On the road: Building the Communist Party in the South

by Les Bayless & Rey Johnjulio

This article was reprinted from the March 2, 1996 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

It was quite a trip -- North and South Carolina ... Georgia ... Tennessee ... Virginia. Five southern states and almost 3,000 miles in seven days.

Along the way, we talked to people from all walks off life. A truck driver, a social worker, a retired electrician, a press operator and a college professor. What did they have in common?

Along with hundreds of other people across the United States, they called for information about the Communist Party after viewing Gus Hall, the Party's national chair, on C-SPAN. In his annual holiday speech, Hall predicted the people would sweep Newt Gingrich and the Republican majority from office this fall. He predicted that a reinvigorated Communist Party would emerge as the fastest growing political force in the country.

The speech was so well received that operators were unable to answer the volume of calls to the Party's 800 number. With the 26th National Convention of the Communist Party only weeks away, the national office decided to respond immediately. The call went out for volunteers and teams were set up across the country.

Our instructions were simple. Talk to people. Gauge the new mood in the country. Sign up new members. We also set a personal goal for our trip: the establishment of a new Party club in the deep South. The office provided us with a list of names, three columns across, and expense money. We purchased the maps.

Southern hospitality

People in small towns along the way were just plain friendly. Maybe it's because people know each other and the pace of life is a little slower. Part of that southern hospitality was big helpings of grits, pecan waffles, country ham, barbecue, chicken fried steak and banana pudding at every stop.

But the South we found wasn't the sleepy region that history -- and progress -- passed by. The South is being shaken by profound social and economic change. Workers were beginning to feel the pinch of what Gus Hall calls the "structural crises of capitalism." Here's what the Feb. 14 issue of the Wall Street Journal has to say: "Those job-generating superstars -- the Southeast's metro areas -- a losing a bit of their luster. A widely followed forecast ... shows that many of the region's 12 biggest metro areas will slow their job creation along with the rest of the U.S. over the next two years. While all but Birmingham [Alabama] still are projected to create jobs at a faster rate than the national average, the report shows that the Southeast's edge is narrowing."

What the WSJ didn't say was that the "Southeast's edge" -- cheap, unorganized labor -- no longer made as big a difference because factory wages are declining everywhere. It was obvious that Gus Hall's remarks on C-SPAN hit home. We were greeted enthusiastically wherever we went.

On the outer banks of North Carolina, a new member insisted we spend the night in town and have breakfast with him in the morning. This was after a three-hour visit at his home. When we left, he said joining the Communist Party was one of the greatest things that ever happened to him. He urged us not to make negative judgments about the South until we talked to people. The advice was prophetic.

In central Georgia, an hour out of Atlanta, an elderly couple invited us into their home. We discussed their reasons for calling the 800 number. It turns out that the husband has written a book about the struggle for economic justice. He's also developed a political philosophy that integrated Marxism and religion.

In southern Tennessee, near Chattanooga, we visited a high school student who was interested in becoming a journalist. He told us that three textile plants had recently closed in the area. Many people, including his father, had to look for work elsewhere.

It's a small world!

As we were meeting with the young man, his mother walked into the living room. She wanted to know who had the van with Ohio license plates parked outside. One thing led to another. It turns out that she had met Rey Johnjulio 35 years ago when Johnjulio and her father worked for a trucking company in Youngstown. Though she did not agree with her son's politics, she was pleased he had called us.

Volunteers in the Volunteer State

By far the largest number of calls to come in from the south were in Tennessee. If we were going to fulfill our goal of a new Party club in the South, this was our best bet. A caller from central Tennessee gave us directions to his house. He works second-shift for a printing company and babysits twins while his wife works during the day. We asked him if he would invite some friends over to a meeting. He said he already had.

Anyone who doesn't believe that the Communist Party is on the verge of a recruiting explosion should have sat in on the meeting. We gave them copies of the Party's constitution and other materials, including application cards, which they quickly signed and returned. One new member will be showing the C-SPAN tape on local cable access TV. Another agreed to take a bundle of People's Weekly Worlds every week. A new club was already up and functioning.

It's worthwhile to note that the Party has not had a organized presence in this area since the 1970s. We made a number of other calls and these are just the highlights. We also missed some important contacts because they were working.

For example: we just missed two new members in southwestern Virginia, near the site of the historic Pittston coal strike. A new club in this region is a definite possibility.

In South Carolina we talked to the family of a truck driver who was on the road. He works for a non-union outfit the Teamsters have been trying to organize for years.

A new mood in the South

The Communist Party is gearing up for its 26th National Convention. The upcoming meeting will debate the new mood in the country. Is it possible to organize millions against the Republican Contract on America? Is it possible to build a mass Communist Party? What organizational questions are raised by the Party's rapid growth?

Our experiences on the trip left us with a number of vivid impressions. The deep South is still the most conservative region in the country. But the economic crisis is forcing working people to reexamine some basic assumptions. The election of African Americans to local office and the new commitment of the AFL-CIO to organizing in the South is improving the climate for working class unity.

If it's possible to build new organizations of the Party from the ground up here, why isn't it possible everywhere? McCarthyism is dead and gone. The Cold War is over and anti- communism is on the decline. The trip taught us not to cling to outmoded ideas that place artificial limits on people's willingness to struggle. If the South is any indication, the Party can grow as fast as we can hit the streets with the message.