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were involved with them, their right to a fair trial, that kind of thing. Sometimes we were far ahead of the Blacks in it.

Did the union have official positions in support of the Panthers and Angela Davis?

Not in support of the Panthers.

In support of their legal rights.

In support of their legal rights. Now, on Angela Davis, we made a very specific point. In both cases we said, “We do not share their views, but we believe in their right,” that kind of thing. Then on Angela Davis, I did something. I got a call from Bettina Aptheker, saying that they needed help, could we do something to help on it. She had also called Stanley Levison, and Stanley and I met and we talked about what could we do. We decided that I would talk to Ossie and Gloria Steinem. The simple thing that we would do is we would do a direct mail thing, sign a letter that Stanley would draft, a broadly based letter, signed by the four of us, with a return. We raised close to 50,000 bucks. In the Angela Davis book, it says it was the largest single contribution they got. So that was one thing, and the members knew we were doing it. But then, we had a cultural event at the union for the Angela Davis Legal Defense Fund.

And there was never a backlash from the white workers?

There was never--there must have been some mutterings about it, but, you see, the thing is this, that the union was delivering, in those days, delivering lots of goodies to whites and blacks. What bounced against us is out of town, the managements, particularly where we were trying to organize whites, were putting on the clippings from our paper, from the magazine: “This is what the union is for.”

The Angela Davis thing.

Angela Davis. That kind of thing, of course it was harmful, to a degree, but generally speaking, I remember we had a big event at the union, where we had a lot of big name talent there. So I don't think that this is the beginning of the division that later takes place in the union.

You don't think there were black workers thinking to themselves, “What are we doing with these honkies running our union?”

There may have been some. I think that at this time and for a long, long time thereafter, Davis was regarded almost as a black man