Politics

Photo Exclusive: When George Romney Met Saul Alinsky

In the wake of the devastating Detroit riots of the summer of 1967, Michigan Gov. George Romney — a liberal Republican — met the radical organizer Saul Alinsky to discuss the grievances of the urban black poor. Now Romney's son is fighting for the Republican nomination, and his main rival, Newt Gingrich, has made Barack Obama's alleged ties to Alinsky a centerpiece of his campaign.

"I think you ought to listen to Alinsky," Romney told his white allies, according to T. George Harris's 1968 book, "Romney's Way."

"It seems to me that we are always talking to the same people. Maybe the time has come to hear new voices," he said.

The Library of Congress preserved these photographs of what appears to be a meeting between the two men on September 13, 1967, in Rochester, New York.

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  • I was twelve years old, but I remember the general panic when Alinsky came to Rochester. The panic was justified - he and FIGHT made life hell for KODAK and other powers in Rochester. So much hell that they began to make some needed changes.

    stephend16
    4 weeks ago
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