Social Democrats USA
Encyclopedia
Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) was the principal association of U.S.
social democrats
from 1972–2005.
SDUSA was founded in 1972 when the Socialist Party of America
renamed itself Social Democrats, USA. The Socialist Party had been publicly associated with Norman Thomas
, its candidate for President, with A. Philip Randolph, the civil-rights and labor-union
leader, and with Michael Harrington
, the author of The Other America
. When the Socialist Party changed its name to Social Democrats, USA, the civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin
became its public spokesman. According to Rustin, SDUSA aimed to transform the Democratic Party
into a social-democratic party. Harrington left SDUSA to found the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
in 1973.
SDUSA's organizational activities included sponsoring discussions and issuing position papers; it was known mainly because of its members' activities in other organizations. SDUSA included civil-rights activists and leaders of labor unions, such as Bayard Rustin, Norman Hill
, and Tom Kahn
of the AFL–CIO, and Sandra Feldman
and Rachelle Horowitz of the American Federation of Teachers
. SDUSA members helped to support free labor-union
s; in particular, Tom Kahn organized the AFL–CIO's support of Poland's Solidarity. Penn Kemble
and Carl Gershman
cooperated with Republican
and Democratic
administrations on democracy promotion
. Other members included the philosopher Sidney Hook
.
SDUSA ceased operations in 2005, following the death of Penn Kemble. In 2008–2009 two small organizations emerged, each proclaiming itself to be the successor to SDUSA.
had two Co-Chairmen, Bayard Rustin
and Charles S. Zimmerman (of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union, ILGWU) and a First National Vice Chairman, James S. Glaser, who were re-elected by acclamation
. In his opening speech to the Convention, Co-Chairman Bayard Rustin called for SDUSA to organize against the "reactionary policies of the Nixon Administration"; Rustin also criticized the "irresponsibility and élitism of the 'New Politics' liberals".
The Party changed its name to "Social Democrats, USA" by a vote of 73 to 34. Changing the name of the Socialist Party to "Social Democrats USA" was intended to be "realistic": the intention was to respond to the end of the running of actual Socialist Party candidates for office, to respond to the confusions of Americans. The New York Times
observed that the Socialist Party had last sponsored a candidate for President
in 1956, who received only 2,121 votes, which were cast in only 6 states. Because the Socialist Party no longer sponsored party candidates in elections, continued use of the name "Party" was "misleading" and hindered the recruiting of activists who participated in the Democratic Party, according to the majority report. The name "Socialist" was replaced by "Social Democrats
" because many American associated the word "socialism
" with Soviet communism. Moreover, the organization sought to distinguish itself from two small Marxist parties, the Socialist Workers Party
and the Socialist Labor Party
.
During the 1972 convention, the majority ("Unity Caucus") won every vote, by a ratio of two to one. The Convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the majority caucus, 8 seats for the "Coalition Caucus" of Michael Harrington
, 2 for the left-wing "Debs Caucus", and one for the "independent" Samuel H. Friedman
. Friedman and the minority caucuses had opposed the name change.
The convention voted on and adopted proposals for its program by a two-one vote. On foreign policy, the program called for "firmness toward Communist aggression". However, on the Vietnam War, the program opposed "any efforts to bomb Hanoi into submission"; instead, it endorsed negotiating a peace agreement, which should protect Communist political cadres in South Vietnam from further military or police reprisals. Harrington's proposal for a ceasefire
and immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces was defeated. Harrington complained that, after its convention, the Socialist Party had endorsed George McGovern
only with a statement loaded with "constructive criticism" and that it had not mobilized enough support for McGovern. The majority caucus's Arch Puddington replied that the California branch was especially active in supporting McGovern, while the New York branch were focusing on a congressional race.
Even before the convention, Michael Harrington had resigned as an Honorary Chairperson of the Socialist Party. Some months after the convention, he resigned his membership in SDUSA. Harrington and his supporters from the Coalition Caucus soon formed the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
(DSOC). Many members of the Debs caucus resigned from SDUSA and formed the Socialist Party USA
.
In domestic politics, the SDUSA leadership emphasized the role of the American labor movement in advancing civil rights
and economic justice. The domestic program followed the recommendations of Rustin's article "From Protest to Politics". In it, Rustin analyzed the changing economy and its implications for American Negroes. Rustin wrote that the rise of automation would reduce the demand for low-skill high-paying jobs, which would jeopardize the position of the urban Negro working-class, particularly in the northern US. The needs of the Negro community demanded a shift in political strategy, where Negroes would need to strengthen their political alliance with mostly white unions and other organizations (churches, synagogues, etc.) to pursue a common economic agenda. It was time to move from protest to politics, wrote Rustin. A particular danger facing the Negro community was the chimera of identity politics
, particularly the rise of "Black power
" which Rustin dismissed as a fantasy of middle-class Negroes that repeated the political and moral errors of previous black nationalists
, while alienating the white allies needed by the Negro community.
SDUSA documents had similar criticisms of the agendas advanced by middle-class activists increasing their role in the Democratic Party. SDUSA members stated concerns about an exaggerated role of "middle-class" peace activists in the Democratic Party
, particularly associated with the "New Politics
" of Senator George McGovern
, whose Presidential candidacy
was viewed as a ongoing disaster for the Democratic Party and for the USA. In electoral politics, SDUSA aimed to transform the Democratic Party into a social democratic party.
In foreign policy, most of the founding SDUSA leadership called for an immediate cessation of the bombing
of North Vietnam
. They demanded a negotiated peace treaty to end the Vietnam War. However, the majority opposed a unilateral withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam, suggesting that such a withdrawal would lead to an annihilation of the free labor-unions and of the political opposition. After the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam and the victory of the Vietnamese Communists, SDUSA supported humanitarian assistance to refugees and condemned Senator McGovern
for his failure to support such assistance.
on the left; similarly, a range of academic, political, and labor-union leaders were invited. These meetings also functioned as reunions for political activists and intellectuals, some of whom worked together for decades. SDUSA also published a newsletter and occasional position papers.
SDUSA issued statements supporting labor unions and workers' interests at home and overseas. It supported the existence of Israel
and the Israeli labor movement. It opposed many of the G. W. Bush administration domestic policies. From 1979–1989, SDUSA members were active providing support of Solidarnosc (Solidarity), the independent labor-union of Poland.
The organization also attempted to exert influence through endorsements of Presidential candidates. The group's 1976 National Convention, held in New York City, formally endorsed the Democratic ticket of Jimmy Carter
and Walter Mondale
and pledged the group to "work enthusiastically" for the election of the pair in November. The organization took a less assertive approach during the divisive 1980 campaign, marked as it was by a heated primary challenge to President Carter by Senator Edward Kennedy
; SDUSA chose not to hold its biannual convention until after the termination of the fall campaign. The election of conservative Ronald Reagan
was chalked up to the failure of the Democrats to "appeal to their traditional working class constituency."
Early in 1980 long-time National Director Carl Gershman
resigned his position, to be replaced by Rita Freedman. Freedman previously had served as organizer and chair of SDUSA's key New York local.
Dues in Social Democrats, USA were paid annually in advance, with members receiving a copy of the organization's official organ, the tabloid-sized newspaper New America
. The dues rate was $25 per year in 1983.
, and Norman Hill
were leaders of the African American civil rights movement. Tom Kahn
, Sandra Feldman
, and Rachelle Horowitz were officers of labor unions. Carl Gershman and Penn Kemble
served in governmental and non-governmental organizations, particularly in foreign policy. Philosopher Sidney Hook
was a public intellectual.
Writing after the death of Tom Kahn
, Ben Wattenberg commented that SDUSA members seemed to be
, a claim that was called a "myth" by . This "Trotskyist" charge has been repeated and even widened by journalist Michael Lind
in 2003 to assert a takeover of the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration
by former Trotskyists; Lind's "amalgamation of the defense intellectuals with the traditions and theories of 'the largely Jewish-American Trotskyist movement' [in Lind's words]" was criticized in 2003 by University of Michigan professor Alan M. Wald, who had discussed Trotskyism in his history of "the New York intellectuals
". SDUSA and allegations that "Trotskyists" subverted Bush's foreign policy have been mentioned by "self-styled" paleoconservative
s (conservative opponents of neoconservatism
).
The long-time leader and intellectual architect of the civil rights movement, A. Philip Randolph was also a visible member of the Socialist Party of Norman Thomas. He remained with the organization when it changed its name to SDUSA. Along with ILGWU President David Dubinsky
, Randolph was honored at the 1976 SDUSA convention.
A. Philip Randolph
came to national attention as the leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
. Randolph proposed a march on Washington
to protest racial discrimination in the armed forces
. Meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
in the Oval Office
, Randolph respectfully, politely, but firmly told President Roosevelt that Negroes would march in the capital unless desegregation would occur. The planned march was canceled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt
issued Executive Order 8802
(the Fair Employment Act), which banned discrimination in defense industries and federal agencies.
In 1942, an estimated 18,000 blacks gathered at Madison Square Garden
to hear Randolph kick off a campaign against discrimination in the military, in war industries, in government agencies, and in labor unions. Following the act, during the Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944, the government backed African-American workers' striking to gain positions formerly limited to white employees.
In 1947, Randolph, along with colleague Grant Reynolds, renewed efforts to end discrimination in the armed services, forming the Committee Against Jim Crow
in Military Service, later renamed the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience
. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman
abolished racial segregation
in the armed forces through Executive Order 9981
.
Randolph was the nominal leader of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
, which was organized by Bayard Rustin
and his younger associates. At this march, Martin Luther King, Jr.
delivered his "I Have a Dream
" speech. Soon aferwords, the Civil Rights Act of 1964
was passed.
Rustin had had a long association with A. Philip Randolph and with pacifist movements. In 1956 Rustin advised Martin Luther King Jr. who was organizing the Montgomery bus boycott
. According to Rustin, "I think it's fair to say that Dr. King's view of non-violent tactics was almost non-existent when the boycott began. In other words, Dr. King was permitting himself and his children and his home to be protected by guns." Rustin convinced King to abandon the armed protection. The following year, Rustin and King began organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC).
Rustin and Randolph organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
in 1963. On September 6, 1963 Rustin and Randolph appeared on the cover of Life
magazine as "the leaders" of the March.
and 1965 Voting Rights Act
, Rustin advocated closer ties between the civil rights movement and the Democratic Party
and its base among the working class.
With the assistance of Tom Kahn
, Rustin wrote the 1965 article "From protest to politics", which analyzed the changing economy and its implications for American Negroes. This article stated that the rise of automation would reduce the demand for low-skill high-paying jobs, which would jeopardize the position of the urban Negro working-class, particularly in the northern US. To pursue its economic agenda, the Negro community needed to shift political strategy, strengthening its political alliance with mostly white unions and other organizations (churches, synagogues, etc.). As its agenda shifted from civil rights to economic justice, the Negro community's tactics needed to shift from protest to politics, wrote Rustin.
A particular danger facing the Negro community was the chimera of identity politics
, particularly the rise of "Black power
", for which Rustin expressed contempt:
Rustin wrote that "Black power" repeated the moral errors of previous black nationalists
, while alienating the white allies needed by the Negro community.
Rustin's analysis was supported by the later research by William Julius Wilson. Wilson documented an increase in inequality within the Black community, following educated Blacks moving into white suburbs and following the decrease of demand for low-skill labor, as industry declined in the Northern USA. Such economic problems were not being addressed by a civil rights leadership focused on "affirmative action
", a policy benefiting the truly advantaged within the Black community. Wilson's criticism of the neglect of working-class and poor African Americans by civil rights organizations led to his being mistaken for a conservative, despite his having identified himself as a Rustin-style social democrat. Wilson has served on the advisory board of Social Democrats, USA.
He was the founder and became the Director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute
, which coordinated the AFL-CIO's work on civil rights and economic justice. He became a regular columnist for the AFL-CIO newspaper.
On the political side of the labor movement, Rustin increased his visibility as a leader of the American social democracy
. He was a founding National Co-Chairman of Social Democrats, USA.
and election monitor
for Freedom House
. He also testified on behalf of New York State's Gay
Rights Bill. In 1986, he gave a speech "The new 'niggers' are gays," in which he asserted,
Rustin also helped to write a report on peaceful means to end Apartheid (racial segregation) in South Africa.
) is an influential African-American administrator, activist and labor leader.
Graduating in 1956, he was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford College
. Joining the civil rights movement and working in Chicago, Hill was an organizer for the Youth March for Integrated Schools, and then Secretary of Chicago Area Negro American Labor Council, and Staff Chairman of the Chicago March Conventions. In the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE), Hill was first the East Coast Field Secretary and then National Program Director. He assisted Bayard Rustin
with organizing the 1963 March on Washington. As National Program Director of CORE, Hill coordinated the route 40 desegregation
of restaurants, the Waldorf campaign, and illustrated the civil rights demonstration that took place at the 1964 Republican National Convention
.
From 1964 to 1967, Norman Hill served as the Legislative Representative and Civil Rights Liaison of the Industrial Union department of the AFL-CIO
. He was involved in the issue of raising minimum wage and the labor delegation on the Selma to Montgomery marches
against racial discrimination in politics and voting in the southern United States.
In 1967, Hill became active in the A. Philip Randolph Institute
. He began as Associate Director, but later became Executive Director, and finally President. As Associate Director, Hill coordinated and organized the Memphis March in 1968, after Martin Luther King’s assassination. In his career at the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Hill created over two hundred local chapters of this organization across the United States.
and to the labor movement.
organize the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington and the 1958 and 1959 Youth March for Integrated Schools. As a white student at historically black Howard University
, Kahn and Norman Hill helped Rustin and A. Philip Randolph
to plan the 1963 March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King, Jr.
delivered his I have a dream
speech. Kahn's role in the civil rights movement was discussed in the eulogy by Rachelle Horowitz.
from 1972–1986, Kahn developed an expertise in international affairs.
Kahn was deeply involved with supporting the Polish labor movement. The trade union Solidarity (Solidarność) began in 1980. The Soviet-backed communist regime headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski
declared martial law
in December 1981. Lane Kirkland
appointed Kahn to organize the AFL-CIO's support of Solidarity. Politically, the AFL-CIO supported the twenty-one demands of the Gdansk workers
, by lobbying to stop further U.S. loans to Poland unless those demands were met. Materially, the AFL-CIO established the Polish Workers Aid Fund, which raised almost $300,000 by 1981. These funds purchased printing presses, and office supplies. The AFL-CIO donated typewriters, duplicating machines, a minibus, an offset press, and other supplies requested by Solidarity.
The AFL–CIO sought approval in advance from Solidarity's leadership, to avoid jeopardizing their position with unwanted or surprising American help. On September 12, Lech Walesa welcomed international donations with this statement: "Help can never be politically embarrassing. That of the AFL-CIO, for example. We are grateful to them. It was a very good thing that they helped us. Whenever we can, we will help them, too." Kahn explained the AFL–CIO position in a 1981 debate:
In testimony to the Joint Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Kahn suggested policies to support the Polish people, in particular by supporting Solidarity's demand that the Communist regime finally establish legality, by respecting the twenty-one rights guaranteed by the Polish constitution
.
The AFL-CIO provided the most aid to Solidarity, but substantial additional aid was provided by Western-European labor unions, including the U. K. Trades Union Congress
and especially the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
.
The AFL-CIO's support enraged the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Its support worried the Carter Administration, whose Secretary of State Edmund Muskie
told Kirkland that the AFL-CIO's continued support of solidarity could trigger a Soviet invasion of Poland. After Kirkland refused to withdraw support to Solidarity, Muskie met with the USSR's Ambassador, Anatoly Dobyrnin, to clarify that the AFL-CIO's aid did not have the support of the US government.
Aid to Solidarity was also opposed by neo-conservative Jeanne Kirkpatrick, who argued that communism could not be overthrown and that Solidarity was doomed.
Later, the National Endowment for Democracy
provided $1.7 million for Solidarity, which was transferred via the AFL-CIO. In both 1988 and 1989, the U.S. Congress allocated $1 million yearly to Solidarity via the AFL-CIO.
In total, the AFL-CIO channeled 4 million dollars to Solidarity.
(AFT) from 1997 to 2004.
She helped to organize and was the keynote speaker at the 1999 SDUSA workshop on "American Labor in the New Economy: A Day of Dialogue,"January 22, 1999.
, who became her mentor and close friend. During her early years in the civil rights movement, Feldman worked to integrate Howard Johnson's
restaurants in Maryland
. She soon became employment committee chairwoman of the Congress of Racial Equality
in Harlem
. She also participated in several Freedom Rides, and was arrested twice.
in 1962, Feldman worked for six months as a substitute third-grade teacher in East Harlem
. She continued to be active in the civil rights movement, working to desegregate Howard Johnson restaurants in Maryland. She participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
, which was organized by Rustin and his associates. From 1963 to 1966, Feldman matriculated in a master's degree
program in literature at New York University
. While in graduate school, Feldman worked as a fourth-grade teacher at Public School 34 on the New York City's Lower East Side. She immediately joined the American Federation of Teachers
, which had only one other member at the school. When New York City teachers won collective bargaining
rights in 1960, she organized the entire school staff within a year. During this time, Feldman became an associate of Albert Shanker
, then an organizer for the United Federation of Teachers
.
After just two years on the UFT staff, Feldman played a crucial role in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville strike. The city of New York had designated the Ocean Hill-Brownsville area of Brooklyn as one of three decentralized school districts in an effort to give the minority community more say in school affairs. The crisis began when the Ocean Hill-Brownsville governing board fired 13 teachers for allegedly sabotaging the decentralization experiment. Shanker demanded that specific charges be filed and the teachers given a chance to defend themselves in due process
proceedings.
A protracted fight erupted between those in the community who supported the Ocean Hill-Brownsville board and those supported the UFT. Many supporters of the local school board resorted to racial invective. Shanker was branded a racist, and many African-Americans accused the UFT of being "Jewish-dominated". Feldman was often at the center of the strike. The UFT emerged from the crisis more powerful than ever, and Feldman's hard work, good political judgment and calm demeanor won her widespread praise within the union.
Shanker was elected president of the AFT in 1974, but retained his post as president of the UFT. In 1986, Shanker retired as UFT president, and Feldman was elected president.
, President of the New York City Board of Education, threatened to resign unless Feldman backed off and he was given a free hand.
She was instrumental in helping David Dinkins
win election as mayor of New York in 1989 by using union members and resources to build a winning electoral coalition of black and white voters. But once mayor, Dinkins stalled on signing a new contract with the teachers' union. Feldman rarely criticized Dinkins publicly for his actions, but she kept the UFT out of Dinkins' 1993 re-election. Dinkins lost in a tight race to Rudy Giuliani
.
After Shanker died in February 1997, Feldman won election as the AFT's president in July 1998, becoming the union's first female president since 1930. Feldman re-emphasized the AFT's commitment to educational issues. She also renewed the union's focus on organizing: During her tenure, the AFT grew by more than 160,000 new members (about 17 percent).
With Feldman as President, in 2002, AFT delegates approved a four-point plan: 1) building a "culture of organizing" throughout the union, 2) enhancing the union's political advocacy efforts, 3) engaging in a series of publicity, legislative, funding and political campaigns to strengthen the institutions in which AFT members work, and 4) recommitting the AFT to fostering democratic education and human rights at home and abroad. Feldman moved quickly to ensure that the plan was implemented.
In May 1997, Feldman was elected to the AFL-CIO
executive council and appointed to the executive council's executive committee. During her tenure at the head of the AFT, Feldman also served as a vice president of Education International
and was a board member of the International Rescue Committee
and Freedom House
.
Sandra Feldman died in 2005 at the age 65.
philosopher known for his contributions to public debates. A student of John Dewey
, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history
, of education
, politics
, and of ethics
. He was known for his criticisms of totalitarianism
(fascism
and Marxism–Leninism). A pragmatic social democrat
, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing communism
. After WWII, he argued that members of conspiracies, like the Communist Party USA
and other Leninist conspiracies
, ethically could be barred from holding offices of public trust.
Hook gave the keynote speech to the July 17-18, 1976 convention of SDUSA.
, and Prodemca. Kemble was appointed to various government boards and institutions throughout the 1990s, eventually becoming the Acting Director of the U.S. Information Agency under President Bill Clinton
.
After moving to New York, Kemble stood out as a neatly dressed, muscular Protestant youth, in a urban political setting that was predominantly Catholic and Jewish. He worked at The New York Times
but was fired for refusing to cross a picket line
during a typesetters' strike
. A leader in the East River chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality
, Kemble helped to organize a non-violent blockade of the Triborough Bridge
during rush hour, to raise consciousness among suburbanites of the lives of Harlem residents. Kemble was a founder of Negotiation Now!, a group which called for an end to the bombing of North Vietnam
and a negotiated settlement of the Vietnam War
. He was opposed to a unilateral withdrawal of U.S forces from Vietnam.
In 1972, Kemble was a founder the Coalition for a Democratic Majority (CDM), an association of centrist Democrats that opposed the "new politics" liberalism exemplified by Senator George McGovern
, who suffered the worst defeat of a Presidential candidate in modern times, despite the widespread dislike of Nixon. Kemble was Executive Director of CDM from 1972–76, at which time he left to become a special assistant and speechwriter for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
. He remained with Moynihan until 1979. Concerned about the direct and indirect role of the Communist Party USA
and of sympathizers of Marxist-Leninist politics in the US Peace Movement and in the National Council of Churches
, Kemble helped found the Institute on Religion and Democracy
. From 1981 until 1988 was the President of the Committee for Democracy in Central America (PRODEMCA), which opposed the Sandinistas and related groups in Central America
.
He supported the Bill Clinton's campaign for the Presidency. During the Presidency of Bill Clinton
, Kemble served first in 1993 as the Deputy Director and then in 1999 as Acting Director of the U.S. Information Agency. He was also made a special representative of Secretary of State
Madeleine K. Albright to the Community of Democracies Initiative.
In 2001, Kemble was appointed to the Board of International Broadcasting by President George W. Bush. He also became the Washington, D.C.
representative of Freedom House
; in his last years, he was especially involved in supporting peace efforts in the Middle East. Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell appointed Kemble to be the Chairman of the International Eminent Persons Group on Slavery, Abduction and Forced Servitude in Sudan
. Despite being diagnosed with brain cancer, Kemble spent his last months organizing a conference on the contributions of Sidney Hook
, the late pragmatic philosopher and SDUSA spokesperson; Carl Gershman took over the leadership of the conference after Kemble's cancer made it impossible for him to continue.
was the Executive Director of the SDUSA from 1975 to 1980. After having served as the U.S. Representative to the U.N.'s Committee on human rights during the first Reagan Administration
, Carl Gershman
has served as the President of the National Endowment for Democracy
. After the Polish people overthrew communism, their elected government awarded the Order of the Knight's Cross to Carl Gershman and (posthumously) the Order of the White Eagle
to AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland
.
of cancer on 15 October 2005, Social Democrats USA lapsed into a state of organizational hiatus, with no further issues of the online newsletter produced or updates to the group's website made.
Following several years of inactivity, an attempt was subsequently made to revive Social Democrats, USA. In 2008, a group centered around Pennsylvania members of SDUSA emerged, determined to re-launch the organization. A re-founding convention of the Social Democrats, USA was held 3 May 2009, at which a National Executive Committee was elected. Owing to factional disagreements, the Pennsylvania-based group and the newly elected NEC parted company, with the former styling itself as the "Social Democrats USA — Socialist Party, USA" and the latter as "Social Democrats, USA."
American Left
The American Left consists of individuals and groups, including socialists, communists and anarchists, that have sought fundamental change in the economic, political and cultural institutions of the United States. Although left-wing ideologies came to the United States in the 19th century, there...
social democrats
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
from 1972–2005.
SDUSA was founded in 1972 when the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
renamed itself Social Democrats, USA. The Socialist Party had been publicly associated with Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
, its candidate for President, with A. Philip Randolph, the civil-rights and labor-union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader, and with Michael Harrington
Michael Harrington
Edward Michael "Mike" Harrington was an American democratic socialist, writer, political activist, professor of political science, radio commentator and founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Personal life:...
, the author of The Other America
The Other America
Michael Harrington’s book The Other America was an influential study of poverty in the United States, published in 1962 by Macmillan. A widely read review, "Our Invisible Poor," in The New Yorker by Dwight Macdonald brought the book to the attention of President John F. Kennedy.The Other America...
. When the Socialist Party changed its name to Social Democrats, USA, the civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
became its public spokesman. According to Rustin, SDUSA aimed to transform the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
into a social-democratic party. Harrington left SDUSA to found the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee was founded in 1973 by Michael Harrington, who led a minority caucus in the Socialist Party. Harrington's caucus supported George McGovern's his call for a cease-fire and immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam...
in 1973.
SDUSA's organizational activities included sponsoring discussions and issuing position papers; it was known mainly because of its members' activities in other organizations. SDUSA included civil-rights activists and leaders of labor unions, such as Bayard Rustin, Norman Hill
Norman Hill
Norman Hill is an influential African-American administrator, activist and labor leader. He attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received a bachelor’s degree in 1956 in the field of sociology. He was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford. After college, Hill...
, and Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn
Tom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...
of the AFL–CIO, and Sandra Feldman
Sandra Feldman
Sandra Feldman was an American civil rights activist, educator and labor leader who served as president of the American Federation of Teachers from 1997 to 2004.-Early life:...
and Rachelle Horowitz of the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
. SDUSA members helped to support free labor-union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s; in particular, Tom Kahn organized the AFL–CIO's support of Poland's Solidarity. Penn Kemble
Penn Kemble
Richard Penn Kemble , commonly known as "Penn," was an American political activist and a founding member of Social Democrats, USA. He supported democracy and labor unions in the USA and internationally, and so was active in the civil rights movement, the labor movement, and the social-democratic...
and Carl Gershman
Carl Gershman
Carl Gershman has been the President of the National Endowment for Democracy since its 1984 founding. He had served as the U.S...
cooperated with Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
administrations on democracy promotion
Democracy promotion
Democracy promotion, which can also be referred to as democracy assistance, or democracy building, is a strand of foreign policy adopted by governments and international organizations that seek to support the spread of democracy as a political system around the world.-Introduction:The precise...
. Other members included the philosopher Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
.
SDUSA ceased operations in 2005, following the death of Penn Kemble. In 2008–2009 two small organizations emerged, each proclaiming itself to be the successor to SDUSA.
From the Socialist Party of Norman Thomas
In its 1972 Convention, the Socialist PartySocialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
had two Co-Chairmen, Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
and Charles S. Zimmerman (of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union, ILGWU) and a First National Vice Chairman, James S. Glaser, who were re-elected by acclamation
Acclamation
An acclamation, in its most common sense, is a form of election that does not use a ballot. "Acclamation" or "acclamatio" can also signify a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval in certain social contexts in ancient Rome.-Voting:...
. In his opening speech to the Convention, Co-Chairman Bayard Rustin called for SDUSA to organize against the "reactionary policies of the Nixon Administration"; Rustin also criticized the "irresponsibility and élitism of the 'New Politics' liberals".
The Party changed its name to "Social Democrats, USA" by a vote of 73 to 34. Changing the name of the Socialist Party to "Social Democrats USA" was intended to be "realistic": the intention was to respond to the end of the running of actual Socialist Party candidates for office, to respond to the confusions of Americans. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
observed that the Socialist Party had last sponsored a candidate for President
Darlington Hoopes
Darlington Hoopes was the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States in the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections.-Early years:...
in 1956, who received only 2,121 votes, which were cast in only 6 states. Because the Socialist Party no longer sponsored party candidates in elections, continued use of the name "Party" was "misleading" and hindered the recruiting of activists who participated in the Democratic Party, according to the majority report. The name "Socialist" was replaced by "Social Democrats
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
" because many American associated the word "socialism
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...
" with Soviet communism. Moreover, the organization sought to distinguish itself from two small Marxist parties, the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (United States)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...
and the Socialist Labor Party
Socialist Labor Party of America
The Socialist Labor Party of America , established in 1876 as the Workingmen's Party, is the oldest socialist political party in the United States and the second oldest socialist party in the world. Originally known as the Workingmen's Party of America, the party changed its name in 1877 and has...
.
During the 1972 convention, the majority ("Unity Caucus") won every vote, by a ratio of two to one. The Convention elected a national committee of 33 members, with 22 seats for the majority caucus, 8 seats for the "Coalition Caucus" of Michael Harrington
Michael Harrington
Edward Michael "Mike" Harrington was an American democratic socialist, writer, political activist, professor of political science, radio commentator and founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Personal life:...
, 2 for the left-wing "Debs Caucus", and one for the "independent" Samuel H. Friedman
Samuel H. Friedman
Samuel H. Friedman was a journalist and a longtime labor union activist. He twice ran unsuccessfully for Vice President of the United States on the Socialist Party of America ticket. In the 1952, the Socialist National Party Congress nominated Friedman to run along side its presidential candidate,...
. Friedman and the minority caucuses had opposed the name change.
The convention voted on and adopted proposals for its program by a two-one vote. On foreign policy, the program called for "firmness toward Communist aggression". However, on the Vietnam War, the program opposed "any efforts to bomb Hanoi into submission"; instead, it endorsed negotiating a peace agreement, which should protect Communist political cadres in South Vietnam from further military or police reprisals. Harrington's proposal for a ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
and immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces was defeated. Harrington complained that, after its convention, the Socialist Party had endorsed George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
only with a statement loaded with "constructive criticism" and that it had not mobilized enough support for McGovern. The majority caucus's Arch Puddington replied that the California branch was especially active in supporting McGovern, while the New York branch were focusing on a congressional race.
Even before the convention, Michael Harrington had resigned as an Honorary Chairperson of the Socialist Party. Some months after the convention, he resigned his membership in SDUSA. Harrington and his supporters from the Coalition Caucus soon formed the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee was founded in 1973 by Michael Harrington, who led a minority caucus in the Socialist Party. Harrington's caucus supported George McGovern's his call for a cease-fire and immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam...
(DSOC). Many members of the Debs caucus resigned from SDUSA and formed the Socialist Party USA
Socialist Party USA
The Socialist Party USA is a multi-tendency democratic-socialist party in the United States. The party states that it is the rightful continuation and successor to the tradition of the Socialist Party of America, which had lasted from 1901 to 1972.The party is officially committed to left-wing...
.
Early years
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and economic justice. The domestic program followed the recommendations of Rustin's article "From Protest to Politics". In it, Rustin analyzed the changing economy and its implications for American Negroes. Rustin wrote that the rise of automation would reduce the demand for low-skill high-paying jobs, which would jeopardize the position of the urban Negro working-class, particularly in the northern US. The needs of the Negro community demanded a shift in political strategy, where Negroes would need to strengthen their political alliance with mostly white unions and other organizations (churches, synagogues, etc.) to pursue a common economic agenda. It was time to move from protest to politics, wrote Rustin. A particular danger facing the Negro community was the chimera of identity politics
Identity politics
Identity politics are political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of self-identified social interest groups and ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion, sexual orientation or traditional dominance...
, particularly the rise of "Black power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
" which Rustin dismissed as a fantasy of middle-class Negroes that repeated the political and moral errors of previous black nationalists
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
, while alienating the white allies needed by the Negro community.
SDUSA documents had similar criticisms of the agendas advanced by middle-class activists increasing their role in the Democratic Party. SDUSA members stated concerns about an exaggerated role of "middle-class" peace activists in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, particularly associated with the "New Politics
New Politics
New Politics was a term used in the United States in the 1950s to denote the ascending ideology of that country's Democratic Party during that decade...
" of Senator George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
, whose Presidential candidacy
George McGovern presidential campaign, 1972
George McGovern, a United States Senator from South Dakota, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 1972 presidential election.-Leading up to the announcement:...
was viewed as a ongoing disaster for the Democratic Party and for the USA. In electoral politics, SDUSA aimed to transform the Democratic Party into a social democratic party.
In foreign policy, most of the founding SDUSA leadership called for an immediate cessation of the bombing
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division , US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.The four objectives...
of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
. They demanded a negotiated peace treaty to end the Vietnam War. However, the majority opposed a unilateral withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam, suggesting that such a withdrawal would lead to an annihilation of the free labor-unions and of the political opposition. After the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam and the victory of the Vietnamese Communists, SDUSA supported humanitarian assistance to refugees and condemned Senator McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
for his failure to support such assistance.
Organizational activities
SDUSA was governed by biannual conventions which invited the participation of interested observers. These gatherings featured discussions and debates over proposed resolutions, some of which were adopted as organizational statements. The group frequently made use of outside speakers at these events: Non-SDUSA intellectuals ranged from neoconservatives like Jeanne Kirkpatrick on the right to democratic socialists like Paul BermanPaul Berman
Paul Berman is an American writer. His articles have been published in numerous periodicals, such as: The New Republic, The New York Times Book Review and Slate...
on the left; similarly, a range of academic, political, and labor-union leaders were invited. These meetings also functioned as reunions for political activists and intellectuals, some of whom worked together for decades. SDUSA also published a newsletter and occasional position papers.
SDUSA issued statements supporting labor unions and workers' interests at home and overseas. It supported the existence of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the Israeli labor movement. It opposed many of the G. W. Bush administration domestic policies. From 1979–1989, SDUSA members were active providing support of Solidarnosc (Solidarity), the independent labor-union of Poland.
The organization also attempted to exert influence through endorsements of Presidential candidates. The group's 1976 National Convention, held in New York City, formally endorsed the Democratic ticket of Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
and pledged the group to "work enthusiastically" for the election of the pair in November. The organization took a less assertive approach during the divisive 1980 campaign, marked as it was by a heated primary challenge to President Carter by Senator Edward Kennedy
Edward Kennedy
Edward Kennedy may refer to:*Ted Kennedy, Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy , United States Senator from Massachusetts*Edward Kennedy , journalist who first reported the German surrender in World War II*Edward Kennedy, Jr., son of U.S...
; SDUSA chose not to hold its biannual convention until after the termination of the fall campaign. The election of conservative Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
was chalked up to the failure of the Democrats to "appeal to their traditional working class constituency."
Early in 1980 long-time National Director Carl Gershman
Carl Gershman
Carl Gershman has been the President of the National Endowment for Democracy since its 1984 founding. He had served as the U.S...
resigned his position, to be replaced by Rita Freedman. Freedman previously had served as organizer and chair of SDUSA's key New York local.
Dues in Social Democrats, USA were paid annually in advance, with members receiving a copy of the organization's official organ, the tabloid-sized newspaper New America
New America (newspaper)
New America was the weekly newspaper of Socialist Party of America .The initial "prepublication issue" was dated Labor Day 5 September 1960. New America remained the official journal of the Socialist Party after when it changed its name to Social Democrats, USA in December 1972...
. The dues rate was $25 per year in 1983.
Member activities
Small organizations associated with the Debs–Thomas Socialist Party have served as schools for the leadership of social-movement organizations, including the civil-rights movement and the sixties radicalism. These organizations are now chiefly remembered because of their members' leadership of large organizations that directly influenced USA and international politics. After 1960 the Party also functioned "as an educational organization" and "a caucus of policy advocates on the on the left wing of the Democratic Party". Similarly, SDUSA was known mainly because of the activities of its members, many of whom publicly identified themselves as members of SDUSA. Members of SDUSA have served as officers for governmental, private, and not-for-profit organizations. A. Philip Randolph, Bayard RustinBayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
, and Norman Hill
Norman Hill
Norman Hill is an influential African-American administrator, activist and labor leader. He attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received a bachelor’s degree in 1956 in the field of sociology. He was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford. After college, Hill...
were leaders of the African American civil rights movement. Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn
Tom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...
, Sandra Feldman
Sandra Feldman
Sandra Feldman was an American civil rights activist, educator and labor leader who served as president of the American Federation of Teachers from 1997 to 2004.-Early life:...
, and Rachelle Horowitz were officers of labor unions. Carl Gershman and Penn Kemble
Penn Kemble
Richard Penn Kemble , commonly known as "Penn," was an American political activist and a founding member of Social Democrats, USA. He supported democracy and labor unions in the USA and internationally, and so was active in the civil rights movement, the labor movement, and the social-democratic...
served in governmental and non-governmental organizations, particularly in foreign policy. Philosopher Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
was a public intellectual.
Writing after the death of Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn
Tom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...
, Ben Wattenberg commented that SDUSA members seemed to be
"ingeniously trying to bury the Soviet Union in a blizzard of letterheads. It seemed that each of Tom's colleagues—Penn Kemble, Carl Gershman, Josh Muravchik and many more—ran a little organization, each with the same interlocking directorate listed on the stationery. Funny thing: The Letterhead Lieutenants did indeed churn up a blizzard, and the Soviet Union is no more.
I never did quite get all the organizational acronyms straight—YPSL, LID, SP, SDA, ISL—but the key words were "democratic", "labor", "young" and, until events redefined it away from their understanding, "socialist". Ultimately, the umbrella group became "Social Democrats, U.S.A", and Tom Kahn was a principal "theoretician".
They talked and wrote endlessly, mostly about communism and democracy, despising the former, adoring the latter. It is easy today to say "anti-communist" and "pro-democracy" in the same breath. But that is because American foreign policy eventually became just such a mixture, thanks in part to those "Yipsels" (Young People's Socialist League), with Tom Kahn as provocateur-at-large.
On the conservative side, foreign policy used to be anti-communist, but not very pro-democracy. And foreign policy liberal-style might be piously pro-democracy, but nervous about being anti-communist. Tom theorized that to be either, you had to be both.
It was tough for labor-liberal intellectuals to be "anti-communist" in the 1970s. It meant being taunted as "Cold Warriors" who saw "Commies under every bed" and being labeled as—the unkindest cut—"right-wingers".
Service in Democratic and Republican administrations
SDUSA members have served in government since the 1970s, and the service of some members in Republican administrations has been associated with controversy. SDUSA members like Gershman were called "State Department socialists" by , who wrote that the foreign policy of the Reagan administration was being run by TrotskyistsTrotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
, a claim that was called a "myth" by . This "Trotskyist" charge has been repeated and even widened by journalist Michael Lind
Michael Lind
Michael Lind is an American writer. Currently Lind is Policy Director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C., Editor of New American Contract and its blog Value Added, and a columnist for Salon magazine. Lind was a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School and...
in 2003 to assert a takeover of the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration
Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration
During his campaign for election as President of the United States, George W. Bush's foreign policy platform included support for a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction of involvement in "nation building" and other small-scale military...
by former Trotskyists; Lind's "amalgamation of the defense intellectuals with the traditions and theories of 'the largely Jewish-American Trotskyist movement' [in Lind's words]" was criticized in 2003 by University of Michigan professor Alan M. Wald, who had discussed Trotskyism in his history of "the New York intellectuals
The New York Intellectuals
The New York Intellectuals were a group of Jewish American writers and literary critics based in New York City in the mid-20th century. They advocated left-wing politics but were also firmly anti-Stalinist...
". SDUSA and allegations that "Trotskyists" subverted Bush's foreign policy have been mentioned by "self-styled" paleoconservative
Paleoconservatism
Paleoconservatism is a term for a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government, civil society, anti-colonialism, anti-corporatism and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton...
s (conservative opponents of neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
).
A. Philip Randolph
The long-time leader and intellectual architect of the civil rights movement, A. Philip Randolph was also a visible member of the Socialist Party of Norman Thomas. He remained with the organization when it changed its name to SDUSA. Along with ILGWU President David Dubinsky
David Dubinsky
David Dubinsky was an American labor leader...
, Randolph was honored at the 1976 SDUSA convention.
A. Philip Randolph
A. Philip Randolph
Asa Philip Randolph was a leader in the African American civil-rights movement and the American labor movement. He organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Negro labor union. In the early civil-rights movement, Randolph led the March on Washington...
came to national attention as the leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was, in 1925, the first labor organization led by blacks to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor . It merged in 1978 with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks , now known as the Transportation Communications International Union.The...
. Randolph proposed a march on Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to protest racial discrimination in the armed forces
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
. Meeting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in the Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
, Randolph respectfully, politely, but firmly told President Roosevelt that Negroes would march in the capital unless desegregation would occur. The planned march was canceled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
issued Executive Order 8802
Executive Order 8802
Executive Order 8802 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to prohibit racial discrimination in the national defense industry...
(the Fair Employment Act), which banned discrimination in defense industries and federal agencies.
In 1942, an estimated 18,000 blacks gathered at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
to hear Randolph kick off a campaign against discrimination in the military, in war industries, in government agencies, and in labor unions. Following the act, during the Philadelphia Transit Strike of 1944, the government backed African-American workers' striking to gain positions formerly limited to white employees.
In 1947, Randolph, along with colleague Grant Reynolds, renewed efforts to end discrimination in the armed services, forming the Committee Against Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
in Military Service, later renamed the League for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
abolished racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
in the armed forces through Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981
Executive Order 9981 is an executive order issued on July 26, 1948 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. It expanded on Executive Order 8802 by establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services for people of all races, religions, or national origins."In 1947, Randolph, along...
.
Randolph was the nominal leader of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
, which was organized by Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
and his younger associates. At this march, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
delivered his "I Have a Dream
I Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination...
" speech. Soon aferwords, the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
was passed.
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was National Chairman of SDUSA. He also was President of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.Rustin had had a long association with A. Philip Randolph and with pacifist movements. In 1956 Rustin advised Martin Luther King Jr. who was organizing the Montgomery bus boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...
. According to Rustin, "I think it's fair to say that Dr. King's view of non-violent tactics was almost non-existent when the boycott began. In other words, Dr. King was permitting himself and his children and his home to be protected by guns." Rustin convinced King to abandon the armed protection. The following year, Rustin and King began organizing the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
(SCLC).
Rustin and Randolph organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
in 1963. On September 6, 1963 Rustin and Randolph appeared on the cover of Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine as "the leaders" of the March.
From protest to politics
After passage of the 1964 Civil Rights ActCivil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
and 1965 Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
, Rustin advocated closer ties between the civil rights movement and the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and its base among the working class.
With the assistance of Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn
Tom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...
, Rustin wrote the 1965 article "From protest to politics", which analyzed the changing economy and its implications for American Negroes. This article stated that the rise of automation would reduce the demand for low-skill high-paying jobs, which would jeopardize the position of the urban Negro working-class, particularly in the northern US. To pursue its economic agenda, the Negro community needed to shift political strategy, strengthening its political alliance with mostly white unions and other organizations (churches, synagogues, etc.). As its agenda shifted from civil rights to economic justice, the Negro community's tactics needed to shift from protest to politics, wrote Rustin.
A particular danger facing the Negro community was the chimera of identity politics
Identity politics
Identity politics are political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of self-identified social interest groups and ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion, sexual orientation or traditional dominance...
, particularly the rise of "Black power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
", for which Rustin expressed contempt:
"Wearing my hair Afro style, calling myself an Afro-American, and eating all the chitterlings I can find are not going to affect Congress."
Rustin wrote that "Black power" repeated the moral errors of previous black nationalists
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
, while alienating the white allies needed by the Negro community.
Influence on William Julius Wilson
Rustin's analysis was supported by the later research by William Julius Wilson. Wilson documented an increase in inequality within the Black community, following educated Blacks moving into white suburbs and following the decrease of demand for low-skill labor, as industry declined in the Northern USA. Such economic problems were not being addressed by a civil rights leadership focused on "affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
", a policy benefiting the truly advantaged within the Black community. Wilson's criticism of the neglect of working-class and poor African Americans by civil rights organizations led to his being mistaken for a conservative, despite his having identified himself as a Rustin-style social democrat. Wilson has served on the advisory board of Social Democrats, USA.
Labor movement: unions and social democracy
Rustin increasingly worked to strengthen the labor movement, which he saw as the champion of empowerment for the Negro community and for economic justice for all Americans. He contributed to the labor movement's two sides, economic and political, through support of labor unions and social-democratic politics.He was the founder and became the Director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute
A. Philip Randolph Institute
The A. Philip Randolph Institute is an organization for African American trade unionists.-History:Following passage of the Voting Rights Act, APRI was co-founded in 1965 by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin...
, which coordinated the AFL-CIO's work on civil rights and economic justice. He became a regular columnist for the AFL-CIO newspaper.
On the political side of the labor movement, Rustin increased his visibility as a leader of the American social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
. He was a founding National Co-Chairman of Social Democrats, USA.
Human rights, especially ending discrimination against gays
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Rustin worked as a human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and election monitor
Election monitoring
Election monitoring is the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or a non-governmental organization , primarily to assess the conduct of an election process on the basis of national legislation and international standards. There are national...
for Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
. He also testified on behalf of New York State's Gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
Rights Bill. In 1986, he gave a speech "The new 'niggers' are gays," in which he asserted,
Rustin also helped to write a report on peaceful means to end Apartheid (racial segregation) in South Africa.
Norman Hill
Norman Hill (born April 22, 1933 in Summit, New JerseySummit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 21,457. Summit had the 16th-highest per capita income in the state as of the 2000 Census....
) is an influential African-American administrator, activist and labor leader.
Graduating in 1956, he was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
. Joining the civil rights movement and working in Chicago, Hill was an organizer for the Youth March for Integrated Schools, and then Secretary of Chicago Area Negro American Labor Council, and Staff Chairman of the Chicago March Conventions. In the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
(CORE), Hill was first the East Coast Field Secretary and then National Program Director. He assisted Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
with organizing the 1963 March on Washington. As National Program Director of CORE, Hill coordinated the route 40 desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of restaurants, the Waldorf campaign, and illustrated the civil rights demonstration that took place at the 1964 Republican National Convention
1964 Republican National Convention
The 1964 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States took place in the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California, on July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had only been one national Republican convention on the West Coast...
.
From 1964 to 1967, Norman Hill served as the Legislative Representative and Civil Rights Liaison of the Industrial Union department of the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
. He was involved in the issue of raising minimum wage and the labor delegation on the Selma to Montgomery marches
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
against racial discrimination in politics and voting in the southern United States.
In 1967, Hill became active in the A. Philip Randolph Institute
A. Philip Randolph Institute
The A. Philip Randolph Institute is an organization for African American trade unionists.-History:Following passage of the Voting Rights Act, APRI was co-founded in 1965 by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin...
. He began as Associate Director, but later became Executive Director, and finally President. As Associate Director, Hill coordinated and organized the Memphis March in 1968, after Martin Luther King’s assassination. In his career at the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Hill created over two hundred local chapters of this organization across the United States.
Tom Kahn
Tom Kahn was a leader of SDUSA, who made notable contributions to the Civil Rights movementCivil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
and to the labor movement.
Civil rights
Kahn helped Bayard RustinBayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
organize the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington and the 1958 and 1959 Youth March for Integrated Schools. As a white student at historically black Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, Kahn and Norman Hill helped Rustin and A. Philip Randolph
A. Philip Randolph
Asa Philip Randolph was a leader in the African American civil-rights movement and the American labor movement. He organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Negro labor union. In the early civil-rights movement, Randolph led the March on Washington...
to plan the 1963 March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
delivered his I have a dream
I Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination...
speech. Kahn's role in the civil rights movement was discussed in the eulogy by Rachelle Horowitz.
Support of Solidarity, the Polish union
When he became an assistant to the President of the AFL-CIOAFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
from 1972–1986, Kahn developed an expertise in international affairs.
Kahn was deeply involved with supporting the Polish labor movement. The trade union Solidarity (Solidarność) began in 1980. The Soviet-backed communist regime headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski is a retired Polish military officer and Communist politician. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's...
declared martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
in December 1981. Lane Kirkland
Lane Kirkland
Joseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
appointed Kahn to organize the AFL-CIO's support of Solidarity. Politically, the AFL-CIO supported the twenty-one demands of the Gdansk workers
21 demands of MKS
21 demands of MKS were a list of demands issued on 17 August 1980 by the Interfactory Strike Committee . The first demand was the right to create independent trade unions...
, by lobbying to stop further U.S. loans to Poland unless those demands were met. Materially, the AFL-CIO established the Polish Workers Aid Fund, which raised almost $300,000 by 1981. These funds purchased printing presses, and office supplies. The AFL-CIO donated typewriters, duplicating machines, a minibus, an offset press, and other supplies requested by Solidarity.
The AFL–CIO sought approval in advance from Solidarity's leadership, to avoid jeopardizing their position with unwanted or surprising American help. On September 12, Lech Walesa welcomed international donations with this statement: "Help can never be politically embarrassing. That of the AFL-CIO, for example. We are grateful to them. It was a very good thing that they helped us. Whenever we can, we will help them, too." Kahn explained the AFL–CIO position in a 1981 debate:
"Solidarity made its needs known, with courage, with clarity, and publicly. As you know, the AFL-CIO responded by establishing a fund for the purchase of equipment requested by Solidarity and we have raised about a quarter of a million dollars for that fund.
This effort has elicited from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and
Bulgaria the most massive and vicious propaganda assault on the AFL–CIO ... in many, many years. The ominous tone of the most recent attacks leaves
no doubt that if the Soviet Union invades, it shall cite the aid of the AFL-CIO as evidence of outside anti-Socialist intervention aimed at overthrowing the Polish state.
"All this is by way of introducing the AFL–CIO’s position on economic aid to Poland. In formulating this position, our first concern was to consult our friends
in Solidarity .... We did consult with them ... and their views are reflected in the statement unanimously adopted by
the AFL–CIO Executive Council.:
'
The AFL-CIO will support additional aid to Poland only if it is conditioned on the adherence of the Polish government to the 21 points of the Gdansk Agreement. Only then could we be assured that the Polish
workers will be in a position to defend their gains and to struggle for a fair
share of the benefits of Western aid.'"
In testimony to the Joint Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Kahn suggested policies to support the Polish people, in particular by supporting Solidarity's demand that the Communist regime finally establish legality, by respecting the twenty-one rights guaranteed by the Polish constitution
21 demands of MKS
21 demands of MKS were a list of demands issued on 17 August 1980 by the Interfactory Strike Committee . The first demand was the right to create independent trade unions...
.
The AFL-CIO provided the most aid to Solidarity, but substantial additional aid was provided by Western-European labor unions, including the U. K. Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
and especially the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...
.
Criticism of AFL–CIO
Edmund Muskie
Edmund Sixtus "Ed" Muskie was an American politician from Rumford, Maine. He served as Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, as a member of the United States Senate from 1959 to 1980, and as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981...
told Kirkland that the AFL-CIO's continued support of solidarity could trigger a Soviet invasion of Poland. After Kirkland refused to withdraw support to Solidarity, Muskie met with the USSR's Ambassador, Anatoly Dobyrnin, to clarify that the AFL-CIO's aid did not have the support of the US government.
Aid to Solidarity was also opposed by neo-conservative Jeanne Kirkpatrick, who argued that communism could not be overthrown and that Solidarity was doomed.
Aid through the 1980s
Later, the National Endowment for Democracy
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
provided $1.7 million for Solidarity, which was transferred via the AFL-CIO. In both 1988 and 1989, the U.S. Congress allocated $1 million yearly to Solidarity via the AFL-CIO.
In total, the AFL-CIO channeled 4 million dollars to Solidarity.
Sandra Feldman
Sandra Feldman (October 13, 1939 - September 18, 2005) was an American civil rights activist, educator and labor leader who served as president of the American Federation of TeachersAmerican Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
(AFT) from 1997 to 2004.
She helped to organize and was the keynote speaker at the 1999 SDUSA workshop on "American Labor in the New Economy: A Day of Dialogue,"January 22, 1999.
Socialist activism
She became active in socialist politics and the civil rights movement. When she was 17 years old, she met civil rights activist Bayard RustinBayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
, who became her mentor and close friend. During her early years in the civil rights movement, Feldman worked to integrate Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...
restaurants in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. She soon became employment committee chairwoman of the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. She also participated in several Freedom Rides, and was arrested twice.
Teaching
Upon graduation from Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
in 1962, Feldman worked for six months as a substitute third-grade teacher in East Harlem
Spanish Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...
. She continued to be active in the civil rights movement, working to desegregate Howard Johnson restaurants in Maryland. She participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the largest political rally for human rights in United States history and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
, which was organized by Rustin and his associates. From 1963 to 1966, Feldman matriculated in a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
program in literature at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. While in graduate school, Feldman worked as a fourth-grade teacher at Public School 34 on the New York City's Lower East Side. She immediately joined the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
, which had only one other member at the school. When New York City teachers won collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
rights in 1960, she organized the entire school staff within a year. During this time, Feldman became an associate of Albert Shanker
Albert Shanker
Albert Shanker was President of the United Federation of Teachers from 1964 to 1984 as well as President of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974 to 1997.-Early life:...
, then an organizer for the United Federation of Teachers
United Federation of Teachers
The United Federation of Teachers is the labor union that represents most educators in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service educators and 17,000 paraprofessionals in the union, as well as about 54,000 retired members...
.
United Federation of Teachers (UFT)
In 1966, on the recommendation of Rustin, Shanker—now executive director of the UFT—hired Feldman as a full-time field representative. Over the next nine years, Feldman became the union's executive director and oversaw its staff. She was elected its secretary (the second-most powerful position in the local) in 1983.After just two years on the UFT staff, Feldman played a crucial role in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville strike. The city of New York had designated the Ocean Hill-Brownsville area of Brooklyn as one of three decentralized school districts in an effort to give the minority community more say in school affairs. The crisis began when the Ocean Hill-Brownsville governing board fired 13 teachers for allegedly sabotaging the decentralization experiment. Shanker demanded that specific charges be filed and the teachers given a chance to defend themselves in due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
proceedings.
A protracted fight erupted between those in the community who supported the Ocean Hill-Brownsville board and those supported the UFT. Many supporters of the local school board resorted to racial invective. Shanker was branded a racist, and many African-Americans accused the UFT of being "Jewish-dominated". Feldman was often at the center of the strike. The UFT emerged from the crisis more powerful than ever, and Feldman's hard work, good political judgment and calm demeanor won her widespread praise within the union.
Shanker was elected president of the AFT in 1974, but retained his post as president of the UFT. In 1986, Shanker retired as UFT president, and Feldman was elected president.
UFT President after Shanker
Feldman was known for being a quiet but very effective leader of the UFT. She fought school system chancellors and mayors both, winning significantly higher wages and benefits as well as improved working conditions for her members. She lobbied so fiercely for Bernard Gifford as New York City schools chancellor that Robert F. Wagner, Jr.Robert F. Wagner, Jr. (Deputy Mayor)
Robert Ferdinand Wagner III , also known as Robert Ferdinand Wagner III, was a noted New York City civic leader who served as the Deputy Mayor of the City of New York, and President of the New York City Board of Education. He is often confused with his father of the same name, Robert F...
, President of the New York City Board of Education, threatened to resign unless Feldman backed off and he was given a free hand.
She was instrumental in helping David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
win election as mayor of New York in 1989 by using union members and resources to build a winning electoral coalition of black and white voters. But once mayor, Dinkins stalled on signing a new contract with the teachers' union. Feldman rarely criticized Dinkins publicly for his actions, but she kept the UFT out of Dinkins' 1993 re-election. Dinkins lost in a tight race to Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
.
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Feldman had been elected an AFT vice president in 1974, serving on the national union's executive council and the executive council's executive committee.After Shanker died in February 1997, Feldman won election as the AFT's president in July 1998, becoming the union's first female president since 1930. Feldman re-emphasized the AFT's commitment to educational issues. She also renewed the union's focus on organizing: During her tenure, the AFT grew by more than 160,000 new members (about 17 percent).
With Feldman as President, in 2002, AFT delegates approved a four-point plan: 1) building a "culture of organizing" throughout the union, 2) enhancing the union's political advocacy efforts, 3) engaging in a series of publicity, legislative, funding and political campaigns to strengthen the institutions in which AFT members work, and 4) recommitting the AFT to fostering democratic education and human rights at home and abroad. Feldman moved quickly to ensure that the plan was implemented.
In May 1997, Feldman was elected to the AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
executive council and appointed to the executive council's executive committee. During her tenure at the head of the AFT, Feldman also served as a vice president of Education International
Education International
Education International is a global union federation of teachers' trade unions. Currently, it has 401 member organizations in 172 countries and territories, representing over 30 million education personnel from pre-school to university...
and was a board member of the International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
and Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
.
Sandra Feldman died in 2005 at the age 65.
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American pragmaticPragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
philosopher known for his contributions to public debates. A student of John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history
Philosophy of history
The term philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish critical philosophy of history from speculative philosophy of history...
, of education
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education....
, politics
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
, and of ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
. He was known for his criticisms of totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible...
(fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and Marxism–Leninism). A pragmatic social democrat
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. After WWII, he argued that members of conspiracies, like the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
and other Leninist conspiracies
Democratic centralism
Democratic centralism is the name given to the principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist policy inside a political party...
, ethically could be barred from holding offices of public trust.
Hook gave the keynote speech to the July 17-18, 1976 convention of SDUSA.
For the Social Democrat, democracy is not merely a political concept but a moral one. It is democracy as away of life. What is "democracy as a way of life." It is a society whose basic institutions are animated by an equality of concern for all human beings, regardless of class, race, sex, religion, and national origin, to develop themselves as persons to their fullest growth, to be free to live up to their desirable potentials as human beings. It is possible for human beings to be politically equal as voters but yet so unequal in educational, economic, and social opportunities, that ultimately even the nature of their political equality is affected.
When it comes to the principled defense of freedom, and to opposition to all forms of totalitarianism, let it be said that to its eternal credit, the organized labor movement in the United States, in contradiction to all other sectors of American life, especially in industry, the academy and the churches, has never faltered, or trimmed its sails. Its dedication to the ideals of a free society has been unsullied. Its leaders have never been Munich-men of the spirit.
I want to conclude with a few remarks about the domestic scene and the role of Social Democrats, U.S.A. in it. We are not a political party with our own candidates. We are not alone in our specific programs for more employment, more insurance, more welfare, less discrimination, less bureaucratic inefficiency. Our spiritual task should be to relate these programs and demands to the underlying philosophy of democracy, to express and defend those larger moral ideals that should inform, programs for which we wish to develop popular support.
We are few in number and limited in influence. So was the Fabian Society of Great Britain. But in time it reeducated a great political party and much of the nation. We must try to do the same.
Penn Kemble
Richard Penn Kemble (January 21, 1941 — October 15, 2005), commonly known as "Penn," was an American political activist and a founding member of SDUSA. He supported free labor unions and democracy in the USA and internationally, and so was active in the civil rights movement, the labor movement, and the social-democratic opposition to communism. He founded organizations including Negotiations Now!, FrontlashFrontlash
Frontlash was a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to help minority and young people register to vote and to engage in voter education. Initially sponsored by the AFL-CIO, the United States Youth Council, and the NAACP Youth Council, the AFL-CIO became the group's most important financial...
, and Prodemca. Kemble was appointed to various government boards and institutions throughout the 1990s, eventually becoming the Acting Director of the U.S. Information Agency under President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
After moving to New York, Kemble stood out as a neatly dressed, muscular Protestant youth, in a urban political setting that was predominantly Catholic and Jewish. He worked at The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
but was fired for refusing to cross a picket line
Picket line
A picket line is a horizontal rope, along which horses are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height , or overhead. The overhead form usually is called a high line....
during a typesetters' strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. A leader in the East River chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
, Kemble helped to organize a non-violent blockade of the Triborough Bridge
Triborough Bridge
The Robert F. Kennedy ' Bridge, formerly known as the Triborough Bridge , is a complex of three separate bridges in New York City, United States...
during rush hour, to raise consciousness among suburbanites of the lives of Harlem residents. Kemble was a founder of Negotiation Now!, a group which called for an end to the bombing of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
and a negotiated settlement of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He was opposed to a unilateral withdrawal of U.S forces from Vietnam.
In 1972, Kemble was a founder the Coalition for a Democratic Majority (CDM), an association of centrist Democrats that opposed the "new politics" liberalism exemplified by Senator George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
, who suffered the worst defeat of a Presidential candidate in modern times, despite the widespread dislike of Nixon. Kemble was Executive Director of CDM from 1972–76, at which time he left to become a special assistant and speechwriter for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick "Pat" Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
. He remained with Moynihan until 1979. Concerned about the direct and indirect role of the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
and of sympathizers of Marxist-Leninist politics in the US Peace Movement and in the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
, Kemble helped found the Institute on Religion and Democracy
Institute on Religion and Democracy
The Institute on Religion and Democracy is a Christian think tank that promotes Christian conservatism in public life. The organization comments on current events in the Christian community...
. From 1981 until 1988 was the President of the Committee for Democracy in Central America (PRODEMCA), which opposed the Sandinistas and related groups in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
He supported the Bill Clinton's campaign for the Presidency. During the Presidency of Bill Clinton
Presidency of Bill Clinton
The United States Presidency of Bill Clinton, also known as the Clinton Administration, was the executive branch of the federal government of the United States from January 20, 1993 to January 20, 2001. Clinton was the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term...
, Kemble served first in 1993 as the Deputy Director and then in 1999 as Acting Director of the U.S. Information Agency. He was also made a special representative of Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Madeleine K. Albright to the Community of Democracies Initiative.
In 2001, Kemble was appointed to the Board of International Broadcasting by President George W. Bush. He also became the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
representative of Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
; in his last years, he was especially involved in supporting peace efforts in the Middle East. Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Colin L. Powell appointed Kemble to be the Chairman of the International Eminent Persons Group on Slavery, Abduction and Forced Servitude in Sudan
Slavery in Sudan
Slavery in Sudan began in ancient times, and has continued to the present day. During the Arab slave trade, many Black-Sudanese were purchased as slaves and brought for work in the Middle East....
. Despite being diagnosed with brain cancer, Kemble spent his last months organizing a conference on the contributions of Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
, the late pragmatic philosopher and SDUSA spokesperson; Carl Gershman took over the leadership of the conference after Kemble's cancer made it impossible for him to continue.
Carl Gershman
Carl GershmanCarl Gershman
Carl Gershman has been the President of the National Endowment for Democracy since its 1984 founding. He had served as the U.S...
was the Executive Director of the SDUSA from 1975 to 1980. After having served as the U.S. Representative to the U.N.'s Committee on human rights during the first Reagan Administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
, Carl Gershman
Carl Gershman
Carl Gershman has been the President of the National Endowment for Democracy since its 1984 founding. He had served as the U.S...
has served as the President of the National Endowment for Democracy
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
. After the Polish people overthrew communism, their elected government awarded the Order of the Knight's Cross to Carl Gershman and (posthumously) the Order of the White Eagle
Order of the White Eagle
The Order of the White Eagle is Poland's highest decoration awarded to both civilians and the military for their merits. It was officially instituted on November 1, 1705 by Augustus II the Strong and bestowed on eight of his supporters: four Polish magnates, three Russian field marshals , and one...
to AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland
Lane Kirkland
Joseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
.
Hiatus and re-foundation
Following the death of the organization's Notesonline editor Penn KemblePenn Kemble
Richard Penn Kemble , commonly known as "Penn," was an American political activist and a founding member of Social Democrats, USA. He supported democracy and labor unions in the USA and internationally, and so was active in the civil rights movement, the labor movement, and the social-democratic...
of cancer on 15 October 2005, Social Democrats USA lapsed into a state of organizational hiatus, with no further issues of the online newsletter produced or updates to the group's website made.
Following several years of inactivity, an attempt was subsequently made to revive Social Democrats, USA. In 2008, a group centered around Pennsylvania members of SDUSA emerged, determined to re-launch the organization. A re-founding convention of the Social Democrats, USA was held 3 May 2009, at which a National Executive Committee was elected. Owing to factional disagreements, the Pennsylvania-based group and the newly elected NEC parted company, with the former styling itself as the "Social Democrats USA — Socialist Party, USA" and the latter as "Social Democrats, USA."
Conventions
| Convention | Location | Date | Notes and references |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 National Conference | Hopewell Junction, NY | Sept. 21-23, 1973 | From registration ad, New America, July 30, 1973, pg. 7. |
| 1974 National Convention | New York City | Sept. 6-8, 1974 | 125 delegates, keynote speaker Walter Laqueur. Per NA, Aug. 20, 1974, pg. 8. |
| 1976 National Convention | New York City | July 17-18, 1976 | 500 delegates and observers, keynote speaker Sidney Hook. Per NA, Aug.-Sept. 1976, pg. 1. |
| 1978 National Convention | New York City | Sept. 8-10, 1978 | Introductory report by Carl Gershman. Per NA, Oct. 1978, pg. 1. |
| 1980 National Convention | New York City | Nov. 21-23, 1980 | Per NA, Dec. 1980, pg. 1. |
| 1982 National Convention | Washington, DC | Dec. 3-5, 1982 | Keynote speech by Albert Shanker. Dates per NA, Oct. 1982, pg. 8. |
| 1985 National Convention | Washington, DC | June 14-16, 1985 | Keynote speech by Alfonso Robelo. Per NA, Nov.-Dec. 1985, pg. 6. |
| 1987 National Convention | |||
| 1990 National Convention | |||
| 1994 National Convention | |||
Prominent members
- Robert J. Alexander
- Paul FeldmanPaul FeldmanPaul Feldman is the "Bagel Man" mentioned in Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner, a man who started his own business selling bagels instead of pursuing his old occupation as Director of non-defense research at the Center for Naval Analyses...
- Sandra FeldmanSandra FeldmanSandra Feldman was an American civil rights activist, educator and labor leader who served as president of the American Federation of Teachers from 1997 to 2004.-Early life:...
- Joel Freedman
- Rita Freedman
- Carl GershmanCarl GershmanCarl Gershman has been the President of the National Endowment for Democracy since its 1984 founding. He had served as the U.S...
- James S. Glaser
- Al GlotzerAlbert GlotzerAlbert Glotzer , also known as Albert Gates was a professional stenographer and founder of the Trotskyist movement in the United States...
- Norman HillNorman HillNorman Hill is an influential African-American administrator, activist and labor leader. He attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received a bachelor’s degree in 1956 in the field of sociology. He was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from Haverford. After college, Hill...
- Sidney HookSidney HookSidney Hook was an American pragmatic philosopher known for his contributions to public debates.A student of John Dewey, Hook continued to examine the philosophy of history, of education, politics, and of ethics. After embracing Marxism in his youth, Hook was known for his criticisms of...
- Tom KahnTom KahnTom David Kahn was an American social democrat known for his leadership in other organizations. He was an activist and influential strategist in the African-American civil-rights movement. He was a senior adviser and leader in the U.S. labor movement.Kahn was raised in New York City. At...
- Penn KemblePenn KembleRichard Penn Kemble , commonly known as "Penn," was an American political activist and a founding member of Social Democrats, USA. He supported democracy and labor unions in the USA and internationally, and so was active in the civil rights movement, the labor movement, and the social-democratic...
- Arch Puddington
- A. Philip RandolphA. Philip RandolphAsa Philip Randolph was a leader in the African American civil-rights movement and the American labor movement. He organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Negro labor union. In the early civil-rights movement, Randolph led the March on Washington...
- Bayard RustinBayard RustinBayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
- Don Slaiman
- Joan Suall
- Gus Tyler
- Charles S. ZimmermanCharles S. ZimmermanCharles Sasha Zimmerman was an American socialist activist and trade union leader, who was an associate of Jay Lovestone. Zimmerman had a career spanning five decades as an official of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union...
Publications
"The following program was adopted at the Social Democrats, U.S.A. and Young People's Socialist League conventions at the end of December, 1972."- Bayard RustinBayard RustinBayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
and Carl Gershman, Africa, Soviet imperialism and the retreat of American power. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1978. (SD papers #2) - Carl Gershman The world according to Andrew Young. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1978. (SD papers #4)
- Leszek KolakowskiLeszek KolakowskiLeszek Kołakowski was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his acclaimed three-volume history, Main Currents of Marxism, which is "considered by some to be one of the most important books on political theory of the...
and Sidney Hook, The social democratic challenge. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1978. (SD papers #5) - Carl Gershman, Selling them the rope: Business and the Soviets. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1979. (SD papers #6)
- Lane KirklandLane KirklandJoseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
and Rita Freedman, Building on the past for the future. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1981. - Social Democrats, USA: Standard bearers for freedom, democracy, and economic justice. New York: Social Democrats, USA, n.d. [1980s].
- A challenge to the Democratic Party. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1983.
- Alfonso RobeloAlfonso RobeloLuis Alfonso Robelo Callejas , a Nicaraguan businessman, was the founder of the Nicaraguan Democratic Movement . He was one of the "moderates" on the five-members Junta of National Reconstruction that the Sandinistas claimed would rule Nicaragua following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle...
, The Nicaraguan democratic struggle: Our unfinished revolution. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1983. (SD papers #8) - Scabs renamed, permanent replacements. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1990.
- On foreign policy and defense. Washington, D.C. : Social Democrats, USA, 1990
- SD, USA statement on the economy. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
- Child labor, US style. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
- Child labor, an international abuse. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
- John T. Joyce, Expanding economic democracy. New York: Social Democrats, USA, 1991.
- Rita Freedman, Does America need a social democratic movement? Washington, DC: Social Democrats, USA, 1993.
- Why America needs a social democratic movement. Washington, DC : Social Democrats, USA, 1993.
- The future of socialism. San Jose, CA: San Francisco Bay Area Local of Social Democrats, USA, 1994.
External links
- Preliminary Inventory of the Social Democrats, USA Records, 1937-1994, Special Collections Library, Duke University, Durham, NC.
- Dale Reed, Register of the Carl Gershman Papers, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1999.
- Dale Reed, Register of the Albert Glotzer Papers, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2010.
- Social Democrats, USA official website, original organization, material terminating in October 2005. www.socialdemocratsusa.org/
- Social Democrats-Socialist Party USA official website, Pennyslvania-based group, www.socialdemocratsusa.org/
- Social Democrats, USA official website, NEC-based group, socialistcurrents.org//