African Activist Archive

The testimony says the Albany NAACP appreciates the opportunity to address the Assembly Standing Committee on Banks and present its concerns over the placing of public monies in banks having investments in South Africa. The testimony says the placing of public funds with banks having investments in the Republic of South Africa, which supports the racist policies and institutions of Apartheid, solidifies and reinforces the resistance of the White minority government against the demands of the world community for justice and equality for the non-white majority of that country. The testimony says divestments is an legitimate way for Americans to bring pressure to bear on an institution which is repugnant to American ideals. The testimony says other forms of pressure - from the Sullivan principles to the policy of "Constructive Engagement" - have failed to produce substantive change in the institutions of Apartheid. The testimony says the public funds now being investment in South Africa through American banks are desperately needed in the United States to renovate urban infrastructure, providing needed services and jobs for America's minority communities. The testimony says opposition to Apartheid is the formal policy of the United States since at least 1963 when the American embargo on weapons shipments to South Africa was implemented. The testimony says there was the illegal connivance of South African agents and American officials to build weapons for SA (later used in its repeated invasions of the sovereign state of Angola) right in the Watervliet Arsenal. The testimony includes an extensive quote by U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Bowdler. The testimony discusses South African blacks, housing, influx control, the police, education and homeland politics, foreign investment, Rev. Dr. Leon Howard Sullivan, the Byrd Amendment, General Motors (GM), Black unions, Minority Business Enterprises, minerals, and the Eastern Bloc.

African Activist Archive

Statement of E.J. Josey, President, Albany Branch NAACP before the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Banks

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