SECRET
SUMMARY FROM FRENCH
The articl ? vsg continues with James Baldwin" is taken
from the Au^ 21-27,. 1972. issue of "L' Express. " ^
You believe in the possible victory of the
black minority?
We represent around 10% of the American pop-
ulation. Without talking about starting a
revolution, it is certainly enough to des
troy society.
Question:
Answer:
Question:
Answer :
Answer :
In what way?
It is easy for us, for example, to make the
cities uninhabitable. It is the Blacks who
form the bulk of the urban services. 1“ J-eal
estate, we are in the basement and the base-
ment directs the life of the rest of the
floors. It is very simple. In order to or
ganize this type of resistance, it is n
necessary to have a lor of people. And he
war in Vietnam, in this regard, is very
significant. That the most powerful countx'y in
the world, in twelve years, cannot manage
to get the better of one of the Poorest and
most underdeveloped countries in the world,
makes many Blacks wonder.
In your opinion, is violence necessary or
only inevitable?
You cannot speak of violence as if it could
take place tomorrow. It is already there.
But violence where, against whom? When
president Nixon said: M We will not tolerate
^ violence any longer," I still wonder to
■fjfvV'whom he was speaking. Who must no longer tol-
T' erate it? He? Or us? Because the main vic-
tims of American violence are the Blacks.
I would certainly prefer to be able to
avoid violent confrontations. But it does
not depend on the Blacks. The choice
in their hands.
(rBCBTVBD with wvbm
ROUTING SLIP HATED:
L
1002
Mnn . You returned to the U.S. in 1957 because
Q ue -.r^n -poit that something was stirring.
Answer :
Question:
Answer:
Question:
. YOU reiunieu — .
trob'P '• you felt that something was stirring.
Fifteen years later, you decided to live in
» ' France* Why?
I decided to return to France and then to
stay there after Martin Luther King s
assassination in April of l 9 ® 8 * * . it
for two years. And then, I felt that it
was necessary to go away to begin again. ^
a writer, as a political milita ,
The death of Luther King was the end ®
certain period of time in American politics
in which I was closely involved. It was also
the end of a certain hope.
k . The way chosen by Martin Luther King, was
it feasible?
I do not know. That is very difficult to
say today. Perhaps the met hods used by
Martin were not the most effective but
they were, at that time, the stronges .
Anvhow, I could not stand the idea of re-
maining in France, because they were trying
to change me. I returned to work at Martin
and Malcolm X*s side.
n . Was this the hope which was broken when
Luther King died?
Answer:
Yes. Hope in American morality,
Question:
Answer :
And you returned to France?
Yes, to breathe. And, to withdraw once again.
To try and see clearly. X was very strongly
connected with the Black Panther Movement
and I was afraid, then, of being useless
to them. What they do is done by youths in
a world which is already different from mine.
The only way to help them is to contribu e
my support. To listen to them, to respect
them, hoping sometimes to be heard. 1
after all, first a writer. If X do not find
the time to reflect, to write, I will not be
of any use to anyone. .1 would not have any
reason for being.
•• 2 **
1003
Question:
Answer: *'
Question:
Answer:
What do you think about Angela Davis?
/ i do not know her personally. She is much
5E0REES&2 > 1 “S “,‘STtS S
T- SiSVSSw. *i «■» «. »■
Sis IMa ».wi. <»' ‘!” V S;
Angela Davis and Paul Robeson are, in the
eyes of the Whites, bad niggers.
What do you mean?
Paul Robeson went through the worldas an _
the world belonged to him. Whites can
not stand to be surrounded by black Pe°P* •
?? is necessary to quickly give an example.
Angela Davis answered Ronald Reagan that
shfwas a communist. The problem was not what
she was accused of. What does the answer
matter when you have no right to ask the _
question anyway? Whether I do or do^not agree
with her ideas means nothing. As I am
years older than she is, I necessarily hav
another viewpoint. Anyhow, she is a victim.
Therefore she is ray sister.
Translator's note: James Arthur Baldwin's interview
Translator it k Hargaret Head i8 called 'Racism in.
Question", a Calmann-Levy publication. .
you have written that "If catastrophe
comes one day, the rebirth will only be
able to come from the South. What d y
mean?
Because the people live in such a nightmare,
that unconsciously they will be looking
free themselves. In order to leave this hell,
the Southerner will have an enormous price
•fro nav But perhaps he will finish by saying
to himself: "Anything but this
northerner does not live surrounded by Blacks,
Tlifcy- the Black is not a daily element, permanent
-in hi<3 life He passes by him in the elevator
SX on the side;alks. P He is not a part of the view
a ^i the time. The Journey will take much
longer for him.
S^RET
- 3 -
1004
O r ‘{
no vou believe that the cultural contributions
of the Black civilisation can influence
' b j society?
Yes, I believe that it is ij? tj 18 vay>
thrQUgh cultural contributions, that you
can manage to profoundly change ®°^® ty thi k _
Our way of listening, seeing,: f eeling, thin
ing can contribute to these changes. It is
for this reason that I find the word
tion," in this day and age, to be a bit
romantic. It is, in reality, th ®
fountain of humanity that one wxa% e ^° it «
in order to disconcert, to establish com
munications*
To be born, to learn to walk, to grow •
un to erow old, all this is difficult for
everyon^ Nc one has the right to add another
problem, that of the color of one s skin.
i'p,
J 4-28-72)
(Copies to Offices Checked'
TO: SAC:
□ Albany
I I Albuquerque
I 1 Alexandria
I I Anchorage
I I Atlanta
I I Baltimore
I I Birmingham
I 1 Boston
0 Buffalo
□ Butte
1 I Charlotte
I I Chicago
I 1 Cincinnati
I \ Cleveland
I I Columbia
I 1 Dallas
I 1 Denver
I | Detroit
I 1 El Paso ^
I I Honolulu
I 1 Houston
I | Indianapolis
I 1 Jackson
I | Jacksonville
1 1 Kansas City
1 I Knoxville
I I Las Vegas
B Little Rock
Los Angeles
I 1 Louisville
I | Memphis
□ Miami
1 1 Milwaukee
1 1 Minneapolis
□ Mobile
I | Newark
1 1 New Haven
►QjNew OrteMS’S
EjQyNew York City,
J^^Norfblk^-
1 1 Oklahoma City
1 | Omaha
1 I Philadelphia
I | Phoenix
1 1 Pittsburgh
I — | Portland
I 1 Richmond
B Sacramento
St. Louis
1 1 Salt Lake City
I 1 San Antonio
I I San Diego
I 1 San Francisco
I | San Juan
I 1 Savannah
I | Seattle
I I Springfield
I I Tampa
I 1 Washington Field
I 1 Quantico
TO LEG AT:
I I Beirut
I I Bem
I I Bonn
I I Brasilia
I I Buenos Aires
I I Caracas
I 1 Copenhagen
I I Hong Kong
I I La Paz
I I London
I 1 Madrid
1 I Managua
1 I Manila
1 I Mexico City
I I Ottawa
I I Pari 8
I I Rome
1 I Singapore
1 I Tel Aviv
□ Tokyo
10 / 5/72
JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN
EM
Retention
XIXX For information ^ optional [£]
I 1 The enclosed is for your informati
sources, paraphrase contents.
/
ntion por a
mal (JT/actioi
information. If
pbr appropriate
action □ Surep, by
n. If used in a future report, conceal all
I 1 Enclosed are corrected pages from report of SA
dated
Remarks:
rnmi*
Bufile 62-1037.63^
u ^ le 'Td0-T4655'3?
Ifl
SEARCHED . I NDEXED
SERiAtlZE^TC^' FILED
1375
T ~ NEW YORK
1006
A review of subject* s file fails to indicate that
appropriate action has been taken with respect to the subject’s
Administrative Index (ADEX) status*
You are to determine subject’s propensity towards
violence and comment as to whether subject should remain or
be deleted from the ADEX, in accordance with instructions
contained in SAC Memorandum 21-72 (E) , dated 9/12/72$ you
should submit Form -122 with appropriate recommendations for
retention or deletion*
With regard to those subjects retained on the ADEX,
the ADEX card should reflect that an FD-165 (Security Flash)
and date was placed -with the Identification Division (in cases
where a fingerprint record exists) or that it was sent and date
thereof when FD-165 returned with no record stamp.
F
Date FD -165 sent! _
Date FD-165 returned:
\
£3 Albnny
[3 Albuquerque
f 3 Alexandria
£3 Anchorage
[3 Atlanta
S Baltimore*
Birmingham
! 1 Boston
£3 Buffalo
O Butte
£3 Charlotte
LD Chicago
B Cincinnati
Cleveland
; — \ Columbia
1 — | Dallas
[ 1 Denver
Q Detroit
! — 1 El Paso
I \ Honolulu
B Houston
Indianapolis
[3 Jackson
I 1 Jacksonville
\ 1 Kansas City
I — > Knoxville
n Las
(3 Little Rock
[3 Loa Angeles
[3 Louisville
< 1 Memphis
1 1 Miami
1 | Milwaukee
( t Minneapolis
r~l Mobile
I — 1 Newark
( — j New Haven
( { New Orleans
j — l New York City
{ — 1 Norfolk
REt
JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN
EM
Data
f i Oklahoma City
\ \ Omaha
(3 Philadelphia
3] Phoenix
B Pittsburgh
Port land
! 1 Richmond
I — j Sacramento
( — \ SL Louis
1 — j Salt Lake City
1 — | San Antonio
I — 1 San Diego
1 — \ San Francisco
[3 San Juan
I — 1 Savannah
1 — 1 Seattle
I — l Springfield
1 — 1 Tampa
I — , Washington Field
March 1974-
REMARK $e
/V
1008
DM1 OHM ^0«M HCs 10 ]
UNITED STATES GOVEi V
Memorandu,n
to : Mr. DeLoach
from :
subject:
date: 6-7-63
Tolson —
Belmont _
Mohr .
Casper
Callahan
Conrad
DeLoach
oulliijg^ff
Tave^^_ —
Trotter
Tele. Room
Holmes
Gan
BACKGROUND:
jamesIbaldwin
I
w
We have received information to the effect that Baldwin, an"author who has
been critical of the Bureau and has been connected with communist front and integration /■ |
activities, is allegedly preparing a statement concerning the FBI which supposedly "is
going to nail them to the wall" and "is going to be like an atom bomb when it is dropped. " yf
A suggested statement by the Director which can be made in the event Baldwin should maM/ f
false charges against the Bureau has previously been prepared and will be issued if the^
circumstances warrant. (WILL, of C* ouR^Sj' ^ <T? c F-ofK ftp j
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT: />i^ ^ //-
- fW'lW
v A review of today’s television listing reflects that a program concerning the
[/"Integration Crisis" will be heard this evening at 9:30 p.m. on local Channel 26. Baldw|h^
will be interviewed by Kenneth Clark of>th6 City College.’of New York. Also schedule ^
a statement by Malcolm X, leader of the Black Muslims. Channel 26 is the local ^ducar^l .
tional television station, WETA. yjjf'
Arrangements have been made for the Laboratory to record this
p:30 this evening. A representative of the Crime Research Section wilTalso be prf a M
that time to monitor the program. V ' v
CONCERNING KENNE'
:lark
Baldwin and other individuals had a meeting with the Attorney General in 4
New York City on May 24, 1963, at which time racial matters were discussed. One of %
those attending this meeting was a Dr. Kenneth Clark, who is a psychologist at the Cify
College of New York. Clark has never been investigated by the Bureau. Clark has been j
very active in the integration movement as well as in the affairs of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1959, he was a member of tj^aNew Tork Cit\
Board of Education’s Commission on Integration in the Schools. In 19|jivMinnijean BW
was reportedly staying at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Clark, ^iimije^^rown, in 1958
the 16-year -old girl who was expelled from Central High SchooFih "Little Rock, Arkan
10878 ;
RECOMMENDATION:
For information.
1 - Mr. Tolson
1 - |lr. DeLoach
1 - Mr. Conrad
ALL INF0I
HEREIN^
DATE2&
, 0 2
Arkar
t jr' v r
JUKI
j— - 7 ,■■■'<■■
1009
UPI-212 ."rrt*
(RACIAL) ($
mr^SSiSSX F^I T T^^4^feBE^ rEEL ^ THAT ™E "SINISTER- APPEAL OF
^S^TSTNTMG^CTRr AND more adherents among the
NATION f S NEGROES*
BALBWIN. A NEGRO, MADE THE STATEMENT IN AN INTERVIEW WITH DR.
. KENNETH CLARK, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AT CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
lUf^D ^OR BROADCAST TONIGHT (AT 10S30 P.M. EDT) OVER EDUCATIONAL ’
TELEVISION STATIONS WGBH-TV, BOSTON, AND WNDT-TV, NEW YORK.
nTupS E up. N i TC 52m,?, S£iL£ 0 52ySJ£ D £51 day short£y after BALDWIN and
OTHER WELL KNOWN NEGRO WRITERS AND ARTISTS MET SECRETLY WITH ATTY.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY TO DISCUSS THE CURRENT RACIAL CRISIS IN THE
•mi I5 LK WITH KENNEDY ONLY ONCE. HE SAID HE
Kic% e S^IfcSS?* b, ^8 SAYS IS * c n an de d? se j
1
fficULATE H FOR L ALL THE^GR^PEOPLE^HO ^^mM^^HEf ARTICULATE
KNIE R d!- FFER 1N5 ’ ^ SUFFERING H™ BEEN lS E ?Hfs T 2^NTRY I ^ L ^G
AUDIENCES" CAME^RO^HIS ARTICULATENESS^ 1 ^CORROBORATES THEIR F " IS
REAUTYi HE TELLS THEM THAT THEY ^^LY EXIST...5 TCS THEIR
HE LABELED THE BLACK WJSLIMS* APPEAL -SINISTER- BFCAITSF thf
MOVEMENT SEEKS TO INVEST THE NEGROES %ITH FALSE MORALE RY rtvTNr tmttm
crisi| E SENSE of superiority * and it will always break down inT THEM
BALDWIN DESCRIBED THE REV* DR* MARTIN LUTHER KING LEADER nr Twr
NON-VIOLENT ANTI -SEGREGATIONIST MOVEMENT IN THE SOUTH AS E "A°VERY E
GREAT MAN... HE REALLY BELIEVES IN NON-VIOLENCE. HE H^S ARBTi/rri at
SOMETHING IN HIMSELF WHICH ALLOWS HIM TO DO IT. AND HE STILL H Sc l
OTEAT MORAL AUTHORITY IN THE SOUTH. HE HAS Nofe WHATEvIr IN THE /
W 5/2S--N1130PED A
not RECO&oIiT"
/■;; . s' / M9 Jon 13 is, ,
s-; ^ r- 'i ■
V WASHINGTON CAPITAL NEWS service/^ "
- 1010
OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10
MAY 1962 COITION
GSA CCN. REG. NO. 27
(h
l
Memorandum
UNITED STATES
ERNMENT
TO
FROM
SUBJECT:
HZ o
Mr. DeLoach
DATE: (yJ/63
JAMES BALDWIN
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
JUNE 7, 1963
A filmed interview of author James
Baldwin and Malcolm X, Black Muslim, by Dr. Kenneth
Clark was shown on Channel 26, WETA, on June 7,
1963, at 9:30 p. m. A 30-minute film of the Baldwin
interview was shown first and followed by a 30 -minute
filmed interview of Malcolm X. It was announced
prior to the films that the Baldwin interview was
conducted ’’shortly after” Baldwin and other Negro
leaders met with Attorney General Robert Kennedy
in New York on May 24, 1963.
There was no reference to the FBI during
these interviews. Baldwin made reference to the inter-
view with the Attorney General stating that he was-
shocked at the lack of ’’real understanding” by the
Attorney General of the Negro problem. Malcolm X
made his reference to the Attorney General stating that
he had talked to the wrong group, referring to Baldwin
and the other Negro leaders, concerning the Negro
problem.
/
Cs
RECOMMENDATION:
RECr Id
-M'/i
B JVN 13 1963
/
None. For information.
1 - Mr.
1 - Mr .
DeLoach
Conrad
RWG:alk
t;
U i
91
r
t
1011
/
F E?-350 (4-3-62)
n
t\\\
w' 1
tj
U
(Mount Clipping In Spotf/Below)
Lewis Jr.
(FBI Impartial
In Rights Cases
p=ds the anguished cry
* 1 ' dn that Attorney tfeneral
[y could not “com-
municate” during their recent
closed-door session held as a meet-
ing of the minds on Americans ra-
cial problems.
I There would have been even less
((communication, however, if Kenne- .
Ildy had heard the outlandish slander
that Baldwin, prominent Negro au-
thor, had previously directed against
(the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Had Baldwin repeated his state-
iments at their conference, the at-
torney general would undoubtedly-
have set the record straight. As
[much as any man, Bo \ Kennedy if
:ognizant of the job the FBI ha.
lerformed in the civil rights field.
\The bureau, being strictly an in-
vestigative agency, doesn’t side with
segregationists or integratiomsts, de-
spite what Baldwin and others
charge. Southern racists assail the
te'BI as a Gestapo agency.
I FBI investigations in this field axe
conducted thoroughly, promptly and
impartially without apology to any-
one. They are handled by special
agents who have completed special
training which specifically qualifies -
them to conduct civil-rights mvesti-
^ ga it°is the FBI. that has laid the
-roundwork for thousands of previ-
ously disenfranchised Negroes to
register and vote. Bureau agents!
late last year conducted investiga-
tions involving more than 100 comi-
ties in which racial discrimination'
was reporte d to exist, i.
} 4
f Mr, Tolson —
Mr. Belmont
| "I*. Mohr
] -fr. Casper
\ *»r. Caliban
j Mr* Conrad • •--*
!
>1.
, f'-ilhvai
.Sr. Tavel
v ■. Trotter
Tele. Room
M-ss Holmes — -
Miss Gandy--
(Indlcate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.) . / ^ j
14 THE DAILY OKLAHOMA]
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKL.
JUNE 7 1963
MORNING
PULTON LEWIS J
Date:
Edition:
Author:
Editor:
Title: CIVIL RIGHTS,
(FEDERAL BUREAU OF
(investigation
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office: OKLA CITY
JjluJl
not recorded
149 JUti 17 j 963
/ — T
1012
iul9 (FTtev. 10-TS-62)
Tft Color Blindness
\ O By WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR.
LUTHEE Kma ls a great man, " James
^ said a week ago, “but he has come-to
the end'SFBs.rope.” Baldwin, is' the Negro nolflSfc
nounce their civilization, and 3. to :;,
despise their God), He means that -
Dr. King has nowhere left to take his'
people by any or the conventional
forms of protest, “Look about you,*-.
Baldwin says in effect, “and what do
you see? A. Supreme Court that out-
lawed segregated schools nine years
ago, and a South that is still 91 per
cent segregated; a Chicago— far, far -
awayjfcpn* the South— where 90 per
cent of Negro children go to schools
that are preponderantly Negro."
i That is not the kind of progress buckiey >'
n^o S *t iS » eS J ? an pf the raw nervous temperament
i P f Jar ? es Baldwin; and so, with that crushing horta-
. tof y eloquence that no. other writer living todav can
ll nf v« lly lie cans for the total liberation
If of ^the Negro, forthe end of Christian^ civilization, and, .
I ^ edlat ? ly » for personal action by the
■VSS&friEPiSF** ag0 „ he P ro PPsed to Robert
|Kennedy that JFK personally escort the two Negro
r students scheduled to enroll at .the University of
j Alabama on June 10 over the protest of Gov. Wallace.
iRobert Kennedy is . said to have laughed. This ls no
laughing matter, harrumphed ihe New York Times.
I a « * n f eecl E Isn’t. It is a tragic matter, tragedy here
* defined as an irresistible force moving on collision
j op urse towards an immovable body. What Baldwin
j has^asked for is nothing less than the evanescence
! PJ’S W^s the day to come — soon; if not by
j June 10, not long after; certainly within his lifetime—
\ wh ® n T color-consciousness will disappear, wheh you '
i jRf?: J catering a room, will not have noticed even at
| fe»tf Ye ’ ** mett > 11 “»»;*“ ““*>
\ I ; Ba V/ ^ < ?i° 1 ver ’ P urs uing his goal of an end to racial
II ids instrument is, of all things,
j racial self-coj^ciousness. He wants a mobilized Negro
| cc^jjnity .w^ will view all life as Baldwin 4oes*
j direct relation to the goal of absolute integra-
Baldwin s. Negro, every .time he. drinks a cup of
, cpffee,\must brood over the behavior of the white 1
waitress who handed it to' liim—did she act un-
S arally ? Resentfully? Condescendingly? And every
Ja Fitzgerald sing he must, writhe
wentpienp. over, the racial tribulations, that gave
Hand' to abollsh- a: society bt
an d Whites, it Is necessary,. Baldw&Ufiemfetb
| Be sSJ»!grfor the Blacks to be '110 per cenUiS^.
11 1963
O^Jjnont «
Mohr
Casper I
Callahan
Evans
Gale -JL,
Rosen
^Sullivan r
/ { Tavel
/ Trotter
Tele Room
Holmes l
Gandy
/-/
W.
/ „ ihr- •>$ *• - ‘ "f
ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED
HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED „
DATE5\lb\iA
in f
Tjrfe Washingtqjjr^ost and —
^ Times hfeTald
36;
The Washinqt^^.Daily News
The Evening Star
New York Herald Tribune
New York Journal- American
New York Mirror
New York Daily News
New York Post
The New York Times
The Worker — ... -±
The New Leader
The Wall Street Journal
The National Observer
/ ■<'0
/y- —
JUN
8 1963
1013
r
- * * * ir • \
^ ASSUMING WE WERE willing to put the entire
legal resources of this country at the disposal of ;
James Baldwin, what would he do with them, to i
eliminate race prejudice? In his poignant essay j
threatening the whites with The Fire Next Time un- •
less we now reform, he cites two typical humiliations, |
one from his early childhood, when an Irish police- J
man in downtown Manhattan yelled at him to go back
to Harlem “where the Niggers belong,” another that j
happened to him only last year, at age 38, when a
bartender at the Chicago Airport refused to serve
him a drink, affecting not to be able to tell whether
he was over eighteen. How can such meanness be
cured by legislation?
What shall we do, in the new order, to that police-
man and that bartender? Shoot them? It is more to
the point to shoot human nature, whence the troubles ,
really come, but there seems to be no practicable,
way to do that.
If I am bom different — whether a Negro like ■
Baldwin, a hunchback like Quasimodo, a beauty like 1
Elizabeth Taylor, or a conservative like myself — I
shall be treated “differently.” Sometimes that dif-
ference should be cherished (it is a fact that here and '
there a young Negro lawbreaker is dealt with more ;
tolerantly because lie has not had the same advan-
tages as the white boy from the middle class neighbor-
hood). So long as the eyes remark the difference be-
tween black and white, existential differences, of ,
greater or lesser consequence, but of meaning just
the same, will exist.
The job at hand is not to try to obliterate dif-
’ ferences which only autohypnotic color blindness
could achieve, but to stimulate man’s capacity for love
and his toleration, understanding, and respect for
othlr, different people.
What is important about Baldwin is that he is
a great artist, not that he is an evangelist of racial
reconcilidtion. In the latter capacity he will, pursuing
his present course, do great harm; in the former
I capacity, he has greatly raised the prestige of the, i
N egro in t he world of letters; that is a tru e^step fo r-
ward lor Ills people. ' • l ~ r /
i
OPTIONAL-' fO«M NO. 10
UNITED STATES GOVERN jjiNT
Memorandum
u
TO
/p
/ FROM
subject:
Mr. A. Rose
Mr’i
A
V.,
\
JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN
INFORMATION CONCERNING m
SYNOPSIS :
On the attached clipping from the New York "Journal
American" of 5-28-63, Mr. Tolson inquired as to information
in our files concerning James Baldwin who recently met with
the Attorney General.
Bureau files reveal that Baldwin, a Negro author,
was born 8-2-24 in New York City and 7 has lived and traveled .
in Europe. He has become rather well-known due to his writ in,
dealing with the relationship of whites and Negroes. In 1960
he sponsored an advertisement of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
and was identified as one of its prominent members.- This group
is a .pro-Castro propaganda organization in the United States.
In 19>6l he sponsored a news release from the Carl Braden
Clemency ^Appeal Committee distributed by the Southern Conference
Educational Fund, the successor to the Southern Conference
for duman Welfare cited as a communist front by the House
Committee on Un-American Activities (I1CUA). Braden was a
communist convicted of contempt of the HCUA. In 1962 Baldwin
signed a clemency petition for Junius Scales, a commiinis - r
convicted- under the Smith Act. In April, 1961, he sponsored w
a rglly, to abolish the HCUA.
Baldwin has supported organizations supporting
integration and in 1961 reportedly stated a period of revolution-
confronted the world and only in revolution could the problems
I of the United States be solved. He has advocated the abolish-
/ ment of capital punishment and criticized the Director stating
Enclosure
CHS: bep ^ T
( 8 )
1 - Mr. Belmont
1 - folu-
1 - Mr. Rosens U;
1 ~y-Mr. Be Loach
1 - Jir. Eyahsr
IX
62 -)
}?'
/X p/ A
1 1 JUN 18 1963
ction
1015
05 ^
> vA
JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN
J
it Plr. Hoover "is not a lawgiver, nor is there any reason to
j gj|npoS6 him "to bg 9 ost+i Pill r.i*1 V mrnfnund sl!Ll0.sn"t of llUiESn
f nature. He is a
JLJ> llyJ L « v-i j w**.^*v ' J
a particularly profound student of human
nature . ue is a law-enforcement officer. It is appal ling
that in this capacity he not only opposes the trend of history
among civilized nations but uses his enormous power and
prestige to corroborate the blindest and basest instincts or
the retaliatory mob.” He has also indicated he feels the
Attorney General and the President have been ineffective in
dealing with discrimination in this connection has urged
the removal of the Director,
ACTION:
For information. Information concerning Baldwin
and the other individuals who participated in the recent
conference with the Attorney General is being incorporated
into informative memoranda for dissemination to the Attorney
General.
DETAILS:
Jt
i
i. Baldwin was born on August 2,, 1924, inJJgsLYor
« • l ' ♦ _ i 4
to David Baldwin, a part-time clergyman, and Berdis Emma Baldwin,
nee Jones. The eldest of nine children, James Baldwin was reared
— * - i ^ i a i t r» . tps w*r * /n ♦ j yy *
entirely in New York and in 1942 graduated from DeWitt Clinton High
School where he served as a student judge aid magazine editor.
Baldwin has received many fellowships and awards which enabled him
to live and write in Europe for approximately eight years during th<
1950 *s. He has traveled^ many other parts of the world including
Palestine, Africa and many of the Asiatic countries.
- 2 -
1016
JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN
The April 6, I960, edition of ’’The New York Times '
contained an advertisement by the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
and Baldwin was one of the sponsors of the committee, ine
April 16, 1960, edition of ’The Crusader" identified Baldwin
as one of the prominent members of the committee. _ This Committee
is a pro-Castro propaganda organization in the United states.
Baldwin spoke before a mass rally of the Washington,
D. C •, Chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality for the
"Original Freedom Riders*' on 6-11-61 and stated in substance
that the white race had better realize the emerging strength^
of the Neero and that he would not care to be m the shoes or ine
white man^when the African nations become stronger.
The 10-2-61 issue of the "National Guardian" carried
an advertisement of The Monroe Defense Committee listing
Baldwin as one of the sponsors thereof. .This committee was
formed to tell the story of the racial violence which occurred
in Monroe, North Carolina, on 8-27-61.
Baldwin /was one of the authors of a letter to the
editor in the 6-17-61 edition of the "New York Herald Tribune"
which advocated the abolishment of capital punistaent and m
this connection he criticized the Director stating that
Mr. Hoover ’’is not a lawgiver, nor is there any reason to
suppose him to be a particularly profound student of human
nature. He is a law-enforcement officer. It is appalling
that in this capacity he not only opposes the trend of history
among civilized nations but uses his enormous power and ^
prestige to corroborate the blindest and basest instincts oi
the retaliatory mob. "
The Liberation Committee for Africa held a celebration
on 6-2-61 at which Baldwin was listed as one of the principal
speakers. During his address he stated a period of revolution
confronted the world and that America has taken a position
throughout the world against revolutions, and then asserted
that only in revolution could the problems of the United States
be solved.
Baldwin’s name appeared as a sponsor on a news release
in August, 1961, from the Carl Braden clemency appeal committee
which "was being distributed by the Southern Conference Educational
Fund. This organization is the successor to the Southern
Conference for Human Welfare cited by the House Committee on
Un-American Activities (IICUA) as a communist front. Braden
JAMES ARTHUR BALDWIN
was sentenced to prison for contempt of tlie ECUA.
The 1-10-63 issue of the Rational Guardian" revealed
that Baldwin was among the signers of a statement urging the
Anti -Defamation League to withdraw its award, "democratic legacy,
to President Kennedy unless the Department of Justice drops
its "harassment" of William Worthy, Jr. Worthy is a Negro
journalist who has been in trouble with United States orncials
as he traveled without a passport both through Red China and
to Cuba.
The 4-17-61 issue of the "National Guardian" announced
a rally to abolish the IICUA and Baldwin was listed as a sponsor
of the rally. In April, 1962, Baldwin was among the 550
signers of a clemency petition for convicted communist Junius
Scales who was convicted for violating the Smith Act.
The 5 - 17-63 issue of "Time" magazine devotes its
cover to Baldwin and the magazine describes some of his recent
efforts in behalf of integration. He is described as a
"nervous, slight, almost fragile figure, filled with frets
and fears. lie is effeminate in manner, drinks considerably,
smokes cigarettes in chains and he often looses his audience
with overblown arguments." jhe__Ma^ 1963, issue pf "Mademoiselle
contains an interview- type article with James Baldwin in which
he gibes to both whites and Negroes concerning the Negro
situation in the United States. During this article he indicated
that he was illegitimate. On the subject of homosexuality,
Baldwin states "American males are the only people I ve ever
encountered in the world who are willing to go on the needle
before they 1 11 go to bed with each other. Because they ! re
afraid of this, they don’t know liov/ to go to bed with women
either. I r ve known people who literally died out of this panic.
I don’t know what homosexual means any more, and Americans
don’t either... If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in
love with a boy. The fact that Americans consider it a disease
says more about them than it says about homosexuality."
In connection with a discussion of why he feels both
Robert Kennedy, the Attorney General, the Justice Department .
and President Kennedy are ineffective in dealing with discrimmatioi
with the Negroes in the South, Baldwin makes the statement that
he is weary of being told that desegregation is legal, lie then
states "...because first of all you have to get Eastland out of
JAP.ES ARTHUR BALDWIN
Congress and get rid of the power that he wields there. You ve
got to get rid of J. Edgar Hoover and the power that he wields.
If one could get rid or just those two men, or modify their
power, there would be a great deal more hope... 11
A United Press International release dated April 29,
1963, revealed that David Susskind was fired on that day by the
Metropolitan Broadcasting Company and his television program
w 0pen End 1 * was being removed from the air. According to the
news release a dispute between Susskind and the television
broadcasting company started when Susskind announced plans to
present author James Baldwin and singer Harry Belafonte on a
program called "The American Negro Speaks Iiis Mind. 11 Officials
of the television company objected to the program by Susskind
on the basis that the combination of Baldwin and Belafonte
n would not offer a broad enough basis of enlightened opinion. u
- 5
1019
i*. , it#*-'
is Life-
And Knows It
By WARREN ROGERS
N. Y. Journal-American Chief Washington Correspondent
* With Hearst Headline Service
WASHINGTON: Attorney General Robert F. Ken-
nedy is in the fight of his life, and he knows it. The
racial issue will make or break him, and it may well
decide his brother’s place in history.
Bob Kennedy took over the Justice Department
with some misgivings. He had listened to all the
arguments against it— that he was too young, too un-
tested as a lawyer, too close to the President to occupy
Cabinet status, too inexperienced to handle all the
myriad details of an excruciatingly difficult office.
' In the end, after much soul-searching, he de-
cided he could do it. And he surprised a number of
his critics by doing a lot of it well. Except for the case •
"of Jimmy Hof fa, where he has apparently bogged down
'in a pursuit as dogged and as fruitless as Hamlet’s
-search for justice, the young man who managed his ,
brother into the White House has managed his af- j
fairs exceedingly well. !
Articulate Spokesman for U. S.
Bob Kennedy has been more than an Attorney
General. He has been the ramrod behind much of
America’s foreign policy endeavors, notably the mess
after the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the first decisive
effort to settle the South Viet Nam problem. He
emerged, in a trip around the world, as an articulate
spokesman for American leadership of the newly de-
' veloping nations.
‘ But Bob Kennedy will be less than an Attorney
V General— at least hi the judgment of history— if he
! does not solve the racial problem. It is, without any
S doubt, the gravest problem facing the country today. ,
£ There are clear signs that he is working at it,
t almost to the exclusion of anything else. He has been
£ quietly holding meetings with various businessmen
^throughout the country in an effort to e xplain to
h« feeling that — no matter how strong**a*trtW&
1
Continued from First Page
prejudices of the people of their communityr-the
American philosophy embodied in thc Fourteen
Amendment must be maintained. .• .
He had one' disastrous sortie into the lof%
of Negro injgllectualism a few
days ago. was his meeting
with Jame&Tfaldwin , the bitter
and brilliantly "articulate
spokesman for the Negro who
says, “Integration how.” Bald-
win and others with whom Ken-
nedy talked in New York did not
budge an inch, and it now Is
clear the’ meeting might better
not have been held.
He had another disastrous
1 junket into hard-core segrega-
[ tionist territory. That was his
session at Montgomery, Ala.,
with Alabama’s Gov. George
Wallace. Afterward, Kennedy
came away shaking his head
and saying it was Uke talking to
a foreign government, which
just about the way he must have
felt after his bout with Baldwin.
It can be predicted that, in
the future. Bob Kennedy will
not make such mistakes again
He has learnfed. that little can
be gained and touch/ can be
lost by trying to- deal directly
with people like Wallace and
f'*r- .
Baldwin who are at the^au®
lute opposite ends, of the
firration-seereeation. sneettfirat: 1 ’! k
gration-segregation spect
The key to the problemf^^’
in between, with those whom
the extremists on both Sides
call “Uncle Toms,” “handker-
chief heads,” “radicals,” “mod-
erates ,” and much, much worse.
The key alsn lies in the eco-
nomic fiejd. The" greatest pres-
sure for a solution in Birming-
ham was brought by U. S. Steel
on its Birmingham subsidiary’
Tennessee Coal and Iron;. ’
Businessmen, whether ' big or
little* whether local or ab-
sentee owned, are not going to
stand idly by and watch 1 *
It has happened in Little
New Orleans, Birmingham, and
whereter else the cahke r ;
It is here — among ;b~*~~”
professional^ cl^caf^
leaders who are not e^
lhat s
worked out. And therhaS bet-
ter be. ■' '"liHSi
AIL INFORMATION CONTAII
HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED
DATESjJ^
V
m3
YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN <5 ‘ a ”’ v
New York, New York Q ■ Q <rr '.
1020
♦
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TtXDl RECTOR -2-
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AM SAV/DE
I ifc.n-*'* -s «
DATf§iis
4
CONFERENCE WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL, NEW YORK CITY, MAY 24, 1963/
CIVIL RIGHTS MATTERS. MARTIN LUTHER KING, RACIAL MATTERS.
REFERENCE NEW YORK TELETYPE TO BUREAU DATED MAY 29* 19&3
AMD NEW YORK AIRTEL T O.. BUREAU DA TED JUNE II, 19&3*
\ ON JUNE 4, 1963 ADV 1 SED ON ABOVE DATE THAT
STANLEY ' LEV 1 SON WAS IN CONTACT WITH CLARENCE JONES. LEV l SON
INQUIRED WHEN "PHIL" (A. PHILIP RANDOLPH) WAS COMING BACK.
JONES SAID HE WAS AT THE HAMILTON HOTEL IN CHICAGO, COMING
BACK ON THURSDAY. JONES SAID "PHIL’S" REACTION WAS POSITIVE
BUT WANTED TO REFLECT TO WHAT EXTENT THE EMPLOYMENT ISSUE^OULD
3E PLAYED UP. HE (PHIL) FELT IT WOULD BE "ANTI CLIMATIC TO HAVE
A MARCH IN OCTOBER." JONES SAID THAT "PHIL" WANTS TO TALK TO
MARTIN "LUTHER KING" AND ADDED THAT HE, JONES, HAS BEEN UNABLE
TO REACH MARTIN. JONES FELT THAT MARTIN SHOULD CALL PHIL.
JONES ALSO SWTED THAT HE SPENT ALL DAY SUNDAY AND SUNDAY
FVFN1NG W 1 TH iJ AMES d ALDW I N . ) HE TOLD ^LEV I SON THAT HE WENT INTO
SOME DETAIL WITH BALDWIN ABOUT SOME THE THINKING FOR POLITICAL
ACTION THIS SUMMER. JONES SAID THAT IF MARTIN (KING) ISSUES. HIS
STATEMENT THEN BALDWIN WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BECAUSE HE, BALDWIN,
WOULD ALSO ISSUE A STATEMENT SUPPORTING IT, AND BELIEVES IT
MIGHT BE HELPFUL „ JONES TOLD LEV I SON "l TOLD HIM IT (THE STATE-
MENT) WOULD BE AROUND THE TWELFTH •" JONES SAID "He. (BALDWIN)
AGREES WITH IT VERY MUCH WHICH IS THE IMPORTANT
COMMENTED THAT BALDWIN SORT OF .GAVE HIM A BLANK
WHATEVER HE WANTED IN HIS NAME.. _
JONES NEXT INFORMED LEV I SON OF A STATEMENT THAT
THING."
CHECK TO
JONES
DO
? ?
jj PREPARING. "l HAVE SEEN SOME
STATEMENTS (
BALDWIN^!
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Tolson
Belmoni _
Mohr
Casper _
Callahon
Conrad
DeLoach
Evans
Gale
□ AS KGS AM □ CAI
□ EADS© E2 TELETYPE
Rosen
Sullivan
Tavel
Trotter — ,
Tele. Room
Holmes
Gandy
PAGE TWO FROM SAC, NEW YORK 0522^0
THEM
ING OF
BECAUSE
AN
"IT
NEVER SEEN ONE LIKE THIS. HE (BALDWIN) IS GOING TO NAIL
TO THE WALL." LEV I SON INQUIRED "BECAUSE OF THE QUESTION
THE PEOPLE WHO WERE AT THE MEETING." JONES REPLIED NO,
OF THE HARRASSMENT OF HIMSELF. THIS IS GOING TO BE LIKE
ATOMIC BOMB WHEN IT IS DROPPED." LEV I SON THEN COMMENTED
REALLY WILL BECAUSE HE IS A NAME IN THE NEWS. ^ EV '®° N ^ - l7
ASKED "HAVE THEY BEEN HARASSING HIM. WHAT IDIOTS, HO.‘l IDIOTIC.
CONTINUING, LEVISON THEN COMMENTED THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE ,
THING THAT BOTHERS HIM ABOUT SOME OF HIS (BALDWIN) STATEMENTS .-
"I THINK HE IS OVERSTATING THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH. THERE IS
MORE OF A KIND OF POETIC EXAGGERATION." JONES REPLIED "THERE IS
SOME POETIC EXAGGERATION, THAT IS TRUE." LEVISON COMMENTED "IT
TROUBLE ME BECAUSE WHAT IT CAN LEAD TO IS THE EXPECTATION OF
SOMETHING AND WHEN SOMETHING LESS OCCURS, IT LEADS TO AN ATTITUDE
OF WELL, NOW THEY HAVE MISCALCULATED. I JUST DO NOT HAVE THE SAME
FEELING’ ABOUT THE INTENSITY OF ATTITUDES HERE." ^ r JPK ES REPLIED
"HE (BALDWIN) AND I DIFFER ON THIS, BUT HE FEELS^STROMGLY ABOUT
INFORMANT ADVISED THAT LEVISON AND JONES NEXT DISCUSSED A
FORTHCOMING ARTICLE TO APPEAR IN "THE SATURDAY EVENING ?0$T"^
CONCERNING MARTIN LUTHER KING. LEVISON COMMENTED THAT ;\ : NG WAS
APPREHENSIVE ABOUT THE ARTICLE BECAUSE THE l/NTERV l EWER APPEARED
(SOMEWHAT HOSTILE. LEVISON INFORMED JONES THAT HE HAD SPOKEN TO
i THE PUBLIC RELATIONS MAN FROM "THE SATURDAY EVENING POST" AND
* LEV I SON IS OF THE OPINION THAT THE FORTHCOMING ARTICLE MAY ONLY
.1 BE GENERALLY FAVORABLE TO MARTIN (LUTHER KING).
v • \ \ <\/:
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RECEIVED: 1:22 AM
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If the in
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in to be disseminated out si do the Rwreau, it is suggested that, it be suitably
, ;i c, •!■ i • sy:> tries .
1022
COSUggjBNTIAL
V
Tolson _
Belmont
Mohr
Cosper
Rosen
Sullivan
Tavel
1-Mr. Belmont
1-Mr. Rosen
1-Mr. M'alley
1-Mr. McGowan
1-Mr. Lavin
1-Mr. Mohr
1-Mr. DeLoach
1-Mr. Evans, ~ . , > — * ,
(#3 - ( 6 ? 7C
June 6, 1963
BY COURIER SERVICE
Honorable P. Kenneth O’Donnell
Special Assistant to the President
The White House
Washington, D. C.
My dear Mr. O’Donnell:
~n
03
Attached for your information is a memorandum prepared
by our New York Office dated June 4, 1983, setting forth information
concerning a discussion held by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. ,
Clarence Jones and Stanley Levtcon on June 1 and 2, 1383. Levison
'and Jones are more fully identified in the memorandum.
; -.’In addition to the information contained in the memorandum,
a confidential source, who has furnished reliable information in the past,
advised on June 4, 1363, that on June 4, 12CS, Stanley Levison was in
contact with’ Clarence Jones. Levison inquired of Jones when "Phil, ,?
presumably A. Philip Randolph, was coining back. Jones indicated
that ’’Phil” was at the Hamilton Hotel in Chicago and would return on ’
Thursday. Jones indicated that "Phil’s" reaction was positive but
desired to know to what extent the employment issue would be played
up and that "Phil” thought it would be "anticlimatic to have a march
in October. "
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Jones indicated to Levison that "Phil” wants to talk to
"Martin, " presumably Martin Luther King, Jr. , and added
Jones, has been unable to reach "Martin. " Jones felt that "Martin"
should call "Phil. "
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Honorable P. Kenneth O’Donnell
Jones also indicated to Lsvison that he had spent all
day Sunday and Sunday evening with James Baldwin and that he had
gone into some detail with Baldwin concerning political action this
summer, Jones commented to Lsvison that if King issues a
statement then he, Baldwin, would like to know about it because
he would also issue a statement supporting it, and he believes
such action might be helpful.
Jones indicated to Levison that the statement would be
made around the 12th. Jones stated that Baldwin agrees with the
statement very much which is the important thing. Baldwin reportedly
gave Jones a blank check to do whatever he wanted to in his name.
Jones informed Levison of a statement that Baldwin is
preparing and mentioned to Levison, "X have seen some statements
on the FBI but I have never seen one like this. He (Baldwin) is going
to nail them to the wall. " Levison inquired if this was because of
the questioning of the people who were at the meeting, which
presumably refers to a conference the Attorney General held in
New York cn May 2d, 1963. Jones told Levison that Baldwin's
statement was not because of the alleged interviews of persons at
the meeting but was because of the harassment of himself and
Baldwin reportedly told Jones that "This is going to be like an
atomic bomb when it is dropped. " Levison agreed with this,
commenting that "It really will because he (Baldwin) is a name
in the news. " Levison then asked Jones, "Have they been
harassing him? What idiots, how idiotic. "
It should be noted that an allegation had previously been
made that Agents of our New York Office had attempted to enter
Mr. Baldwin's apartment on May 27, 1963, and the further allegation
had beer, made that persons attending the conference on May 24, 19 S3,
had been interviewed by Agents following the conference. Both
allegations are completely without foundation. In addition, we have
not conducted any investigation of Baldwin and he has not been
harassed in any way by Agents of this Bureau.
CONFIDENTIAL
1024
Honorable P. Kenneth O’Donnell
Levison then commented to Jones that there is only one
thing that bothers him about Baldwin’s statements. Levison stated,
"2 think he is overstating the situation in the North. There i3 more
of a kind of poetic exaggeration. " Jones replied, "There is some
poetic exaggeration, that is true. ’* Levison then commented, T Tt
troubles me because what it can lead to is the expectation of
something and when something less occurs, it leads to an attitude
of well, now they have miscalculated. I just do not have the same
feeling about the intensity of attitudes here. " Jones replied, "He
(Baldwin) and I differ on this, but he feel3 strongly about it. "
Our source indicated that Levison and Jones next
discussed a forthcoming article to appear in "The Saturday Evening
Post" concerning Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Levison indicated
that King was apprehensive about the article because the interviewer
appeared to foe somewhat hostile. Levison informed Jones that he
had spoken to the public relations man from "The Saturday Evening
Post" and Levison is of the opinion that the forthcoming article may
only foe generally favorable to Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
As additional information is obtains- £
plans of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. , Jon
this information will be promptly brought to your attention.
concerning the
>s and Levison,
The Attorney General is being furnished a copy of the
attached N evr York memorandum and the information set forth above.
Sincerely yours,
J. Edgar Hoover
\
Enclosure
NOTE: This memorandum is being classified "Confidential"
because it contains information from a SDurce, the unauthorized
disclosure of which would seriously impair the investigation of the
Communist Party, USA, and such impairment could have an adverse
effect upon the national defense interests of the country.
CONF
UAL
- 3 -
! Ofl* (Kev.,.l 0-15-6 2)
^ * / *. />' '
w
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ft j y
Administration in Cold Sweat
Over Rising Negro Militancy
Tolson
Belmont
Mohr
Casper
Callahan
Conrad
DeLoach _
Evans
Gale
Rosen _ —
Sullivan
Tavel
Trotter —
Tele Room
Holmes —
Gandy
By Fred Halstead
MAY 29 — The meeting in New
York on May 24 between Attor-
ney General Robert Kennedy and
a group of Negroes invited by
novelist James Baldwin has
thrown a scare into the Kennedy
administration. The meeting was
designed as part of the attempt
of the Kennedys to head off and
control the struggle for Negro
equality and keep it within the
bounds of gradualism. But it did
not work out that way.
The Negroes present gave Ken-
nedy a glimpse of the real mood
of the country’s black masses and
the attorney general’s reaction
exposed his prejudice, arrogance
and ignorance, as well as his un-
willingness to commit the govern-
ment to the necessary funda-
mental changes. The meeting re-
portedly ended with a young
Negro Freedom Rider shaking his
finger angrily in Kennedy’s face.
The gathering had been ar-
ranged by Baldwin on Robert
Kennedy’s suggestion after the
novelist had written Kennedy
criticising the administration’s
lack of forthright action in Bir-
mingham. With the attorney gen-
eral’s approval, Baldwin invited
about a dozen guests, mostly his
personal friends, including the
following Negroes: Harry Bela-
(miiiimimuiuiiiiuimHiiiimmiimiimiiiiimtiimiiiiMimiiiiimiiimmin
The Jackson Story
Wor background on the ^ex-
plosive events in the Jackson,
Mills., civil-rights battleground,
see story on page 3. V
281 P 63
b'ly
ames “Baldwin
NOT RECORDED
149 oUiN 27 196o
ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED
HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED- .
The Washington Post and
Times Herald
The Washington Daily News
The Evening Star
New York Herald Tribune
New York Journal-Amerlcan
New York Mirror
New York Daily News
New York Post
The New York Times
The Worker
The New Leader
The Wall Street Journal
The National Observer
The Militant
Page 1
1026
ante; Lena Home; P^r«tght ,
Srratne Hansberry; Pro *fc I
lenneth Clark; Chicago UJhan ,
.eague director, Dr. Edwui C. .
lerry; Attorney Clarence |B. .
rones; and Jerome Smith of New
Means, a 25-year-old veteran of
:ORE direct-action projects.
Edition, Baldwin touted a tew
white friends and Robert Ke nne
dy brought along Burke Marshall,
a y special assistant on civil nghts.
Baldwin later told the P^s tha
the plan was to discu^ the situa
tion in the North, and that he
tried to impress on the attorny
general that Northern as well
Southern Negroes are fed up. Th
federal government, said Baldwin,
must take an “unequivocal moral
stand” against segregation an
take “radical and forceful action
a nossibly bloody racial colli
on Us to be avoided But, said
aldwim “We couldnt get
Baldwin said that when it was
rooosed that President Kennedy
escort Nego stuaen^
r ' generaf ‘ ^
aughed." “He didn't get the point
^ Negroes tinal-
Negro attitude toward Cuba wa
re assays
the three-hour session, with Ken-
xree mice Neeroes
nldy on one side and the Negroes
ol the other.
iDr Clark reported that Jerome
& - who has faced Southern
racist police — said he
“nauseous” at having to beg the
attorney general for protectio
from segregationist violence.
SSh declared he felt no moral
obligation to help the federal gov-
ernment “liberate” Cuba while the
federal government refused to ■ 1
erate the Negroes m this country.
At this point, Clhrk reported,
Robert Kennedy expressed shock
and outrage. “We were sh^ked
that he was shocked, said Clar ,
“and that he seemed genuinely
unable to understand what Smith
‘ was trying to say.
Clark said a “recurrent theme
of the session was the point th
the Kennedy administration^ ac-
tions on civil rights are based on
Democratic Party poUticalconsid-
erations rather than on a moral
sions with “moderate whites.
c a id Clark: “There were times
when we just broke out into hys-
terical laughter. It “
- *?rsnSS-i frfor S
theSP&Ate power structure to bg
nice^tNegroes. We were trying
to sIBiat this was an emergency
for mir country, as Americans.
This never got over.”
Kennedy was told that f^
“the FBI uses Southern agents m
investigations of «vd-r«hte
abuses, the role of the ,
ercive rather ttan pro ^ ennedy
Si mswf/U point »d
that “at. one point r f n f “°™
lasked him straight out- ,^ e y
toot the boss of the FBI.
\
{ A Shocker
Kennedy’s shocking attitude
may be judged from tjie follow-
ing report by New York Post col- ,
umnist James Wechsler who in-
terviewed Dr. Clark at length
about the meeting: “The tension ?
slowly increased. When discussio .
arose of the impact of recent
events on male Southern Negrc^ ,
olavwright Lorraine Hansberry ,
exp^ded. She said the country ;
ought to be worrying about toe
“specimens of white manhood
recently immortalized m photo
graphs showing their knees on the
breasts of Negro women who had
been dragged to toe ^ound^Then ;
she walked out, and didnt re
turn." . .
Searching for a positive no e
about the meeting, Dr Clark de-
clared: “The fact that Bobby Ken-
nedy sat through such an ordea
for three hours proves he is among
the best the white power structure
ha But° toe point is that toe strug-
(Continued on Page 2)
Es-.-rsws'ss
Robert F. Kennedy
1027
• • •
a
t
• .'V
: \
Rising Negro Militancy
(Continued from Pagre 1)
gle for Negro equality is threaten-
ing to upset the white power
structure, the establishment, the
U.S. capitalist system — they are
but different phrases for the same
thing — and Kennedy is loyal
above all to the white power
structure. It is this that blinds
him and that makes him an ene-
my, not a friend, of the desires of
the Afro-American masses for
fundamental change.
For Kennedy, the meeting was
a fiasco. Instead of being pub-
licized in Northern papers as a
good fellow willing to rub should-
ers with Negro intellectuals, Rob-
ert Kennedy stands exposed for
just what he is — an arrogant,
imperialistic, ignorant, spoiled-
rich, prejudiced white man. All
i proportions guarded, the meeting
\ was — so to speak — Bobby Ken-
nedy’s very own little Playa Giron.
The newspaper columnists were
stiH commenting on “the New
Yofk conversations” when a fresh
example of the militant mood
ampng Northern Negroes about
wmch Baldwin was talking ap-
peared in Philadelphia. Pickets
organized by the local NAACP
have been stopping trucks and
workers from entering the site of
a school-construction project be-
cause some of the building trade
craft unions bar Negroes. Police
broke through the picket line May
28 to allow some workers to enter,
but trucks carrying supplies to the
site were stopped. Declared Cecil
Moore, president of the local
NAACP chapter, which is demand-
ing job rights for Negroes, “We’ll
picket the entire city. There are
not enough police to stop us.”
LOS ANGELES, May 26 — This
city’s largest-ever civil-rights rally
took place at Wrigley Field, in
the heart of the Negro ghetto to-
day. More than 30,000 persons
turned out at a rally organized
by the local NAACP and sup-
ported by more than 40 organiza-
tions, including ten international
unions. Martin Luther King, fea-
tured speaker and hero of the day,
demanded that President John F.
Kennedy escort the two Negro
, students into the University of
f Alabama.
Dick Gregory, still nursing
bruises received in the Birming-
ham jail, also spoke. “I believe in
non-violences along with Rev.
King,” he said, “and many people
accuse all Negroes of carrying
switchblade knives — which just
isn’t true. However, I am an ex-
ception and I hope Martin Luther
King doesn’t ask me to give it up,
because I would just hate to re-
fuse Rev. King.”
SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 —
More than 20,000 persons took
part in a parade and rally here
today in sympathy with Negroes
in Alabama. Twelve thousand
marched through the downtown
area. Marchers carried signs de-
nouncing segregation i n the Sou th
a nd job discrimination in San
Francisca f
1028
iMW
?M«
&: 0 -
■m^-
&V’: 4 *r jK#** -W •'.'
,/ .>•. ?{•'?' /
'///'
FEDERAL BURFAU OF JMvESTISATtDN
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
COMMUNICATIONS SfOTION
SEP, 19 M*J&.
TRUETYPE
URGENT 9-1S-63 11- AO AM JLW
TO DIRECTOR
V
, f M
&•*
£
Iv.tiss itf CrU^eu.
FROM SAC NEW YORK 100-146 553 4P
4,lwib ^information S
&tl 5 <»SSW$MS
JAMES ^BALDWIN
ci / 1 * » « #**’?*$ *'■ v ^
■aferf:.'. ■
CONTWH ^ 1
A
RACIAL MATTE ^ , 5Ssh!«bw
ON NINE NINETEEN SIXTYTHREE,
ADVISED THftT ON THAT DAT??£a^NCE ®Es' /COUNSEL TO MftRTHJ
LUTHER KING/ AND JAMES BALDWIN /NEGRO AUTHOR/ HELD A DISCUSSION
REGALING BALDWIN-S APPEARANCE ON THE USIA TELEVISION PROGRAM
IN WASHINGTON ON EIGHT TWENTYEIGHT SIXTYTHREE. JONES STATED ™AT
»E M^ND «* “ TIRE SH °“ »*»
RECEDED -ktS TRANSCRIPT AND NOTED THAT BALDWIN- SJffiMARXS g:GARDING
THE fe AND MR. HOOVER WERE NOT CONTAINED THERE 1^ AND THEREFORE JONES
assumed that these remarks had been edited OUT. BALDWIN Stated that hj
had WITNESSES TO THE STATEMENTS THAT HE H^t^E ON TH~ % /
IN RECALL INC^RI-S 'STATEMENT REGARDING THE FBI, BALDWIN STATE15 THAT THEj
SUBSTA^E^^IS REM^ON THIS PROG^M^.RE -PART OF THri*0***
IN THE CIVIL' lllfiro ^VEMENT EDGAR HOOVER- . JOI^#^
THAT HErWOULD -LIKE TO^OW THE WHISTLE JiN^HIS- . JOHOT®
gysarrrea*
1030
PAGE TWO
THAT ANY LEGITIMATE CRITICAL OPINION OF THE FBI IS APPARENTLY
-OFF LIMITS OR TABOO". JONES FURTHER STATED THAT HE HAD COMPOSED A
LETTER TO THE REST OF THE PARTICIPANTS ON THE USIA SHOW INFORMING THEM
OF THE DELETION MADE. JONES THEN STATED THAT HE INTENDS TO INFOR
THE USIA THAT HE KNOWS OF THE DELETION AND INTENDS ALSO TO BRING THIS
INFORMATION TO THE ATTENTION OF THE PUBLIC AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
JONES CONTINUED THAT HE WAS GOING TO DO THIS IMMEDIATELY AND STATED .
THAT HE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO DRAFT A STATEMENT AND STATED "WE CANNOT LET
{ THIS DELETION GO" .
ADDITIONALLY, BALDWIN AND JONES DISCUSSED BALDWIN- S PUBLIC
STATEMENT OF NINE EIGHTEEN SIXTYTHREE, ISSUED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE
IN NEW YORK CITY. ACCORDING TO THE "NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE" NINE
1 NINETEEN SIXTYTHREE, BALDWIN IS QUOTED AS BITTERLY CRITICIZING THE
I KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION AND THE FBI FOR THEIR "LACK OF ACTION" FOLLOWING
THE BIRMINGHAM BOMBING NINE FIFTEEN SIXTYTHREE. THE "NEW YORK TIMES
' OF NINE NINETEEN SIXTYTHREE, ADDITIONAlMuOTES BALDWIN AS SAYING
"I BLAME J. EDGAR HOOVER IN PART FOR EVENTS IN ALABAMA. NEGROES HAVE
NO CAUSE TO HAVE FAITH IN THE FBI". THIS SOURCE ALSO STATED THAT
I JONES TOLD BALDWIN THAT HE HAD RECEIVED A CALL FROM AN
ATTORNEY "WHO WORKS IN AN OFFICE OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT •
1 END PAGE TWO
1031
1 y "
\
\
PAGE THREE
ACCORDING TO THIS SOURCE, THIS
BALDWIN-S STATEMENT HAD CAUSED
ATTORNEY ADVISED JONES THAT
"QUITE A STIR", STATING FURTHER
"YOU-RE GOING TO BE HEARING FROM US".
JONES FURTHER ADVISED BALDWIN THAT BALDWIN'S PRESS STATEMENT
WERE A MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION. JONES FURTHER STATED
THAT HE WAS DISTURBED OVER THE PROPOSED CONFERENCE OF NEGROE LEADERS
WITH THE PRESIDENT SCHEDULED FOR NINE NINETEEN SIXTYTHREE. JONE
FELT THAT THIS CONFERENCE COULD DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD. BALDWIN
STATED THAT HE FELT THAT KENNEDY SHOULD GO TO ALABAMA AND JONES
REPLIED "THE PRESIDENT CANNOT BE LET OFF THE HOOK ON THIS THING".
JONES FURTHER ADDED THAT BALDWIN'S PRESS STATEMENT HAD BEEN A VERY
VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION AND THAT IT REFLECTED THE GENERAL CONSENSUS
OF OPINION OF THE MAJORITY OF NEGROES IN BIRMINGHAM. BALDWIN
AGREED THAT THE FEELING EXISTED, NOT ONLY IN BIRMINGHAM BUT ELSEWHERE.
BALDWIN THEN SPOKE OF SOMETHING HIS SISTER HAD SAID TO HIS MOTHER,
"NEGROES ARE THINKING SERIOUSLY OF ASSASSINATING MARTIN LUTHER
KING". JONES THEN STATED THAT HE BELIEVED THAT THE FEELING IN
THE SOUTH IS ONE OF "CRISIS IN THE EFFICACY OF NON VIOLENT
MOVEMENT" •
IN A FURTHER DISCUSSION OF THE BIRMINGHAM BOMBING JONES
QUESTIONED THE "EFFICACY OF THE FBI IN CASES LIKE THIS". JONES
STATED THAT THERE HAD BEEN FORTY FIVE TO FIFTY BOMBINGS SINCE
NINETEEN FORTY SEVEN AND NOT ONE HAD BEEN SOLVED. HE FURTHER
STATED THAT "THERE HAS BEEN A TOTAL ABSENCE OF FBI INFILTRATING
RACIST ORGANIZATIONS".
1032
. f
0
♦
»
PAGE FOUR
CXlRR T VVi*PHTF wc;M - r - w ^ R OM TITEL Oj LCASE
p 2 L 16 WD 5 "ADDITIONALLY**
END
11-55 PM OK FBI WA RM
TU DISCO
Oo-Tj?:.
■4'AcS' ■ ■
J
m
1033
'D-3S (fiev. 12-13-56)
Transmit the following in
AIRTEL
F B I
Date: 9/2V 6 3
PLAIN TEXT
(Type in plain text or code )
(Priority or Method of Mailing)
J
FROM:
SUBJECT:
DIRECTOR, FBI ,
(ATT: CIVIL RIGHTS SECT. GENERAL INVESTIGATIVE^MV. )
SAC, ,NEW YORK (100-14655%* SSIF 1ED VKGrz;/, k,' ,/ ^
JAMES BALDWIN
RACIAL MATTERS
SM - C
Rn 5c ffc/i nt/m
EXitACED
. 01 K; ASOffWl EXTENSION V
6 07 ^ i CIM, lurSw.
DA TE i F REVlfeWJOR u.
s.t nT J Ar«irir>ATiri / / /
Enclosed herewith are ten a letterdeaS
memo reflecting the conversat^r^e tween CLARENCE JONES and JAMES
BALDWIN, as received ^ 9/19/63. b*~l CHOr 1
The source utilized t o characterize CLAR ENCE JONES
i s •
Als^!sedt^character^^c!LARENCE JONES isH|H 9WC-
The letterhead memo i^c^^^T|ji^^oeJret” due to
the extreme sensitive nature of The unauthorizeci^X^
disclosure of this information could reveal the identity
the source and thereby impair investigation of subversive v
matters, which could be injurious to the national defense.
Characterization of CLARENCE JONES is listed at \fa
the end of the memo in order to insure continuity of the memo .IT
. u c ^ qlo^ ZltlHW I
5 -i Bureau (ENCIS.iqRfifl) ' , ,A.
(1-100-407018) (CLARENCE JONES) HI'C>%O^P)a . WtfHiirt '■ A
- (1-100-106670) (MARTIN LUTHER KIND)
1 - Birmingham (157-867) (ENCLS.l) (INFO) (BN) 95
1 - Atlanta (100-5586) (ENCLS.l) (INFO) (MARTIN LUTHER kTNG)(RM)|
1 - New York (100-73250) (CLARENCE JONES)
1 - New York (IOO-I36585) (MARTIN LUTHER KING ) ^*-s itfUV Y
1 - New York (lOO-l46553) A , rr _ y q.% oni, osi.^cRD^JiS; U,SJ,/> v,
c qTW<^ Fcrv c<T7/~ ~
JPD:mld -_S$^ 3 25 1963
JPDtmld
( 12 )
o
Approved
Special Agent un Charge
OCT 140/963 JwliJ
A cW' O VU|
How Farw
^ j ^ ^ ^ t ~1 » I m.
TTZ V r-rtr-i-r v/ T-T T.) T f ,
P'jVPF' 1 UmCj-AO£ O fD\’»**n
^ /j BY SeAt%5 a m Ppt
.M Per
e \ y
1034
In Reply, Please Refer to
File No.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
New York, New York
September 24, 1963
New York 100-146553
Re: James Baldwin
Racial Matters; -
Security Matter - C
DECLASSIFIED BY
.£>■?-» tovbY „
On September 19, 1963, a confidential source who
has furnished reliable information in the past, advised that
on that date Clarence Jones (Counsel to Martin Luther King)
and James Baldwin (Negro author) held a discussion regarding
Baldwin 1 s appearance on the USIA television program in
Washington on August 28, 1963* Jones stated that he had . -
requested from USIA a transcript of the entire show and had
received this transcript and noted that Baldwin* s remarks
regarding the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Mr. Hoover
were not contained therein and therefore Jones assumed that
these remarks had been edited out. Baldwin stated that he
had witnesses to the statements that he had made on this
program. In recalling his statement regarding the FBI,
Baldwin stated that the substance of his remarks on this
program were "part of the problem in the civil rights
movement is J. Edgar Hoover”. Jones then stated that he
would "like to blow the whistle on this”. Jones stated
that any legitimate critical opinion of the FBI Is apparently
"off limits or taboo”. Jones further stated that he had
composed a letter to the rest of the participants on 'the USIA
show informing them of the deletion. made. Jones then stated
that he intends to inform the USIA that he knows of the deletion
and intends also to bring this information to the attention
of the public and the Attorney General. Jones continued that
he was going to do this immediately and stated that he would
also like to draft a statement and stated
deletion go”.
t let this
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions
of the FBI. It Is the property of the FBI and Is loaned to
your agency; it and Its contents are not to be distributed
outside your agency.
1035
James Baldwin
Additionally, Baldwin and Jones discussed Baldwin’s
public statement of September 18, 1963, issued at a press
conference in New York City. According to the New York
Herald Tribune”, September 19, 1963, Baldwin is a ® T
bitterly criticizing the Kennedy Administration and the jsx
for their “lack of action” following the Birmingham bombing,
September 15, 1963. The ”New York Times” of September 19,
1963, additionally quotes Baldwin as saying I blame J. bctgar
Hoover in part for events in Alabama. Negroes have no cause
to have faith in the FBI”. This source also stated that Jones
told Baldwin that he had received a call from an attorney
11 who works in an office of the Justice Department . According
to this source, this attorney advised Jones that Baldwin s
statement had caused ”quite a stir”, stating further you re
going to be hearing from us” .
Jones further advised Baldwin that Baldwin’s press
statements were a most significant contribution. Jones further
stated that he was disturbed over the proposed conference 01
Negro leaders with the President scheduled for September 19,
1963. Jones felt that this conference could do more harm than
good. Baldwin stated that he felt that Kennedy should go to
Alabama and Jones replied ”the President cannot be let off
the hook on this thing”. Jones further added that Baldwin s
press statement had been a very valuable contribution and that
it reflected that general consensus of opinion of the majority
of Negroes in Birmingham. Baldwin agreed that the feeling
existed not only in Birmingham but elsewhere. Baldwin then
spoke of something his sister had said to his mother, Negroes
are thinking seriously of assassinating Martin Luther King .
Jones then stated that he believed that the feeling in the
South is one of "crisis in the efficacy of non-violent movement
In a further discussion of the Birmingham bombing
Jones questioned the "efficacy of the FBI in cases like this .
Jones stated that there had been 45 to 50 bombings since
1947 and not one had been solved. He further stated that
"there has been a total absenoe of FBI infiltrating
racist organizations” .
James Baldwin
v 1 M 11 ’10111 * |
As of July % 1963, Clarence Jones was
the General Counsel forthe Gandhi
Society for Human Rights, 15 East 4oth
Street, New York City*
A second confidential source, who has
furnished reliable information in the
past, advised that on February 26, 1957 »
he identified a photograph of Clarence
Jones as the person whom he knew during
late 1953 or early 1954, to be a member
and in a position of leadership in the
Labor Youth League (LYL). n/ \js
r 2he LYL has been designated pursuant to
Executive Order 10450.
.rd confidential source on August 20,
advised that Clarence Jones was at
that time Counsel to Reverend Martin Luther
King.
- 3
1037
i
I
•j
NY 100-146553
y>~\
v*®'*
The letterhead memorandum is classified
- M due to the extreme sensitive nature of
The unauthorized disclosure of this
information could reveal the identity of the source
and thereby impair investigation of subversive
matters, which could have an injurious effect to
the national defense.
i
m
1039
In Reply, Please Refer to
File No,
ui ;ed states department oi ustice
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
New York, New York
September 30, 1963
SEC
James Baldwin
b 1
On September 29, 1963, a confidential
source, who has furnished reliable information in
the past, advised that James Baldwin (Negro author;
on the same date, discussed >
problems he is having with a : na -
p Baldwin statedtharJHp^^and
u ave been "camping on his . doorstep” and
people enter and leave his residence and
have even threatened him.
’ Baldwin stated that Hlft
came to his office and told him they had Photostats
k of documents indicating that there may be some
"money involved" , then showed Baldwin that they
are authorized to represent Baldwin in his planned
"rent strike".
Hi and ^|HB|said they had a
which he, ^lRwSi, had wrmen from the stage of
a churc h durin g a rally in which he, Baldwin, agree
to pay i^lHHtand flHHHfto handle the "rent strike’
activi’
y
Exclu
downgr
decla
from automatic
J ng and
i cat ion
This document contains neither recommendations nor
conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the
FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents
are not to be distributed outside your agency.
1040
SE
James Baldwin
Baldwin "told Jones that they had.
threatened that if he did rot pay for the printing
of the "leaflets” that they would present this
material and other damaging information to m
police, Baldwin said he agree d, to meet with them
^apartment at
treet at
10:00 p.m. and wanted Jones to accompany him.
Jones agreed to accompany Baldwin to
his me e ti ngwi-thjBjj^and ■■■V J ° nes ^ h ®^
contacted lwr^WScinct , Njjy^or^
►were to extort money from his client and _
h a andhi-S client were to meet with them tonig
asked that Jones and his client
mee^w^?^i5^^o thajMje cou^^accompany them to
Ln
C/
Cit^
the meeting with
As of July 3, 1963, Clarence
Jones was the General Counsel for
The Gandhi Society for Human Rights,
15 East 40th Street, New York City.
The second confidential source,
who has furnished reliable information
in the past, advised on February 26,
1957, he identified a photograph of
Clarence Jones as the person whom he
knew during late 1953 or early, 1954
to be a member of and in a position
of leadership in the Labor Youth
League (LYL).
The LYL has been designated
pursuant to Executive Order 10450.
S
T
2
1041
James Baldwin
A third source ? who has
furnished reliable information in
the past , advised on August 16 ,
19 63 , that Frank Mabrey , Jr,, a
Negro male youth, who is a race
driver and Arthur Meynard, a young
Negro author are both members* of an
organization known as "Procept for
Peace”. This organization is a new
well financed group in New York City
in the integration movement. pie
group appears to favor civil rights
and integration but source feels that
this group advocates violence and
their true aim is to disrupt integration.
The August 2, 1963 edition of
the ”New York Mirror", a daily news-
paper, published in New York City,
contained an article on page 2,
related to arrests at varbus sites
in Mew York City being picketed by
civil rights groups. This article
reflected that one Arthur Meynard,
age 25, Negro, who gave his address
as "Africa" , was arrested and charged
with felonious assault, for scuffling
with a police officer at the construction
site of a downstate medical center at
Brooklyn, New York. A scuffle occurred
when the police seized four cartons
of eggs apparently for pelting police,
according to the article.
i % Bureau
of Special Services, New York City
Police Department, advised on August 16,
1963, that "Procept for Peace" began
operating in New York City during the past
week and travels to civil rights
demonstrations and gatherings where
they offer to assist in picketing for
a fee of one dollar.
)
3010-106
> ^OPTIONAL FORM NO. 10
“ "MAY 1961 COITION
t CSA GEN, REG. NO. 27
UNITED STATES G JERNMENT
t '■*
Memorandum
TO Hr. W. C. Sulliv,
from Mr. F. J. Baumgardner,?^
subject ^theVihb NEXT TIME"
BY JAMES BALDWIN
i ■
DATE: October 3, 1963
1 - Mr. Sullivan
1 - Mr. Ban
1 - Mr.
(Att n: M iss
1 - Mr.
1 - Mr.
Subject book, published in 1963 by The Dial Press, Inc.,
New York City, consists oT two articles b yoBa ldwin which were previously
published in magazines. Both articles strongly advocate integration.
;I. ”My Dungeon Shook"
■ r - • r
T ••
at the
"Letter from
In this brief article Baldwin compares Harlem living conditions
*wfcerfe f he was reared to those described by Charles Dickens
existing in London over 100 years ago. Today, with; integration,
Baldwin says the Negroes must force the whites to stop fleeing
from reality and begin to change those conditions:, ~
Cross" (originally published under the title
a Region in My Mind")
«. . / /
This lengthy article again mentions Baldwin's past life in /
Harlem. He had been a preacher on occasion (nonmention of f h
being ordained) until he became disillusioned with Christiania
He refers lo_.C frH.st as a ^repu table sunbaked Hebrew. " ^
Baldwin continues: "If the concept of God has any validity
or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more
loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of
Him." Baldwin does not say how. Baldwin does not regard the
Negro as inferior to the whites and says the only thing the
white man has that the Negro needs is power. He contends the
blacks and whites need each other if we are to become a nation
and if integration is to be achieved. If the relatively
conscious whites and blacks do not falter in their duty to
work toward integration, he says, it may be. possible to end the ;
racial nightmare. If, on the other hand, they do not try
everything to achieve that goal, then "the fulfillment of that
prophesy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon 2
us: God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no moreiwater. the fire
next time I « , , . ^ REC -5 /
The Dirqgtyg ajp^.the Bifreau are* not mentioned in th§ c ^o$:' l963
1 - 100-3-116 (CPUSA, Negro Question
Communistr influence in Racial Matters)
62-108763 m
jFM:mls 0 r. , nC o
(7) 5 9 OCT 30 W
-C.
ft J 1 043 J
i.’nnurim nnnv tit r , 'pi
Memorandum to Mr. Sullivan
KB: "THE FIRE NEXT TIME”
BY JAMES BALDWIN
62-108763
1 Bureau files indicate Baldwin, who was bora in 1924 in
New York City, has been very active and vocal in the integration movement
and his writings deal primarily with that situation. He has lent his
name to subversive causes and has been critical of the Director. He
has not been investigated.
ACTION:
None. File.
c
- 2 -
\
1044
TRUE COPY
Mr. J. Edgar Hoover, Chief
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, D..C.
Dear Mr. Hoover:
all information contained
There are quite a few things that come to ones
to step in?
Then too, is it a true fact that the founder of the
NAACP died a full fledged communist? or is this propagan .
Also I wonder about this fellow^e^Baldwin who
.. , - ,,Thp worker " An evangelist who spoke at our church kept
la;;."?** “ tei1 “ « * is * tnom »— t?
Thank vou, and know one thing, you have been the one
w hope <o, oJSMr a !«, u»e. I« .o.rie. us to so. «»« so
by and retirement nearing for you.
v.
Yours truly.
bio-g
/
AruOwA J
bn c -5
22 JUL
THIS SI DE OF CARD IS FOR ADDRESS
£ \l
3". 6*1 1 K/ Ch)AR(rE
OF l-)AR.Le^M A l oTs X'M^esTi^-yPnoA/
L {6 u &V. Av» o F ITijvesn c^aTioiV
^ 0 p 3 oST?C£
Wa£/4 i N^T bfJ, 1>. C •
j..
\$ u dddd<2V,dtJ
ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED
HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED
f>^e. j
Mi, J
CiAdJjt Adf i
r^tc^ /j
' ’%z ' ^
Oihcscc^ /bj/f
1 yte M A <dC* <Z
[fydUrJL <4»- , d-& *™ &■
" ). y/ sr&x— V^
/•
i^~
<sd
UjA'MJ**'* !/■
1046
V
Memorandum to Mr. Sullivan
KB: W THE PIKE NEXT TIME”
BY JAMES BALDWIN
62-108763
Bureau files indicate Baldwin, who was bora in 1924 in
New York City, has been very active and vocal in the integration movement
and his writings deal primarily with that situation. He has lent his
name to subversive causes and has been critical of the Director. He
has not been investigated.
ACTION:
None. File.
1044
0*TION*t FOffc NO. 10
MAY 1963 ED»T»ON
CSA GCN. REG. NO. 27
SBStl
)
UNITED STATES GL ERNMENT
TO
from
nos o-r— »
Memorandum •£g!Sx
7 \
: Mr. W. C. Sulliva^, date: 10/28/63
D. J. Brennan, Jrv^fsL
SUBJECT:
i ,.
J
JAMES 'BALDWIN
RACIAL MATTERS
SECURITY MATTER -
A» >
k - •
n
Reference is made to letter from (Mr. Paul J. McNichol, f
Director, Office of Security, United States information Agency (>}/
(USIA), to the Director dated October 11, 1963. Therein £r?k
Mr. McNichol expresses appreciation for receipt of information
contained in our memorandum of September 24. 19637] captioned as
above and setting forth information indicating thSx Baldwin
contemplated protesting certain deletions made by USIA in a fi>
videotape of a round-table discussion concerning the March-o
Washington, August 28, 1963. ^
In reference letter, Mr. McNichol points out that
Baldwins remarks were edited because they amounted to attacks
on the Director and Senator James Eastland. He pointed out that
it is the established policy of the Director of USIA that if
any individual is attacked by name on a television program,
some answer to the attack, or some statement of a contrary view,
must be included. There being none in this instance, such remarks
on the part of Baldwin were edited
At the request of the Domestic Intelligence Division,
Liaison contacted McNichol on October 24, 1963, and requested
information as to the nature of Baldwin’s remarks regarding the
Director. On October 25, McNichol furnished the following
verbatim excerpt, which remarks were made by Baldwin during a
discussion of the Negro problem and obstacles confronting the
Negro:
"It will be a matter of attacking really, J. Edgar
Hoover, and asking very rude questions such as why the
c\ 1-Mr.
1-Mr.
1-Mr.
1-Kr.
- w
Ci O
Belmont
Sullivan
Sizoo
Baumgardner
v
1-Mr.
1-Liaison
1-Mr.
WJM:mer (8)
60 NOV
2-SPS
0^1
1048
Memorandum to Mr. Sullivan
RE: JAMBS BALDWIN
RACIAL MATTERS
SECURITY MATTER - C
FBI can find a 'junkie* but cannot find a man who
bombs the homes of Negro leaders in the deep south.
They still have not found anyone. These are the
questions that one has to be confronted with now. One
has got to deal with the fact that if you liberate
Negroes in the ghettos of harlem, you have to change
New York City."
ACTION:
None. The above is submitted for information and no
further action is deemed warranted.
/
1049
^.+MM-Ji*~’- ZJeKikiiit ,^ii^v4:.Uj#4te«:M«w
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UNi'.4d states information agency
m,
WASHINGTON
October 11, 1963
Dear Mr. Hoover:
This Agency deeply appreciates the information contained
in the Bureau’s memorand-^^of September 24, 1963, New York,
New York, entitled Jam e» Baldwin, Racial Matters; Security
Matter - C.
Mt. Callahan.
J^^jeLoa^
MtT Evans*
Mr.
/\lMr. Rosep*—--^^
\ffMr. Si
1 Mr. Tavel
Mr. Trotter
Tele. Room
Miss Holmes
Mies Gandy.
Up to this time the Agency has not received any request from
Mr. Baldwin or his attorney concerning the necessary editing
done to the videotaped March-on-Washington discussion in which
Mr. Baldwin participated.
***■>’
1 thought it would be of interest to you to be informed the
cqg.tent of your memorandum was the subject of a conference
of 'the highest officials in our Agency and if we are required
toe make some statement on this subject, we will point out that ^
kfa Alan Carter, Director of the Television Service, clearly
informed all participants in the round-table discussion (which
was videotaped on August 28) that there would be some editing
to make the program fit within normal television time limits.
As made, the tape was nearly 33 minutes long and deletions
were needed to bring it down to approximately 25 1/2 minutes.
In deciding what material would be edited to bring the tape to
the proper length, we naturally exercised editorial judgment
and we considered that the views of Mr. Baldwin and other
participants were adequately expressed without the particular
material we deleted.
The portion of Mr. Baldwin's remarks which were removed
contained attacks on you and Senator James Eastland and it is
Mr. Mur row’ s established policy in such programs that if an
individual. is attacked by name in a television program, some ^
/'/
■K
,>birector
REC 14
1/ nrr> l/l )
The Honorable
J. Edgar Hoove
Federal Bureauof InvestigatioQ^tAS^XTXKD
Washingtors^^ D, C. OM
//; y
XT*.
V. • *
ED B Y
V “ m ■■ v
1981
GHOm
Excluded From Aui^inatic Downgrading
and Declassification
1 nrn
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
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9/11