SUBVERSIVE INFLUENCES IN RIOTS, LOOTING, AND

BURNING

Part 1

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1967

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES,

PUBLIC HEARINGS

Washington, D.C.

A subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Hon. William M. Tuck presiding.

(Subcommittee members: Representatives Edwin E. Willis, of Louisiana, chairman; William M. Tuck, of Virginia; Richard H. Ichord, of Missouri; John M. Ashbrook, of Ohio; and Albert W. Watson, of South Carolina; also John C. Culver, of Iowa, in absence of Mr. Willis.)

Subcommittee members present: Representatives Tuck, Culver, and Ashbrook.

Staff members present: Francis J. McNamara, director; Chester D. Smith, general counsel; and Alfred M. Nittle, counsel.

Mr. Tuck. The committee will please come to order.

This hearing is being held pursuant to a resolution adopted by the full committee August 2, 1967. That resolution reads as follows:

WHEREAS, on October 3, 1966, pursuant to the Rules of the Committee, the Chairman directed the Committee staff to undertake a preliminary inquiry into the rioting, burning, looting, and other tragic acts of violence which have afflicted a number of principal cities in the United States, for the purpose of determining whether these acts of mass violence have been planned and instigated by subversive elements or to what extent, if any, such elements have succeeded in broadening and prolonging them after they have broken out; and

WHEREAS, the Chairman appointed Representatives Tuck (D-Va.) and Watson (R-S.C.) to oversee the general conduct of the preliminary inquiry; and WHEREAS, Mr. Tuck has today made a report to the Committee on the results of this preliminary inquiry; and

WHEREAS, the report rendered by Mr. Tuck clearly indicates that Communist organizations and individuals, and also other subversive organizations and individuals—that is, organizations and individuals advocating, inciting, or participating in activities to effect by force and violence, or other unlawful means, political, economic, or social changes in our form or system of government as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States-have been involved to a significant degree in the activities of violence aforesaid; and

WHEREAS, there is presently pending before the House and the Congress proposals for remedial legislation concerning these activities, and numerous requests have been made on the Floor of the House for investigation of the circumstances underlying these activities; and

WHEREAS, by the Rules of the House this Committee is authorized and directed as a whole, or by subcommittee, to make from time to time investigations of (1) the extent, character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (2) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation; and

WHEREAS, the Committee on Un-American Activities is directed to report to the House the results of any such investigation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable;

NOW, THEREFORE, for the purposes and pursuant to the authority abovementioned:

BE IT RESOLVED, that investigation be made, and hearings by the Committee on Un-American Activities, or a subcommittee thereof, be held in Washington, D.C., or at such other place or places as the Chairman of the said Committee or subcommittee may determine, on such date or dates as the Chairman may designate, relating to the incidents of rioting, burning, looting, and other acts of violence in principal cities of the United States for the purpose of determining the extent to which, and the manner in which, these acts of force and violence have been planned, instigated, incited, or supported by Communist and other subversive organizations and individuals, and all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation.

During the past few years, there have been well over 100 riots in this country. Several dozen of them at least can be classified as major disturbances. The damage they have done to the country is truly staggering. It is estimated that the riots which have taken place this year alone have cost the Nation over $100 million in property damage, plus millions more for overtime for police and fire departments, for the use of National Guard and Federal troops, and in addition still more millions in lost business.

Over 16,000 people have been arrested during the riots. For months to come the courts in many cities will be tied up in disposing of their cases. Over 3,200 persons have been injured; 85 have been killed.

The suffering, the physical and mental anguish, the riots have brought to many people cannot be measured in dollars and cents. No standard of measurement has yet been devised for such trouble.

These facts alone make it clear beyond all question that everything possible must be done to prevent similar disturbances in the future. Yet they spell out only part of the damage that has been done. The riots have also caused internal tension and dissension. They have threatened our national unity.

Beyond that, they have caused tremendous damage to the United States abroad and, in so doing, have given great aid and comfort to our enemies, thus impairing our national security. Moscow, Peking, Hanoi, and Havana have rejoiced at these disturbances and have taken full propaganda advantage of them to undermine the standing and prestige of the United States among other nations and peoples.

We cannot measure precisely the damage done to our country in this area, but in real value it is surely greater than our material losses. It is easier to rebuild a city than a nation's image.

Riots are not new. Practically every nation has suffered from them at some time in its history. We have had them before-but never on the scale of the last few years.

It is not the view of this committee that Communists or other subversive elements are the sole cause of the recent riots; that without these elements there would have been no riots at all. It is generally

acknowledged that a variety of factors and conditions are usually involved in outbreaks of mass violence. It is also true, however, that these elements alone fall short of adequately explaining the disturbances that have wracked our country in recent years.

Poverty may be a factor-but people here and in other countries have suffered much greater poverty in the past, and still suffer it, without rioting.

Unemployment may be a factor-but at times in the past unemployment in the riot areas has been greater than it is today and people have not rioted.

Discrimination may be a factor-but in this area, too, there have been decided improvements in recent years, and many doors are now open that were not open before.

Lack of educational opportunity may be involved-but there are now 320,000 Negroes attending our colleges and universities, and today the Negro in America has more than twice the opportunity of attending college than the white European has.

We know that the weather is involved. Riots generally occur in hot, humid weather. They do not take place during blizzards. But there is certainly nothing the Government can do about the weather.

Some sociologists say that boredom arising out of too much free time is a factor; that antipathy to work on the part of some persons is another. Many other factors have been suggested.

It is my personal view that those persons who have gone about counseling, urging, and advising so-called civil disobedience-which is no more than calculated violation of any law you do not like, the root of anarchy-have created disrespect and contempt for law and order which has contributed to the mob violence.

There is another point about the riots which I believe it is important to stress. Estimates as to the proportion of the Negro population taking part in them have generally varied between 2 percent and 5 percent.

Even the larger figure represents a small minority. In addition, it has generally been recognized that a significant part of this minority has been made up of youths, teenage gangs, and persons with criminal records. This indicates that the rioters have not been representative of the adult Negro population.

Another important-and tragic-fact is that the principal victims of the riots, the persons who have suffered most from them, have been the law-abiding citizens, the majority, in the riot-torn Negro areas.

Obviously, judging accurately and in perspective all the factors contributing to the riots and coming up with a satisfactory answer to them is a most difficult and complicated task. Other inquiries have been undertaken for this purpose and to propose both short- and long-term solutions. This committee's jurisdiction is limited to subversive activities. It does not embrace social problems as such.

Throughout history riots have been used for political purposes. They can be, and have been, deliberately instigated to weaken and undermine existing governments and pave the way for the establishment of a new and different type of governmental system.

The Congress and the public have a right to know if elements in this country who are opposed to our form of government, who want to tear it down and replace it with another, have been involved in instigating the violence that has done so much damage to our Nation.

At this time in history, there are few things that pose a greater danger to our overall security than the deliberate instigation of mass violence which is designed to destroy our national unity, set citizen against citizen, groups and classes of citizens against their Government, and undermine the power, the prestige, and the good name of our country in all parts of the world.

This committee has explicit and unquestioned authority to investigate such activities.

Investigations conducted by this committee over a period of almost 30 years have revealed that individuals and organizations with these aims exist in this country. Have they been involved in any way in these riots or in instigating them?

This question must be answered. If we are going to find a solution to the causes of these riots, then this as well as other factors must be explored thoroughly. If only a partial investigation is made, if certain factors are ignored, then only a partial, incomplete, and unsatisfactory answer will be found.

A preliminary inquiry into this matter was made by the committee over a period of 10 months. It was on the basis of that inquiry—an inquiry which clearly revealed subversive involvement in the riotsthat the committee determined to conduct a full-scale investigation.

As usual, there has been opposition to our investigation. Moscow radio started out the new year on last January 2-with an attack on the committee's preliminary inquiry. It said, "the progressive forces of America demand that the witch hunters cease the shameful investigation."

Various Communist and fellow-traveler groups in the United States and certain self-proclaimed civil rights leaders have taken the same position. This is par for the course. It does not disturb the committee, which is confident that the American public is completely capable of judging the motivation behind these protests.

An explanation for Moscow's concern on this matter, perhaps, is found in the committee's Annual Report for 1960, which included a chapter on "Mob Violence as a Communist Weapon." In that chapter the committee stated:

There is considerable evidence that, in the United States, as well as on a world scale, the Communists feel that the present tactical situation calls for increased utilization of rioting and mob violence. *

That same chapter also said:

The U.S. Communist Party, the committee believes, will follow the orders of Moscow, which has told it, in effect:

"Internal violence is the order of the day. Riots are one of the weapons you are to use in the present situation to assist our grand strategy for victory."

I regret to say that the above-quoted committee analysis, or prediction, whichever you may call it, has proved to be accurate.

Finally, I believe the last paragraph in that chapter of our Annual Report for 1960 deserves repetition because it spells out clearly the issue we face in this inquiry into the role of the Communists and the subversives in rioting:

It is not merely the committee that will be the target of Communist force and violence. Whether future Communist-inspired mob violence has the committee or some other agency or group as its target, it will be freedom and the United States form of representative government which, in the final analysis, are under

assault. The violence will be part of an over-all plan of battle, engaged in by the Communists to promote the coming of the day when Khrushchev's dream will come true and the United States of America, like all other nations, will have its effective government in Moscow.

I regret the chairman of the committee, the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana, is not here due to illness in his family, but he appointed a subcommittee on October 19, 1967, by memorandum as follows:

To: MR. FRANCIS J. MONAMARA,

Director, Committee on Un-American Activities.

Pursuant to the provisions of the law and the Rules of this Committee, I hereby appoint a subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities, consisting of Honorable William M. Tuck, Honorable Richard Ichord, Honorable John M. Ashbrook and Honorable Albert W. Watson, as associate members, and myself, as Chairman, to conduct hearings in Washington, D.C., commencing on or about Wednesday, October 25, 1967, and/or at such other times thereafter and places as said subcommittee shall determine, as contemplated by the resolution adopted by the Committee on the 2nd day of August, 1967, authorizing hearings concerning subversive influences in the riots, the looting and burning which have besieged various cities in the Nation, and other matters under investigation by the Committee.

Please make this action a matter of Committee record.

If any member indicates his inability to serve, please notify me.
Given under my hand this 19th day of October 1967.

/s/ Edwin E. Willis,
EDWIN E. WILLIS,

Chairman, Committee on Un-American Activities.

Since then Mr. John C. Culver, of Iowa, has been also appointed.1 Are you ready, Mr. McNamara?

Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Tuck. Will you proceed.

Mr. MCNAMARA, Will Mr. Archie Moore come forward, please.
Mr. Tuck. Will you stand and be sworn.

Do you solemnly swear the testimony you will give before this subcommittee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. MOORE. I do.

Mr. Tuck. You may be seated.

(At this point Mr. Ichord entered the hearing room.)

TESTIMONY OF ARCHIE MOORE

Mr. MCNAMARA. Mr. Moore, state your full name and address for the record.

Mr. MOORE. My name is Archie Moore. I live at 3517 E Street, San Diego, California.

Mr. MCNAMARA. What is your business or profession, Mr. Moore? Mr. MOORE. My business now is youth guidance. My former profession was the professional light heavyweight boxing champion of the world for 11 years.

Mr. MCNAMARA. As I recall, Mr. Moore, your boxing career spanned approximately 30 years, and during that time you engaged in 228 ring appearances and set an all-time record of 136 knockouts; is that correct?

1 By order dated Oct. 25, 1967, Mr. Culver was appointed as an associate member of the subcommittee to serve at such times as Chairman Willis is unable to be present.