COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 17 RESOLUTION ON THE WORK AND STATUS OF WOLEN In order to achieve the fulfillment of the goal and ideala set for our Party and the people's movement in this Convention for peace, security, civil rights, the future of our youth, political voice and the strength of our working class party - we must understand and seek the full participation of women. Women are already in motion fighting back against exploitation and discriminstion in the home, in the shops, on the farms....and against the bars from full participation in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the country. Ninety percent of the women are housewives; 35% of all women also hold jobs outside the home. Their unpaid labor as housewives and underpaid labor as workers are the source of superprèfits to big business. Of the 22 million women who work, only 3 to 1/2 million are organized. Their average wage is 60% of men's wages. They are forced into the lowest grade jobs, and have few opportunities for upgrading. Negro women workers are subject to extra exploitation. Their average wage is 1/2 that of white women; 62% of their jobs are limited to domestic and service work. These degrading conditions and barriers to betworking conditions affect the working standards of all workers, unless the trade unions undertake a consistent campaign for the rights of women workers. Not only is it necessary to organize the unorganized and extend minimum wage benefits, but it is necessary to undertake a special campaign to wipe out the pay differentials, upgrade women workers and open the doors of job opportunities. Puerto Rican and lexican-American women are also at the lowest rung of the job and pay ladder in light manufacturing industries and agriculture. Mothers, wives and sweethearts, long the silent victims of war, are the vociferous fighters for peace. The family tax payments have gone to pay off the superprofits of big business in the war budget, at the expense of decent housing, schools, health, recreational facilities, and a full program for our youth. The cold war has been the biggest thief in the lives of our children. War psychology has put the stamp of approval on force and violence - war scares have made them unsure of their future. Women can take a war budget and turn it into a peace budget. Jennie Higgins, community worker, can help convert bombers into schools, houses and a decent life. Negro, Puerto Rican and liexican-American women face the ghetto problems of smaller then average pay checks to meet exhorbitant prices and rents, the worst housing and school conditions, racist attacks upon themselves and their families an are in constant battle th the slum atmosphere of dirt, disease and deterioration. This is the spreading epidemic that infects our whole society. "hite women and society as a whole, in their own interest, must undertake concrete plans to eradicate it. A more effective program for progress can be carried out by encouraging and using the power of women as a political force in the 1960 elections. We must help bring into action the vote of the Negro and poor white women in the South; the Puerto Rican and Mexican-American women's right to register in Spanish, and all women's right to political participation and representation. The main barrier to understanding the status and needs of women is the concept of the "weak-kneed, weak-minded, unstable woman.2 Big Business uses male supremacy as a means of carrying out this concept, in order to guarantee its super-profits from this whole group of underpaid workers. Women in our country are highly organized in social, civic, church, religious, political, professional, business community, historical and auxiliary organizations. Most of these organizations have programs for peace, civil rights, economic security, civil liberties, youth problems and womens' rights. United actions among women's organizations on the above issues can be a powerful force in support of the American working class and the people s movements.... an integral and necessary part of an anti-monopoly coalition. The Party has long recognized the special exploitation of women... their status, special needs and the value of enlisting their vigorous fight back in behalf of the working class and broad peoples movement. ...But this attention has been uneven... inconsistent.... and of late... not at all! Therefore we propose to this convention: The consciousness of the status of women, the rights of women, and the role of women should be drawn like a thread through every aspect of Party work. Set up a National Women's Comission with all deliberate speed........ako commissions in the Districts wherever possible. The Party has the task of putting forward a program that will bring forthe all women in work and leadership... with special attention to the problems of Negro, Puerto Rican, and Mexican-American and Indian women. And ideological and popular program to understand the source of discrimination against women. 5. A program to understand and popularize the role of women under Socialism, 6. Conferences and discussions to develop local, and national program of work and status of women. March 8, 1960, the whole world will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of International Women's Day...Born in the USA... We can take this occasion to renew ties with the International women's movements. We will also celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the women's right to vote. Weask everyone to help us make these celebrations a big leap forward in recognizing the role and power or women's activities and organizations.... the tremendous value and impact of a united women's movement... and a program for the rights of women that will encourage them to add their militant fight-back with the peoples movement against the common enemy... monopoly capital... for a peaceful world, economic well-being ... equality... and soon the goal of Socialism. 17th Convention COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 18 RESOLUTION ON THE YOUTH QUESTION As the American people enter a decade of sharp struggle for peace, democracy and security, American youth are showing powerful beginnings of a new upsurge. Coming out of a period in which youth felt the greatest impact of McCarthyism and the cold war, in which the drive to conformity and the fear of speaking out weakened and in some cases destroyed their organizations and prevented the development of an experienced leadership--they entered the new period with a march of 26,000 on Washington to demand immediate school integration, with a delegation of 400 to the Vienna World Youth Festival, with widespread sentiment and organization among students for Peace, against compulsory ROTC, for exchange with the socialist countries, against loyalty oaths for federal scholarships. Every section of the country can point to signs of the upsurge. One area reports its local Young Democrats breaking with their long dominating adult leadership and entering the struggle for a progressive platform. Another reports youth participation in the fight against "Right-to-Work" lave. In many others the Youth March still marches forward with teen-age organizations of Negro and white, continuing committees, and other varied forms which represent the most widespread youth activity. Actions of support for strikers in food collections have taken place. And the youth are coming to socialism and to our Party. The Sputniks and the socialist peace initiative have a profound effect on the youth, reared on a diet of cold war and Soviet hating. The youth membership of our Party is growing faster than any other section, multiplying in some areas as much as ten-fold in the past two years. Our Party youth, feeling the need to advance the democratic movements of youth, have--with the rest of the Party--begun the process of breaking out of isolation and can point with pride to accomplishments in the Youth March and in other struggles. Groups of youth interested in Marxist study and action have appeared in a number of cities among college students, teen-agers, and other youth. But this new upsurge is still evidenced unevenly, in a great variety of forms, on a variety of issues and in a variety of geographical areas. The task before us is to help bring about national movements around specific issues. Today's youth have been deprived of organizational experience, and lean heavily on adult support which is not always forthcoming, especially where it is most needed. Youth, particularly Negro, Puerto Rican and Mexican-American youth, are faced with two to four important formative years lost to the draft, insecurity, and the lowest pay, with limited chances for advancement on the job, and a lack of social, recreational and athletic facilities. To hinder the youth from solving their problems, they have an educational system characterized by overcrowded public schools, incapacitated by segregation North and South, trade schools which cost much but teach little, deprived of some of the best teachers by the witchhunt, and offering curricula designed to produce an anti-union, anti-Communist, and chauvinistic population. Monopoly's answer to the problems and challenge of youth is to bend them to its own ends. It shows youth a world of moral destitution, brutal culture and a future of dog-eat-dog and nation-eat-nation. And when some youth respond to this as so-called juvenile delinquents, monopoly answers with an iron hand for them and all other youth with cynical police brutality for the working class and minority young people. The greatest responsibility for answering the monopolies lies with the trade unions. The steel workers have issued a pamphlet on trade unionism for high school students. Some locals open their facilities to their sons and daughters and to youth in the community for education in trade unioniem. Many locals and some internationale supported the Youth Marches. But on the whole there is a lack of Trade Union initiative on the youth question. Increasingly, adult community organizations are working for a bright future for their children. PTA's and others move on providing adequate school facilities and teacher's salaries. Community groups try and provide more recreation. Larger Some numbers of adults undertake to sponsor teen-age social and sport groups. even try to provide after-school jobs and job training in church facilities. Some act on juvenile delinquency through often not in a very effective manner. The importance of the trade unions and adult community organization for the winning of youth for democracy and peace and away from monopoly necessitates the involvement of the Party as a whole on the youth question. Comrades still say by their deeds that this is a question for the young comrades alone. The problems and outlook of today's youth will not automatically leave them after their 30th birthday, but will leave their mark for their entire lives. The significant gains of the Party in youth membership and influence help guarantee our Party's growth. Truly youth represent the future of the Party and the Party is the bearer of the future for American youth. PARTY WORK AMONGST YOUTH The Party is the vanguard of the working class and, therefore, of its youth, as well as of non-working class youth. It should not, and does not delegate its vanguard role to any other group or organization. To do so would mean to set up more than one center of Commist leadership, more than one Communist Party. To work amongst youth is to work for the future. The present generation of youth, led by the working class, is the guarantee for success in the struggle for peaceful co-existence. They are also our party of the immediate future. Without full attention to their needs and development, the Party Jeopardizes its own existence as an effective vanguard, Youth work shall be placed next to labor and the Negro people's movement as our major areas of mass vork. First attention must be paid to the existing mass youth movements and organizations, helping to build them based on their own programs, and winning them for united action for peace, integration, support for labor, and political action. Special attention should be paid to bringing the question of peace to all groups, especially to working class youth. Aid should be extended to those youth who are setting up local youth councils for peace, friendship, and exchange. Many more adults can be involved in youth work in organizations of parents, anti-delinquency committees, youth services and settlement houses, etc. These are also important areas of mass youth work. Consideration of their own youth probleme must become the concern of all people's organizations. Major amongst such organizations are the trade unions. Organization by unions of their sons and daughters would be of inestimable value to both the youth and the labor movement. The solution of the special problems of working and unemployed youth must become a major concern of the trade unions themselves. All possible encouragement and aid shall be extended on a local basis as well as on a national scale to the party and non-party youth in their efforts to set up Marxist youth organizations, growing as much as possible out of mass relationships Encouragement and aid should be extended to students organizing Marxist diecussion clubs and other such groups on campuses. The building and development of teen-age groups and clubs of all kinds should be encouraged. The education and youth commissions should prepare a special educational program for the training of party youth to include, amongst other forms, full time and other types of schools, material for classes, discussion groups, self-study,eto A two-month ideological campaign throughout the whole party, beginning March 1 and ending on May Day, on the youth question, should be organized. The purpose of this campaign is to develop our understanding of this question and to orient the whole party membership towards the youth in all areas of activity. Material for this campaign shall be issued by the education and youth commissions. The Party should find both the opportunities and forms for speaking directly to non-Party youth on the issues of the day and on socialism. Forume, debates, leaflets, meetings, etc., should be encouraged to the fullest degree. State committees are urged to involve youth in every level of Party leadership in all commissions and committees. The incoming National Committee, within a period of no more than 30 days after the adjournment of this convention, shall appoint a full-time director of youth affairs and establish a functioning national commission on youth affairs composed of youth and adult members. This commission, amongst other things, shell issue a regular national party youth bulletin. We urge that in a brief period of time those state committees which have not done so, shall establish political and organizational responsibility for youth affairs. TOWARD A MARXIST YOUTH ORGANIZATION A Marxist youth organization is essential to the development of a mature American youth movement. It could help further the present democratic youth groupings and movements in the direction of support to and alliance with the labor and Negro people's liberation movements. It could contribute to the task of helping to unite the present generation of youth against monopoly capital. It could win tens of thousands of young people to the cause of socialism,” The conditions for the establishment of such an organization must include the existence of a substantial number of non-party socialist-minded youth who are ready to join with party youth to set up such an organization. It is desirable the as many of these youth as possible be participating in the activities and struggles of existing youth organizations and movements. The formation of such a national organization today would be premature and therefore doomed to isolation, since the conditions for its formation do not exist in a sufficient number of areas in our country. We urge every State Committee to develop its mass youth work through education and action in such a manner that the conditions for setting up local Marxist youth organizations will emerge as rapidly as possible. Our work with youth in existing mass movements and organizations, our agitation for our Party youth program and our education for socialism will help guarantee such a base, We look forward to the emerging of a national, organizationally independent, socialist organization of youth which is dedicated to participation in the everyday struggles for the immediate demands and needs of youth; which consistently conduct agitation and education for socialism amongst youth; and educates its membership in the science of Marxism-Leninism. Such an organization, to grow and develop, would have to give serious consideration in policy and organization to the interest and other differences existing be cween working and trade union youth, student youth, and teen-agers. Through its educational, cultural, sports, social and political activities, it should be cade as attractive as possible to all honest young people, from those who agree to all its principles and activities to those who want just to learn about socialism or participate in certain of its activities. It should be sufficiently flexible to include all except conscious anti-Communists, racists, and the dead-end sects. A PROGRAM FOR YOUTH The struggle for the needs, desires, and aspirations of American youth is a struggle to which this Convention dedicates our whole party. Our participation in these struggles will help unite youth -- in alliance with labor and the Negro people against the enemy of all, monopoly capital. To enhance this struggle, we present for the consideration of America's youth, the following youth program: The right to learn, to become educated: 1. Free education and educational facilities, from kindergarten through college. 2. Elimination of all forms of discrimination, including the quota systems, to guarantee full integration at all levels of education. 3. Federal school financing to guarantee: All necessary improvements in physical plant, facilities, and b. Expanded scholarship grants, loan funds, and part-time work C. d. .. Free nigh schools, from public school through college for Decent wage standards for teachers. Expanded vocational training to include new skills needed becausS of growing automation, and a non-discriminatory Job placement program. |