COFO Workers Help to Organize Miss. Freedom Democratic Party

Much of the effort of the COFO Mississippi Summer Project has been focussed in recent weeks on aiding the attempt of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to unseat the regular Democratic state delegation to the Atlantic City convention.

In addition to their voter registration drive, COFO workers have helped recruit large numbers of Mississippi Negroes for the MFDP. In Jackson alone, 34,000 persons have joined the party--though the majority of them are not registered to vote.

COFO workers have assisted in organizing county MFDP conventions thoughout the state. Last Thursday the state convention met and selected the Atlantic City delegation.

One week from today the convention Credentials Committee will convene in Washington. The MFDP supporters will attempt to get it seated by using two lines of attack. They will claim, first, that the Mississippi Democratic Party was discriminatory in its selection of delegates. And, second, they will point out all delegates to the convention are pledged to uphold the ideals of the Party; many Mississippi delegates are known Goldwater supporters.

One of the ironic effects of the MFDP's crusade has been to squeeze President Johnson in a tight political vise.

If the MFDP is not seated, Johnson probably will not feel the effects of a Negro backlash at the polls in November, since Goldwater's nomination did not leave them with much choice in the election. But Robert Moses, head of the Mississippi Summer Project, indicated privately last week two possible consequences of Presidential opposition to the MFDP:

* Negroes may become dissatisfied with the regular Democratic Party, and make this dissatisfaction felt--by forming their own party.

* Johnson could be faced with widespread riots and demonstrations in the North; there are, reportedly, plans to publicize the MFDP campaign for recognition in Harlem and other Northern cities.

If, on the other hand, the MFDP delegation is seated in Atlantic City, it will be a slap at the majority of Democrats in the Magnolia State and throughout the South. Johnson knows that his political support below the Mason-Dixon line is tottering. Supporting the MFDP won't endear him to many white Southerners, and the obvious compromise--seating both delegations--would not appease them, and would in fact, be a major victory for Negroes and civil rights workers in Mississippi.