Issued: August 17, 1980.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Once again, the NSC has determined that it’s necessary to revise the OC’s work plan both in terms of a timetable change local center schedule and additions in what should be taken up in different periods. It’s important to first lay out the political rationale for some of these changes and then go into the concrete revisions.
1. Struggle against white chauvinism:
The racism of white comrades in the OC is coming out all over the place on the local, regional, and national level and is clearly holding back the OC. Obviously, much of this racism has existed in the OC for some time, but due to white chauvinism of most white NSC members, we were either blinded to it or blinded to its depth. (Secondarily, national minority NSC members accommodated themselves to this racism rather than struggling against it.) But also, as the local and regional centers have gotten off the ground–we’ve begun to break down federationism and more national minorities have come into the OC process– more racism in relation to national minority comrades has been exposed.
Obviously, it’s been very important to take up a struggle against these racist errors, on the local, regional, and national level, as they’ve occurred. Nor can we wait until the 3rd period, when the campaign against white chauvinism will be taken up in a systematic way, to begin to help OC comrades see the white chauvinism underlying their racist errors. But this struggle, especially given the defensiveness–depths of white chauvinism–when criticisms have been made, has meant local centers getting behind on other agenda items.
2. Change in the main danger in the anti-revisionist party-building movement:
The NSC’s analysis that the main danger in the anti-revisionist p-bing movement has changed, and is now coming from the right and yet the main danger in the tendency is still ultra-leftism (see NSC analysis) calls for some changes in the work plan. First, it means trying to take up as. a secondary task in this period, studying and struggling over this analysis, using NSC document and some readings. Secondly, it means that we should speed up the process of doing a thorough critique and summation of ultra-leftism (which we plan to have the OC at large take up in the 3rd period.) Then we can take up in a thorough way a critique of right opportunism and revisionism, which pose increasing danger to our movement.
3. Campaign against anti-w.c. bias:
The NSC is just beginning to understand how much anti-w.c. bias is holding back the OC and party-building movement as a whole. This is a fundamental class bias towards workers, which views them as not only incapable of being in the OC–unable to take up theoretical struggle–but also incapable of playing a leading role in the party-building movement. As petty-bourg. intellectuals, mainly white, we’ve seen workers as too intellectually inferior, disorganized, and racist to be a part and play a strong role in the OC. Our racism and anti-w.c. bias dovetail in our view of advanced Black and other national minority workers.
The NSC has determined that we have to begin to take up a campaign against this anti-w.c. bias, which we see as secondary to racism, in holding back the p-bing movement. Or else we’re choosing every day to have the OC remain primarily white and petty-bourg. intellectual. The NSC has yet to figure out concretely how to integrate this campaign into our workplan. It will be an additional task to take up; we’re writing a resolution and beginning perspective on it to be discussed in the OC.
Another important reason we need to make some revisions in the workplan is due to various weaknesses of the NSC. First, is our idealism in underestimating how much time would be needed to carry out ideological consolidation around different fronts. For instance, we were not clear on how long the consolidation around the DP would take 3 sessions. We were unrealistic in assuming comrades could cover all the primary and secondary tasks in each period.
Second, the NSC has failed to get out documents on time for OC members to take up during a particular period. Examples of these are well known to all. It’s almost a year since the national OC conference and that summation is just getting out. The White chauvinism Bulletin and Critique of the rectification’s critique of the DP and OC’s 1st year are months behind. These delays are rooted in a combination of localism, individualism, and racism on the part of most white NSC members.
There is the ongoing localism and individualism in most NSC members still not making their NSC work primary, particularly in the last period. But there is also the liberalism of not struggling with each other enough around this, which is rooted in individualism and racist paternalism, on the part of white comrades.
In the last few months, a whole process of criticism of the white chauvinism of most white NSC members has been very important. But given the depths of white chauvinism in us, and the resistance in some instances to looking at it, this has been time-consuming, and has held back other NSC work in some cases. For example, the most recent NSC minutes and Critique of the rectificationists is out late due to that NSC comrade getting bogged down in not wanting to face his racism. Or the racism of white comrades in the Anti-Racist Task Force (ARTF)–and secondarily the chair’s capitulation to that–has held back the White Chauvinism bulletin getting out. Also, NSC comrades having to take up the struggle against racism in their regions, local centers, etc. has taken time away from completing other NSC tasks.
1. Federationism in not starting local centers:
The most blatant way federationism has come out is in those cities where local circles have not even gotten to base 1 in starting local centers. Obviously this seriously holds back carrying out the national workplan. For in reality what’s happened in most of these cities is that the local circles haven’t even taken up the tasks of that period, so are way behind schedule.
2. Federationism in not making the OC’s theoretical agenda primary:
Even where local centers have been established, comrades are still not putting the necessary energies and time into the local center. In other words, many comrades in the OC who are also members of local circles, still view the work of their local circle as primary. Concretely, this has taken the form of local centers not meeting enough, e.g. for only 3-hrs./mo. And in many instances OC comrades have not really built local centers–not really spent time reaching out to national minorities and advanced workers–thinking they’re not capable of being in the OC, nor critical to have in the local centers.
3. Ideological roots:
The ideological roots in both these instances are in essence the same. Both not only reflect profound federationist thinking, see the local circles as primary over the OC in the party-building movement, but also deep-seated racism and anti-w.c. bias. There’s the racism of not seeing the role of independent national minority M-Lists who exist outside of existing local circles because of racism. But there’s also the racism and anti-w.c. bias of many OC comrades who are unwilling to devote more attention to the theoretical work in the local centers because they don’t think advanced national minority and white workers can “handle” the theoretical struggle. Rather the local organizations, where practice is directed, is “the place” for “theoretically incapable” workers until the local organizations can enlighten and develop these workers to the point they can handle the OC. (There are other ways this federationism is racist, that will be spelled out in the NSC Bulletin on White Chauvinism.) In both, the OC, local centers, have not been made the primary arena for theoretical struggle.
In summary, the OC is not going to move forward until we ruthlessly struggle against these ideological weaknesses on every level, NSC to local center. The following revised workplan will not work until this struggle is taken up.
We are more ready, due to objective and subjective changes, to struggle for making the OC, thru OCIC centers, the primary arena for theoretical struggle. We’re in a different period than 3 months ago, given that local centers now exist in the majority of cities where OC forces are. That was not the case 3-4 months ago; there’s been a real growth or leap forward in the formation of local centers. Also there are regional centers functioning in 4 regions; only the Mid-Atlantic regional center has not gotten off the ground. However, we need to step up the struggle to see that local centers are formed and built in every city.
To make the OC’s theoretical agenda primary and take up all the primary and secondary OC tasks, all local centers must meet 1/mo and for 6-7 hrs, e.g. have am and pm session.
We decided to put the whole workplan back one month from the 2nd revision, i.e., the 2nd period begins July 1st-goes to Oct. 31. The 3rd period is Nov. 1st-March 1st. Realistically, we think we should only plan concretely for the next two periods. The periods will still be 4 months. Comrades should revise their plans accordingly. For instance, this means that the study of the 18 pts. has to get off the ground in every city by end of Oct.-end of 2nd period.
One thing that’s important to make clear before going into this is that the key in every period is taking up the primary theoretical tasks outlined for that period. There should be some flexibility in relation to secondary theoretical tasks. Obviously comrades should try to get to them in that period, but they might have to shorten the discussion, postpone one of them to the next period, schedule extra time for them. But the regional center meeting designed to have the most advanced struggle around the primary ideological, theoretical tasks for that period should not be held up because 1 or more local center didn’t get to complete a secondary struggle.
2nd period: July-Oct.
Comrades should reread the original workplan for this period. In terms of primary tasks of the OC, the primary one for this period is consolidation in Ideal and regional centers around the DP, as said originally. The addition here, as said earlier, is that local centers will need to spend time dealing with racist errors made in the centers. And a primary focus of the RSC’s and LSC’s during this period is to consolidate around an understanding of white chauvinism, particularly their own, for white comrades, in order to lead the campaign against white chauvinism in the 3rd period.
The secondary theoretical tasks that OC comrades should try to take up in this period are: 1) a discussion of the packet on the OC’s 2nd national conference (including the summation of that conference). This discussion should particularly focus on the exchanges around the a)criticism of NSC for bureaucratic centralism and NSC response, and b) criticisms of racism at the conference, but focusing on the criticism of racism of those who didn’t think the resolution on the National Minority M-List conference should be introduced and passed; 2) discussion and struggle over the organizational opportunism of the rectificationists (a packet is forthcoming around this.) The Minority Bloc’s Platform and the NSC response to it could be read in conjunction with these 2 secondary struggles, ppl-6 of NSC response relates to rectification line, ppb-12 with OC national conference. 3) The last secondary theoretical struggle OC comrades should try to take up in this period is the NSC’s initial paper on the change in the main danger in the party-building movement, with supplemental readings. But as said above, if comrades can’t get to this during this period, they should take up in the very beginning of the next period.
3rd period: Nov.-Feb.
Most all of what’s outlined in the original workplan for this period still holds. The primary focus will be the campaign against white chauvinism at the local and regional center level. The only additional-theoretical primary tasks we will begin to take up is the study, and struggle around the summation of ultra-leftism. (The NSC is supposed to go over a draft of this at the end of Sept.) And, as said in the original workplan, we’ll begin to take the DP to the tendency at large in all localities.
In terms of secondary tasks, the main thing will be consolidating OC members around the resolution around the National Minority M-List conference and the documents out of that conference. Comrades should finish up any secondary tasks uncompleted from previous period. And we might take up the campaign against anti-w.c. bias in this period, but the NSC will inform OC comrades about that if we decide so.
TV for the NSC
Aug. 17, 1980