This is the second major publication of the Bay Area Communist Union. It represents the political unity of our organization. It also represents a re-evaluation of our previous thinking, i.e., the line expressed in our first publication A Beginning Analysis. .., February, 1976. Originally, we had planned to produce a more complete statement of unity and address a wider range of issues. However, in the preparatory stages of that task, important political differences emerged among us and a concentration on the following topics became necessary. The nature of these differences, and an explanation of the internal struggle that ensued, can be found in the ”Political Report” in this pamphlet. That report is important because it explains how and why we have changed some of our thinking, including our thinking on the main danger confronting the communist movement today.
As is explained in the “Political Report”, a small group of comrades have recently quit BACU. Numerically, they did not amount to many, but they were leading members of BACU, and therefore their departure from our organization is significant. They hold major disagreements with all of the resolutions that follow. They continue to uphold the incorrect aspects of BACU’s old line, particularly on the nature of the main danger. They quit BACU because their views were rejected. They expected, and correctly so, that the resolutions in this pamphlet were going to be overwhelmingly endorsed by the Fourth General Meeting of BACU. The resolutions of our Fourth General Meeting contained in this pamphlet represent our organization’s victory over the line of those who quit.
The following resolutions are in many ways only basic views and still require more fleshing out. However, they are essentially correct, and serve as a firm foundation for the development of our organization and the strengthening of Marxist-Leninist unity in this country. The resolution on Party Building explains BACU’s view of the current state of the U.S. Marxist-Leninist movement and evaluates the more important currents within it. It also explains BACU’s position within the movement and our desire to achieve greater unity with others.
The other resolutions: “The Black National Question”, “On Communist Work in the Trade Unions”, “The International Situation”, and “On the Restoration of Capitalism in the Soviet Union”, explain our Marxist-Leninist view on these important questions. Some of these resolutions take positions that are not taken by any other organization at this time. However, on a number of important points we have much unity with certain other organizations. We hope that comrades in our movement will study these resolutions, send us their comments and criticisms, and struggle with us for a correct understanding of these and all other issues. We believe that all U.S. Marxist-Leninists should unite on the basis of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, learn to correctly and creatively apply this theory to the concrete conditions of class struggle in U.S. society, and unite with the broad masses of the American people.
We submit the following resolutions as our contribution to the advance and unity of the entire Marxist-Leninist movement. These resolutions were adopted at our Fourth General Meeting, held in the beginning of July, 1977, and have since been revised by our Central Committee in accordance with decisions of that meeting.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all persons not in BACU who helped in the production of this pamphlet. To them we are much indebted. Also, we would like to apologize to all individuals and collectives around the country, with whom we have been corresponding, for the interruption in correspondence caused by the internal struggle in BACU. Our correspondence secretary is no longer with BACU, and we have had to iron out a few mechanical problems. We will be resuming our correspondence soon. Any persons or organizations wishing to contact our organization should write to our P.O. box. We are eager to extend our contacts and working relations.
In struggle guided by Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought,
The Bay Area Communist Union