First Published: The Call, Vol. 5, No. 5, May 31, 1976.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Marxist-Leninists committed to the goal of forging a single, unified communist party in the U.S. will hold a unity meeting soon based on the “Call to Unite” published by the October League last November.
This meeting reflects the rising unity trend of the Marxist-Leninist groups and is a blow to revisionists and opportunists of all stripes who have been feverishly trying to wreck this unity. Statements by several of the groups participating in this meeting have already been published in The Call; another one is published this week on page 7, and more will be published in the coming weeks.
The unity of these Marxist-Leninist organizations and individuals is not built on the basis of enthusiasm alone, nor is it built on general or vague principles. It is unity that is being built on the basis of Marxism-Leninism-Mao-Tsetung Thought and will be forged through struggle for correct general and particular political line culminating in a party program. This is the only kind of unity which can hold firm in the difficult times ahead.
The May meeting, while highly significant, is only the beginning of a long difficult process leading to a unified leadership in a single party. To succeed, the unity meeting must do battle with the long-ingrained small-circle mentality which calls for the continuation of many small groups, operating often in isolation from one another.
Through several years of common struggle and study combined with a relentless fight against modern revisionism and opportunism of all kinds, these groups of communists have developed a common basis for unity. The next few months will produce a draft program and organizational rules which can be adopted at the first Party Congress, to be convened later this year.
There are still some honest Marxist-Leninists who are not yet willing to take part in these unity efforts. Hopefully, they will be won over in the course of the struggle. The door is open for them. But there are also opportunists who have attacked our efforts from both the “left” and the right and have declared themselves sworn enemies of the party-building efforts. But even within these opportunist groups, the rank and file and even some among the leadership have begun to express their desire to forge unity with the other Marxist-Leninists. This is at the root of the great turmoil which can be seen both within the ranks of the “left” opportunist “Revolutionary Wing” and the circles around the right opportunist Guardian.
With all their anti-party articles (which now occupy a good three-fourths of their newspaper space) the opportunist anti-party forces are small and isolated and exert little, if any, influence among the masses. ahead and must be directed against the revisionist Communist Party, which is the main enemy within the ranks of the working class movement.
The unity meeting is a firm step in the correct direction. It shows the great advances that have been made in the young communist movement in the past few years. It is a meeting which should serve as a clarion call to all communists to unite in the struggle to build the party.
Marxist-Leninists Unite to Build the Party!