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'Reds at the Blackboard: Communism, Civil Rights, and the New York City Teachers Union'... New book will open up an important chapter in teacher union history

George N. Schmidt - May 20, 2011

A new book released this month by the Columbia University Press will open up an entire new field of Cold War studies within the American Federation of Teachers broadly and specifically in local unions such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and other major cities. Although the days of what was called "MaCarthyism" in the unions are now ancient history to most people, the legacy of Cold War union opportunism is still alive and well within most (not all) American trade unions. Although some would like to trace the current problems to the Reagan administration's breaking of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers (PATCO) strike in 2002, the origins of these problems goes back to the origins of the American unions, and the use of red-baiting by the capitalists whenever unions became strong. In fact, only white supremacy was a greater barrier to strong unions in the USA than anti-communism. And there are some who would debate me on that.

New book adds to the understanding of New York's complex union history."Reds at the Blackboard" is not the first history of the New York Teachers Union and the purges that destroyed Local 5 of the American Federation of Teachers.

During the research for my book "The American Federation of Teachers and the CIA" in the 1970s, I found a book on the history of Local 5 that didn't ignore the role of the Communist Party in making the New York Teachers Union one of the most progressive (in every sense of the word) local unions anywhere in the USA. The role of the leaders of Local 5 in civil rights and student rights agitation continued into the 1960s and 1970s, when one of the original leaders of those movements, New York's Annie Stein, mentored some of the Chicago Substance people in how to research urban school systems. (New York school justice activist Annie Stein, who had been a member of the Communist Party during the 1930s through the 1950s, had discovered the infamous "bi modal curve" of achievement in urban districts, which showed that "separate but equal" produced two school systems in highly segregated cities like Gary Indiana — where she first uncovered the data — and Chicago Illinois. Ironically, that curve, which still appears in every major segregated school district, is now used by the ruling class to claim that there is a black-white "achievement gap" instead of a depiction of the vicious inequalities of white supremacist capitals society in the USA today).

For those interested in the trivialities of union history, "Reds in the Classroom..." will explain why the American Federation of Teachers has a Local 1 (Chicago), Local 2 (New York City), Local 3 (Philadelphia), Local 4 (Gary Indiana) and Local 6 (Washington D.C.) — but no "Local 5." Once the Red Scare had destroyed the old New York Teachers Union (both from within and from the outside), the AFT sort of "retired" the "Local 5" designation forever. If AFT were a ballfield, maybe there would be a sign on the wall showing the uniform with the "Local 5" name on it, just as the uniforms of retired numbers are on the outfield wall at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

With the current contradictions between the unions and monopoly finance capitalism increasing in intensity in the USA today (Chicago isn't the only city where the confrontations are growing) red baiting is also rearing the same old ugly head it's always had against the unions. Already in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been going around ranting and raving that the Chicago Teachers Union has been taken over by a bunch of "Trorskyists, communists and other radicals". With the power of the federal government behind him, Emanuel will undoubtedly be escalating that attack.

But the real danger, as we saw when Substance first went over this ground 40 years ago, comes not from outside attacks on the union, but from within the union movement and the union itself. And those attacks are escalating as the power of the Chicago Teachers Union becomes more pronounced after years of opportunism. It's only three years since the infamous 2008 AFT convention in Chicago. At that convention, reported in Substance, the AFT proudly proclaimed that it was supporting such "reforms" as merit pay and co-managment — both of which were the programs of the Chicago Teachers Union under then President Mairlyn Stewart. By the time of the 2010 AFT convention in Seattle, Chicago had divorced itself from the merit pay and teacher-firing-teachers scams, but the AFT was still controlled by people who thought it was a great ideal to endorse the union busting of Bill Gates rather than the militant union and working class histories of Seattle itself and the Pacific Northwest.

On May 19, 2011,, New York's Norm Scott, who edits ICE, wrote: "Finally it is out. We've been hearing about this book for years. Clarence Taylor (the author) is Art and Design High School's Chapter Leader Larry Taylor's twin brother.

The press release from Columbia University Press follows:

"Columbia University Press is pleased to announce the publication of Reds at the Blackboard: Communism, Civil Rights, and the New York City Teachers Union, by Clarence Taylor. Taylor's history of the Teachers Union provides an important historical perspective on the current state of unions and the backlash confronting public school teachers today.

"No other book to date has exposed the climate of fear and surveillance that overtook public schooling in New York City in the 1950s. This book succeeds in dramatically revising the image of the Teachers Union, a union with thousands of members and great influence in the largest city in the United States. This is an important story, and Clarence Taylor succeeds in excavating the TU from political ridicule and marginalization. A powerful and important book." — Martha Biondi, Northwestern University

The New York City Teachers Union shares a deep history with the American left, having participated in some of its most explosive battles. Clarence Taylor recounts this pivotal relationship and the backlash it created, as the union threw its support behind controversial policies and rights movements.

Reds at the Blackboard showcases the rise of a unique type of unionism that would later dominate the organizational efforts behind civil rights, academic freedom, and the empowerment of blacks and Latinos. Through its affiliation with the Communist Party, the union pioneered what would later become social movement unionism, solidifying ties with labor groups, black and Latino parents, and civil rights organizations to acquire greater school and community resources. It also militantly fought to improve working conditions for teachers while championing broader social concerns. For the first time, Taylor reveals the union's early growth and the somewhat illegal attempts by the Board of Education to eradicate the group. He describes how the infamous Red Squad and other undercover agents worked with the board to bring down the union and how the union and its opponents wrestled with charges of anti-Semitism.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Philip Leventhal

Philip Leventhal, Editor, Web Marketing Manager, Columbia University Press, 61 W. 62nd Street

New York, NY 10023, 212.459.0600 ext. 7159, pl2164@columbia.edu, http://www.cup.columbia.edu

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