The CPUSA response to the NY Times article ‘Communist Party USA Gives Its History to NYU’

Dear Editor,

Your article on the Communist Party’s archive donation to NYU quotes Joe Hill: ‘My will is easy to decide, for there is nothing to divide.’ Willing our archive to NYU also was easy to decide. Not because there was nothing to divide, but precisely because in it lies a rich legacy that the US public should be made aware of.

Like Joe Hill, the Communist Party was born and bred in the USA. It is now and has been a public legal political party. It is not subversive, secretive, nor does it operate with special codes.

The article speaks of a ‘triple whammy’ meted out in the late 1940s but fails to mention the biggest whammy of all: Senator Joe McCarthy and the witch hunts of that period that crushed dissent, ruined lives, droves thousands from their jobs, and derailed the labor movement.

Throughout our history Communists have actively fought for labor rights, against racism and for women’s equality. Our orders came not from Moscow, but from ordinary working-class people whose struggles are our own.

We are very confident that public scrutiny of the CPUSA archives will forever put to rest this big lie. Our gift to NYU is proof not only of our transparency but commitment to normal participation in our great country’s political life.

Sam Webb National Chairman CPUSA

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