Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line

What is the ERC?


First Published: Equal Rights Advocate, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 1976.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The Equal Rights Congress is a national umbrella of organizations that have come together to struggle for the equality of all people who have been discriminated against because of their nationality, color, religion, sex or economic status.

With the current economic crisis, unemployment among Blacks, Chicanos, and Puerto Ricans is near 40%. Among native American Indians, unemployment ranges from 41% to 62%.

Meanwhile the government is proposing cutbacks in unemployment benefits, in housing, education, welfare, health care, and food stamps. Women are forced back into their homes due to cutbacks in day care services. The outright terror of such violent gangs as the Nazi Party, the KKK. and Posse Comitatus, if not stopped, can turn this country into another Nazi Germany.

Therefore, the purpose of the Equal Rights Congress is to unite all such struggles. Such unity will draw its strength from the heroic struggles of every nationality and minority from all strata of society; from senior citizens to young Blacks; from rural farmworkers to urban tenants rights organizations.

We call on all organizations who agree with the above principles to join us. We call on all participating organizations to inform and educate their membership on the concepts and issues of the Equal Rights Congress and we encourage each organization to support the efforts of their sister organizations in their endeavor to insure a world of peace, brotherhood, and equality for all.

Member Organizations

City Heights improvement, San Diego, Cal.
Coalition of Latin Americans, New York, New York
Community Advocates Collective, Cleveland, Ohio
Concerned Citizens for Social Justice, Flint, Mich.
Delta Equal Rights Council, Mississippi
Detroit Tenants Union, Detroit, Mich.
Executive Systems, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.
Harlan Labor News, Harlan, Ky.
Hattiesburg ERC, Hattiesburg, Miss.
International Indian Treaty Council, N.Y.
La Alianza Federal de Los Mercedes, New Mexico
La Raza Law Student Association
Marcus Garvey Institute, Lansing, Mich.
Mission Childcare Consortium, San Francisco, Ca.
Northeast Tenants Union, Minneapolis, Minn.
Panamenos Unidos, N.Y.
Philadelphia Equal Rights Committee
Prince of Glory Church, Minneapolis, Minn.
Puerto Rican Childcare Consortium, N.Y.
Texas Farmworkers Union, San Juan, Texas
Tippecanoe Unemployed Council, Lafayette, Ind.
Unemployed Workers Council, Saginaw, Mich.
Voice of the Third World, N.Y.
Welfare Rights Organization, Lansing, Mich.