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The National Black Political Convention issues a 58-page “Black Agenda.” Parts of the report are criticized by Black organizations and individuals.
1972 (May 19)
The National Black Political Convention issued a 58-page “Black Agenda” that had been adopted at its founding meeting in March in Gary, Indiana. Although a special committee had modified provisions on school busing and on Black attitudes toward Israel, these statements continued to arouse opposition. Partly because of these provisions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as other Black organizations and individuals, criticized the part of the report that called for the dismantling of Israel and condemned that nation's expansionist policy. The school provision that provoked controversy called busing racist and suicidal. The Israeli statement embraced the condemnations of Israel contained in numerous resolutions of the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, while the school provision criticized the Nixon administration's busing policies and demanded that Blacks retain control of any busing program. Despite the modifications, however, the NAACP announced its continued opposition and withdrawal on May 16. NAACP Assistant Executive Director John A. Morsell called the Israeli and busing statements “particularly outrageous.”
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.