This is about the third time that I’ve tried to grapple with this entire question of the “state of the movement” in our staff retreats, the question of where we are and where do we go from here. I assure you it isn’t easy to have a new perspective each time on this same old question, but I’ve made an attempt to restate it in my discussion prepared for this evening. I hope as a result of our discussions, together we will be able to find new guidelines and “a new sense of direction.”

In the recent past our struggle…

We have to look at political parties differently than we look at other institutions, like segregated schools and lunch counters, because a political party is not only the product of social relations, but an instrument of change as well. It is the Dixiecrats and the other reactionaries who want to paralyze the Democratic Party in order to maintain the status quo.

If we only protest for concessions from without, then that party treats us in the same way as any of the other conflicting pressure groups. This means it offers us the most minimum concessions for votes. …