of Economie Opportunity (OB0) made a grant of $927,341 to TH to tran several hundred unompléyed schéol droputs, many of whom wer menbers”of two area gangs, the Blackstono Rangers and tho Disciples. The’ gangs were involved An-the planning and aeindatration. at. “the program, with sono nenbors. draving saleries ax recruiters: or instructors. ~The decision to ‘inetuao tho’ gangs. rather ‘than a dealing with arated“tho south ‘sido for r years. TD, iby Af At wore to maintain its Lepitimacy, had to contend with thea. THs efforts to oan the gangs were codrdinated by the Roverend John R.’ Fry, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church i. —far Wood awms—ALthouch white, the Reverend Mr, Fry menaged to gain the con- fidence of the Blackstone Rangers and offered ton the use of church a facilities. His congregation agreed with his work and when tho federal grant was awarded, tho church becane the center for the training programs. ©, The political risks of such a program, bypassing City Hall and employing young "criminals", wore obvious. , The first sign of trouble camo in Novenber, 49675 uhon Ob firdd : 8 Jorome Bornstein who had served as agoncy liaison to TW. His removal | wae procipitated by presaure appliod from tho Mayor's office and the Polite : Departnent through Congressional Representatives such as Rep. Roman : Ee With coincidental timing the Chicaro Tribune, a conservative Republican defender of the Donocratic city adninistration, ran a sorts, — of articles on gangs in the city omphasizing tho Blackstone Rangors' on : in T's anti-povorty project. Then came the announcement early in June, 1963, that tho Pormanont Invostications Subcomittes of the Sonate overn- ment-Oporaticns Committee would hold hoarings to determine whether OfD funds wore baing used to buy peace on Chicaro's south side by bribing the 0 ‘eo gangs. Tho Subcommittee's chairman, Senator John L. McClellan (D. Ark.) been “out to get" the OB), particularly the Conmunity Action Programs, ac osen the WoodLawm grant as his target. xt. was a predictable choice = Orly because of the existing hostility betieon city hall and THO | ‘bat also aoe of antagonism from the official commit: action agenigys Netlellan's Anydisti gators spent months “scrounging around the South Side of Chicago for ditt to. discredit the 020 job. project.” ae should’ notHi ba Be dso oral ‘Honey; , ‘and-tho Anvestigators found then. There will also “ye coumare ty nenbors dissatisfied vith either the pals or the perfomance of tho prom. gran for their own’ personal reasons} and the Anvesti gators found: thems Othor groups in the oity aré poing to resent the épportunity offered to the gangs through TW); and they wore cortainly vocal about thelr damaged An. torosts. And, of cotitse, thore is the political’ spston which usually focle | throatoned by innovation; and McClellan rallied them. The hearings openod on Juns 20, anid hoadLino-grabbing charges that . tho Rovorend tir. Pry aided the Rangors' Allogal activities. Tho central accusation, mado’ by an exeRanger chief, was that Fry hed allowed the church te be weed am an arnenal. Tha police had raided the church’ and discovered a eacho An its basenent, although Fry and othd# church cuthorities olained “the police:knew the weapons wore there because thoy had helped supervise their storaga. Amid charges and countercharges tho Rovorond Arthur Bragter’ called the NeClellan, hearing a "political conspiracy to discredit a progran conducted by'a black community arid contratied by black people." Mayor Daley enswered Brazier in his bluntly“revoaling mannor by calling tho charge Motally-ahsura" and "strossing thet wo vould havo nothing to do _ "with gang stracture or financing them. Dinvetor Bertrand M. ‘Harding issued a statement on Juno 24, an~ _ suoring some of tho allezations made: during tho hearings and said that "Lio at 0B votiove 4% imporativo that sone sieans be dovelopod to. réelLatit : these poors hard-co¥ youth...td test vhother the mechani sis’ of the gang istruetures’ could not assist in shifting attitudes toward productive. ada ¢ 55 chtiizenships" There4s qbout- ‘T's flasco-=fiow: tha Rovategi Yes. Fry’ jamestcAneptitade” to 0 the projects "South Sido" ‘olenents——an_ Anerodthle” na es pa 1 Aayang Paka de “(Nathan Ghazor has oxplained't as 1f*scdzeone ‘had been Behrinced by a. z ssoclologist “that change and reform are spurred by conflict: ‘and decided * —thaty-sinee «ll. goed things can cone from the Agorican Government, ought to provide conflict, too. Alinsky's 1éssons in organizing an : 2 : nobilising comunity action ‘independont of extra-comunity strings appear to havo been lost in the face of the lure of OB) money, Ta0's control over a local program designed for obtaining jobs had shown some progress until the Washington manna arrived. Operating with nany.of Alinsky's assunytions, O5D's-offort stumbled under a proliferation of pressures Tw, however, gtill exists dospite the ravages of burederackes, Hack °° Power domagogues, and internal conflicts. That it survives at all is i. ~testanent to its adaptability built in by its democratic/represontative features. TH)'s presonce in the community and its autonomus coopsration with the neighborhood gangs is frequently credited for the the lack of racial violence in Woodlawn. - ROCHESTER'S FIGHT Although TW, created in the early 1960's, 1s credited with chan _ helling frustration away from rioting, after tho burning snmer of 1964, * community action ontered a new phase marked by increasing black militancy and unrealistis federal promises. The Econonte Opportunity Act of 1964 Lamehed the ar on Poverty with many of the premises of the Alinsky wothoas Beforo-exanining ALinaky"s affect on’ the fedora: planning one ater | ~ example of; independent organizing will be described becase at aa to a “an n understanding of Alinslg's. strengths and vealmessose: . "FIGHT in Rochester, New York, was a direct, response to the “note 2 an that olty dn Juty 196. "The riots, resulting in: hundreds Anjared’ and:i propeety danse, tad a ERAN obkeut BEUG nai dubbed "Smugtown, DSA 7 7 cored Astor's desorption of: Rochester is worth repeating! *...an upstate consorvative city, a | “glee bation’ amid ‘the appie-1 Jmockers. s#ounded upon mt ghoemisant nunca sie doninated by an oldgarcliy and infected with a sdvere:éaso of ‘ghettoltiss" ones again, clergymen led. the move toward organization, Their first choice me S “was not Alinsky, but the Southorn Christian Leadership Conférence (scuc) ° : which they. invited into the city under the auspices of “the Rochester Area “Council of Churches. 7 When the SCLC non-violenco doctrine proved ineffective . ~ an thd rlottom ghatto, Alisniy was asked for his helps * ‘The Council's invitation to Alinsky coupled with a two-year pledge of $50,000 polarized tho city. Such polarization botween those who be. lAeved in him and those who denounced him as a hate-mongor delighted Ansley? "In order to organize, you usb first polarizo. People think of controversy as negativo; thoy think consensus is better. But to organize, you needa Bull Connor ora dim Clark. Ai With memories of fre houses dancing in thoir heads, the residents of Rochester sottled down for a long, bitter conflicts-For a varioty pf reasons they woré initially surprised. First of all, there was no Bull Connor in Roclester and the city administration was not so stupid as Jim Clark. When the incipient FIGHT organization / complained about housing or garbage pick-up, the city administration .ax- ranged a settlement. It was also six years after Tw0's beginning and, ‘as é 641 - $a Chambers; the IAF field man, said, "...the enemy is more sophisticated, ‘FIGHT: (thie acronym: stood for: Freedom, Integration, God, Honor,” official: Alinsky: . Today Antal, Independence replaced Integratign): decane ‘_wiedol People's Organization in Juie, 1965, when At Adopted tts constitution? “and olected its first prosident. The 2 pmsidont, the Reverend Mrs Franiain « “Planinest tea tree. =.:7144im ofcovor ono-hiitved. crpantzatione ab “theplaced three directors, on the.board of the Local + anti-poverty, sro 2 | Cianbers ‘ recounted tho, strategy of escalated. demaids uséd ty. FrGAT An its. “struggle with the city-controlléd agency: ” . eee Wo subjected then to constant oe Our first issue was that'the public business can't be conducted in private, If thoir | board wont into private session, we would force our way in. They finally’ roalizod FIGHT 4s here to stay. They said to themsolvesy. tWe'd better give those people something to shut them up,’ So they gave-us throo people on their board and "$65,000.63, ‘Tho $65,000 Federal anti-poverty grant avarded in 1966 to FIGHT tottrain oneshundred Negroes to-paas the civil sorvico oxaninations; added to FIGHT!s~ ~ 64 negotiating stenzth. FIGHT usod dts now respectability to petition tho New York State a Education Cormaissioner to use greater speed in ending de facto school. ; ae H sogregation.:FIGHT also arranged for on-the-Job training at Xerox for fif- teen blacks. All of these activites were proparation for FIGHT's challenge . | to the Rochestor-based Eastnan Kodak Company. Tho company with 40,000 non~_* unionized: workers As tho largest employer in tho area, FIGHT chargéd Kodak with ignoring the needs of blacks, and asked the company to train 500 Negro © youths for sexi-skilled positions. "If‘Kpdak can Co pictures of the moon, : At can create Jobs for our people," said Florence, His words wore anpli- + fied by. threats of direct action such as picketing the plants and even the hones of Kodak executives. The President of Kodak in 1966, William S. Vaughn, agreod to talk with FIGHT and designated assistant vice-president John G. Myldor to handle the negotiations. On Decenbor 30, 1966, Mulder and Florence. Signed . this joint statement "Tho FIGHT organization. rand Kodake ‘agreed to. anob~: __ Jective of the “reomi tust” ‘and referral (to AneLado screening, and selpet at ef £00 unemployed people ‘over..a’ 24-month parted; Warring. unt sreseen, econ “haat agtecting “The Rechester- Community" geo oeSE ee ee eT ee SS athor -ones. Shortly before the Joint statonent,~ Vaughn had” co! ‘boon mato ofiaimaan of the board and Kodak's new Prosident, 1 ‘Louis K. Bilero, : in & company Bepsect which he desertbed as "the shite hope for ihe poor 6&7 df Rochostor." The black poor were not interested 4m ang vhite hopes Janes | Ridgeway skilfully counterposed Florences reaction to Eilers with Biler's < attitudes: , - 7 ‘They talk about Amorica being a melting pot,’ said Florence, text the question right now ds not whether black can melt, but whethor ‘they can even get into the pot. That's what FIGHT has been trying to do~- get somo of thom into the pot at Kodakes. ‘From what I have been able to learn of other Alinsky offorts this ono seoms to be devoloping according to his pattern}': Ellers'said. ~, tan Assuo 4s ploxed. Comunity conflict 4s croated by much tall, noise and pressure and the creation of confusion. "In our caso, the issue the Alinsky forces chose. to be related to is’ the employment of Negross, Itis more and more clear, however, that all © the talk about unemployment is only an issue or device being.used to Soreen what FIGHT is really doing-—and that is iMing a drive for power dn tho community. '68. 4 Eiler's wotds were particularly ironic as Alinsky had tried to stay out of . e Rochester. In every organizing effort his goal is to become dispensable as quickly as possible, and with FIGHT's strong black awarenées, he left even more of the decisions to tho FIGHT Leadorship. He helped develop a _parallel group of whites, the Friends of FIGHT, because he believes that ‘Negroés need whito allies. The relationship betweon FIGHT and their Friends was an uneasy one untAl thoy Joined forees against Kodak. - : : _ The need for a new strategy té use against Kodak brought Alinsky Lr back into the fight. Influenced by the white Liberal support: offered to ‘¥rcH, he decided to "Fight Kodak rronel stock protest “MuAberals can is teil bn elteh amatoa: He Spoke to the National. Counsit of iChurehes an eethe National Convention of Unitarians. When the Latter group voted 4ts_ stock proxies behind FIGHT and against racism, ‘senators and congressmen 0 : : 7 5 affected by church prossure became interosted. Alinsky also. attempted ‘ “to coondnate a nationwide boycott of Kodak goods which was a failure . within the tradition of-unsuccessful national boycotts. a Eventually, recognizing FIGHT!s legitimate demands and responding to political presture, Kodak wired FIGHT: "Kodak recognizes that FIGHT, “as a broadbased community organization, speaks in belialf of the basic needs, of the Negro poor in the Rochester area,” 7 Kodak agreed to work with FIGHT " but made At vory clear that, "CWJo're not in the Welfare business, that's the government's job.” ” sathough FIGHT in 1967 considered the telegram a victory, in 1969, three yoars after the abortivo Florence /ifulder agreement, Kodak has renewed its deloying tactics. The company 4s supposedly waiting to see what happens with the Comunity Development Corporation BILL (8-30), ‘bat at the rate | that the ninoty-first Congress 49 moving 4t could be-a “Tong watt. | > a ; So thers will not bo a new plant built in tho ghetto during ‘the next, few years; where does FIGHT turn next? This 4s still an unanswered question end for nany Uiack and white Rochester residents’ no longer an . _ tzaent one. "FIGHT ieaders consider the organization's greatest aecomplisl 73 * wont to be the new spirit with which 4t infused the black community. dronically,° many whites -thank FIGHT for’ stabllicing ‘the. post-riot community.‘5 \zyquuntowles, ps 53+ 0 ieee c Anderson}. ps 280 73ilboman, Pe 3356 3saul D, Aldhsky, "Oltizon Participation and Community Organization in sPlaming and Urban Renéwal," Speech: presofited before The Chicago Chapter off the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment . Officials} Januar 29, 1962 (The Industrial Areas Foundations Chicago, Tdnoisy ? / pe7-8e “nagttator Zorses in on the a Businoss “Yook, February 8, 1959, pe 46s 4° Sevolyn Zygmantowlez, "The. Back of. the Yards Neighborhood Council and Its Hoalth and Welfaro Services" (unpublished Master of oo Work thesis, Loyala University, 1959), p» 9- Srpgttator Zerpos in on the Suburbanites;"" p. 46. Piaansky intorviow, Wallosley. ’ : S2ygauntowler, ps 23.” : 0 Suphe Professional Radical," p. 45. ‘ay guntoxicz, pe 42, «Utne Back of the Yards Not ghborhood Council, dee 2. Report (Chteago, Illinois: Back of the Yards Neighborhood foe 1966), pe 1. 8 lhe Professional Radical,” p. 46. t Szypuuntowkes, pe 29. eC Mutho Professional Radical," ps 46. rod. pe gt. lipid, pe 60. . : : me roids, pi 65. ob. Praia 2optn Ammiiad Report pp, 27-20. : . ny23 . “Bruckner, malinsky Rothinks the Idea - of conimnsty,* sahnstod a -Pasty-February 20, 1969, p. Gio. - 1. Biasnary interview, ‘Wellesley. * : Pepys Ryan, Back of tho Yards Neighborhood Council. Sockal Worker; —-—~ private” ieee An Chicagoy Tiinois, January, 1969s... Fs, ~ ery Chino, Sopiolorital Parsvactive (New Yori{s Random House, 1954), ps 30s Besibomaan, pe 322. : 7 “®ygansky intorvhew, Boston. Psardorinan, Pe 220. stephen C."Rose, “Saul Alinsky ond His Crities," Christinnity and Gri sin, (uly 20, i964), pe 149, 3Ernostins Cofield, Ministers vs. Evils of Urban Renewal," Chtoaro Dofondor Mazazine, Novenbor 19, 1962, ps Ie es " 34uq professional Radical Moves In On Rochoster," Harnorés, July, 1965, ps 53- 32541 berman, (Pe 308. . 23yicholas von Hoffman, interview by telophono in Washington, D.C, October, 1963. Meotieldy Ministers vs. Hvils of Urban Rencwal," pe Je 35gitberan, pe 324. - 2rpsa., ps 33H a etd, pe 396." « Mids, pe 2376 "pide, pe 299-21. "na. "vas. Reve User. Iohi.d, Ben, "The krehdiocose Roseondt Church Netrop: ‘glig, (Stmer, 1965), p. 16. Bains Intorviow, Boston. a Memestind Cofiold; “How University of ‘Chicero’Was stopyied: By A Pigiting. Community," Chigago Defender Masazirie,“Novenbor a 1962, pe' 9s'Stephen C. Rose, Bouse Play ‘an “the city, Grosszonda, eee 1967) 4-p-12.. Mcorat | Asto: my “surperna, pe 348. : "0 a eet ‘Spavid Sanford, “South Side Story," The New Renublic, (July 6, 1968), pe 13.5 Ssantord, 2 A ie te S2mtecrerian and the Informmers: Atgotry! s ‘Bedfellows, " The Christian. penta (July, 1968), ps 887. oe Sreatan Jones, "TD Chicf Assails Testimony," Chicaco Tribune, June ‘2, : 1968, ps : Fhari4an Jones. S5nsupport of Chteago Gangs.” . : Beraicars Hvathon-Glazer, "The Grand Dest cn“of the Poverty Program," Poverty! Power and Politics, Gd. Chaim I. Warman, (Yow York: ‘Grosset @ Dunlepy 1968), p. 290. : anderson,’ pe 30. Biastor, p. He - a anderson, pe 30. - : SOastor, ps de . . - ; a) Stindersony pe She : 5 625an0s | Ridgezay, "Attack on Kodak," Tho New Reoublic, January 21, 1967, pe 30. Sanderson, pe 87+ : et A Ona. . A Smads, pr 89 Bessvenay, ps os : - Presa,pia. - rsa. Paps. ®anderson, ps 92~CHAPTER IIT ee ing PRIZE PIECE OF POLITICAL PORNOGRAPHY" One of the nore dntriguing puzzles to sre concorns Alinsky's ° reltionship to the War on Poverty, That he groatly influenced thé legis- lation seons evidont. ‘That fie despises the offocts of that legislation As undeniablo, The ker to the puzzle involves both Alinsky's offect on . the poverty warriors and his response to them. , : y legislation “Daniel Ps Noynthan who helped draft the. original pove: has doseribed his understanding of the orizins and failures of tho Gomiunity action. prégrans in hie book Madmun Feasible Moundaratanding, Moynihan - writes in a spirited stylo but cvon his behind.the-scones:‘stance does not’ ’ mako his argunent less confusing» He dicsects the so=called "opportunity theory" articulated by Lloyd E. Ohlin and Richard A. Clownrd both of the Colunbia. School of Soctal Work. He points to the theory -as cn basis for many of the premises undorlying the Economic Opportunity hots Moynihan sots up a scquonce leading from the Cloward/Ohlin thesis to the Mobiliz~ ation for Youth (IiFY) project in New York City to the federal degtslation which 4s porhans chronolocieally-correct but soens to nies tho point. ry a3 Moynihan states, nthe central concept of cach program (MFY and 055) s 12 : As‘that-of opportunity" then what did the “damon feasible partictpation™ elause mean? Moynihan indirectly defines it in the following ways {The conwnity action title, which established .the one. portion of ‘tho program that would not be, directly monitored fron: Washington, | ‘should provide for the. "naxinun feasible ‘particinationof the tes-_ Adents of ‘the aroas and the wombors of the rrouns!. involved an. th local. progr=: Subsequently thig phrase was taken to:sanction’a _ “specific theony “of social change, and thero were thoso present ih “Washington. at the time: who' would have drafted: just euch Language with Procieoly that_object.3 ae“Moynihan contimaos explaining thet his ‘understanding of the ovkghnal _ purpose of the clause was’ to ensure-tho participation of persons, eapec- dally in‘the South, who wore nomaliy excluded £2h-the: political process. “But, 4n such-aroas real participation in dock sionpmaking would precipitate - / E : i ssechal change on a seale far wider than extension of opportunity to partake in alvohdy funétioning' results of decision-maldag suggests. ; Part of tho trouble with Moynihan's analysis is that he defines nesther, *partictpation” nor “soctal chongo” as operative terms. There atv, of course) thetorieal allusions to the need for nen to play-groator rolos in shaping their ‘ow lives .and to the diro state of twontieth-century Amoriea. Ho" echods Gunnar Myrdal's warnings that tho country has far tein dneuring denowratic partic'pation on all levels of tho political system, bat ho cont” cludes thatthe comunity action ptograns Mth thetr singuldy emphasis on tmaxtman foastbt’e participation’ of the poor themselves comprise ‘the nost notabie effort to dato to nount a systematic social response to the problon Nyndal outLinea. a Yet, there is Little sense of what Moynihan refors’ to when he uses that word "participation" especially as the keystone to a “systematic even socal response." He/quostions the ontire theory of participation using ta quote frori the work: Bornard J. Frieden and Robert Morris did on aldonation: ES : . ae -"hoast eoAvincing have been those analyses which have asserted that the fact of narticipation by the oor, in itsolf, will sig- nificantly altor the conditioris déplored, as for example, the beliof that civic participation in itself leads to a reduction in deviant “behavior.6Peale dt Hoot ; eck to the mainstroon not through their participatory planning but through ned ‘their aéquiascont participation. In his appropriately titled article, "By or For the Poort, Andrew 'Koplind @inousnas the oontradiotions inhoront in the participation ebmasor what Wag new and exciting about the war on Poverty was that at gave hops of, putting some political and economic power into the. hands of the tunder-class' of the poor, as labor legislation had strength- “ ened ‘the’ barnaining power of workers three decades earlicr. Through the Wagner Act,-tho workers got tecomition; they used thelr new power ~ to win economic-benefits. In tho sano way, tho maximum feasible par- °° ticipation clause in tho OD legislation promised recognition and thus power to tho poor.7 : Rocogittion of the problem of poverty anong logisLators porkaps, but there was litte realization among then that their legislatang participation might result in any alteration of power, : Moynihan occasionally acknowledges the Anconpatibility of legislating ‘participatory planning (2.9."true" partioipation) and expecting a consorvatiy Congress to continue funding it once they perceived what they had writ. _ One of these instances occurs in a long passage about Alinsky: 7 . Tho blunt reality 4s that sponsors of community action who ex- pected to adopt the cdnflict strategy of Saul D, Alinaky and at tho _ the sake time oxpected to be recipionts of large sums.of-toney, looked for, to paraphraso Jeffersgn, ‘what novor was, and never, will be." Alinsky exsorcos from the 1960's a man of enhanced stature, His * ; Anflusnco on the formilation of the antipoverty program was ‘nbt great. : Indeed it was negligible, in that a primary motive of these efforts * was to giv things to the poor that they did not have, Abinsky's: law, - Laid dotm in Reveille for Radicals, which appoared in 1946, was :that dn the process of social change there is no stich thing as give, only take, True or not, by tho time “tho community action programs began to be founded, he had behind him some three decades of- organizing poor or marginal neighborhoods (white as well as black) and in évery in~ stance this process had taken the form of inducing conflict and— fighting for power. Was there not something to: be learned here7Could At be that this is somehow the normal evolution once such an effort is begun?.,.Alinsky's view was nothing 1f riot explicit and publid: social ‘stability As a condition reached: through negotiated compromise; between power organizations. (His origins, of course, arein the... trade’ union movement, specifically. the United Mine Workers). Thé prob- lem of. the poor is not only that they Ack money, but that they lack . - this means ‘that they. have no way of threatening the status. quo,Bead ib pe ULBAALEALLGH HEBEL AREABUSEEED BREE socond. Early in‘ the Life of the Office of Economic Opportunity, Alinsky was y ting to contemplate that Federal finds, bypassing Gity Hall and channelled directly to. indigenous organizations, might .” be used to bring such organizations into beinls, But his own experience and practice belied’ any such possibility, Throughout his career -he had begun his organizing campaigns with cash in hand, conplotely 41 inden” | . 1+ of the power structs with whi: h wished barartn: ~ BaeEsSY dha Poe PORE NS avocars ware uneeh heats ned ts BALeNSPRaoteL aeen ns ngotton ptograms would ‘soon fall Sander, the direction of *. y s If, Andee, the purpose of the War on Poverty was to "give', thon niost of Ats:ALinsiy= Lixo rhetoric about "helping the poor help thensélvos™ ana opening opportunity" and bringing "hope to all who contemplate their . future in toma of thoir discouraging present" went no desper than the” public relations dtviston +. Alinstyts periodic outbursts about tho hypocrisy of tho War on Pov= erty havo provided unforpottable copy-espectally his Labelling the entire effort a "prize ploce of political pornography...a hugo political. pork barrel, and a-feeding trough for the welfare Andustay, surrounded by sarc tiriontous, hypocritical, phony, noralistic-----." Sargent Shriver can didly challenged Alinsiy by declaring that ‘tho War on Povorty. hed dono "mere for the Negro in 25 months than Alinsty has in 25 yoars." Which ds pre. cisely Alinsig's point, for as he replied? "We (the Industrial arcas Found- + ation) spend $190,090. year, and Shrivor compares us with tho U,S. Govern~_ mnent. Shriver says ho's.done more for the Negro than we havo, He's tolling’ the truth. Uctve nevor. done anything for the Nezroos; wetve worked with 12 : then." The one poverty war campaign for which Alin: served as ‘consuttant, : was tho short-lived Federal pilot training’ program for organizers at ‘Syra- cuse University, ‘hon tho trainees orcanised slun‘dvellers against city . agencies, tho city government complained loudly to Washington and the funds 1 ~ : wore withdram, This Ancident foreshadowed the eventixanéndment to the Economic Opportunity Act passed, in Decenber, 1967, "whieh! provided. that locel governments would ‘have the aption of brincing their. community a action, agency. under théir éfficial edntrol. Even with the ‘une . enforceable assurance that oneathird of the rep sphsentatives on tho local board mst be soor" with bypass powers given to the director, Ropresen-° tative Eaith Green's (D. ore.) amendment strongthoned the positions of” Mayoxs such ag Daley, who already controlled thoir local agency, and ‘of. fectively moved every other agency under the untitelba of City Hall. The amendnént also opened the way for concorted attacks on the high-risk pro~ grans such as THs. : Moynihm reprints Alinsky's 1965 procnocis for tho War.on Poverty: , "Uatoss there are drastic ‘changes in diroction, Fationalo and adninis ‘ tration, the anti-poverty procran may well becone tho worst political blundor and boomerang, of the present adnintstrations® > Moyndlian Lays the | plane for not recomizing tho validity of Alinslg's perspective.on the adsinistrators of tho progran and tho social setent{sts who devised tho thoory of participation without realizing the neaning thelr words would assuio 4n practice. One of the argunentsin Hoyndhan's book fs that Msoctal, " selonde is at ite weakest, at its worst, when it offers theories of indi- vidual or collective behavior which raisos the possibility, by controlling cortain inputs, of brincing about mass behavioral oe K good point, but one that Alins'cy mado “eleven years earlior.in.a speed\btefore the Assoc- ation of Conmunity Counetis in Chicazot OY / Wo face. & dancor An‘undue. enfphast's’ of sattaiition on:prodess,//90 that * Wo-my.arell- Lose sight of” tho purpose. -Too mitch concern’ with process 3 Teaches a point, as is obvious, in a number of parts of this field, © — whereby the devotion to process has ‘not: only resulted in the loss ‘of purpose, but.it becomes “an academic greenhouse for-the nurturing, of; -Antellectual- secdlings-which could never grow Ani the, hard, cold world outsitce 177 sama a