Рой Иннис: Активист и политик CORE (1934–2017)

American activist and politician (1934–2017)

Roy Emile Alfredo Innis (June 6, 1934 – January 8, 2017) was an American activist and politician. He was National Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1968 until his death. One of his sons, Niger Roy Innis, serves as National Spokesman of the Congress of Racial Equality.

Innis was born in Saint Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands in 1934. In 1947, Innis moved with his mother from the U. S. Virgin Islands to New York City, where he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1952. At age 16, Innis joined the U. S. Army, and at age 18 he received an honorable discharge. He entered a four year program in chemistry at the City College of New York. He subsequently held positions as a research chemist at Vick Chemical Company and Montefiore Hospital.

Innis joined CORE's Harlem chapter in 1963. In 1964 he was elected chairman of the chapter's education committee and advocated community controlled education and black empowerment. From 1968 to 1972, Innis co published the Manhattan Tribune newspaper with journalist and Robert Kennedy presidential campaign advisor, William Haddad. The periodical aimed to cover news concerning the Upper West Side and Harlem from both a black and white American perspective. Haddad was quoted, “Roy, for example, thinks I’m a soft, fuzzy white liberal and we disagree 80 percent of the time, but we have to live together in this little inner city, and the only solution lies in an honest and uninhibited dialogue.”

Innis was selected National Chairman of CORE in 1968 a contentious convention meeting. Innis initially headed the organization in a strong campaign of black nationalism. White CORE activists, according to James Peck, were removed from CORE in 1965, as part of a purge of whites from the movement then under the control of Innis. Under Innis' leadership, CORE supported the presidential candidacy of Richard Nixon in 1972. This was the beginning of a sharp rightward turn in the organization. During his leadership, Innis paid a visit to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson the Lubavitcher Rebbe, remarking that despite what the media says, his people sympathize with the Jewish community and that he wishes to express his condolences after the Crown Heights riots of 1991. The Rebbe pointed out the similar experiences of the African Americans and the Jews with regard to persecution, and gave his blessing that the United States should be truly united and that its entire population should have good news and healthy news. The Rebbe ended off by saying to Clarence Jackson (Innis's assistant) that his remarks are "also of your concern, to me, to you, and to all the people around us. This means that it is a united cause for all of us." The Rebbe repeated this to every member of Innis's entourage.

Innis was long active in criminal justice matters, including the debate over gun control and the Second Amendment. After losing two sons to criminals with guns, he became an advocate for the rights of law abiding citizens to self defense. A Life Member of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), Innis also chaired the NRA's Urban Affairs Committee and was a member of the NRA Ethics Committee, and continued to speak publicly in the US and around the world in favor of individual civilian ownership of firearms, gun issues, and individual rights. His eldest son, Roy Innis, Jr., was killed at the age of 13 in 1968. His next oldest son Alexander, 26, was shot and slain in 1982. Innis told Newsday in 1993 "My sons were not killed by the KKK or David Duke. They were murdered by young, black thugs. I use the murder of my sons by black hoodlums to shift the problems from excuses like the KKK to the dope pushers on the streets."

Innis was noted for two on air fights in the middle of TV talk shows in 1988. The first occurred in the midst of an argument about the Tawana Brawley case during a taping of The Morton Downey Jr. Show, when Innis shoved Al Sharpton to the floor. Also that year, Innis was in a scuffle on Geraldo with white supremacist John Metzger. The skirmish started after Metzger, son of White Aryan Resistance founder Tom Metzger, called Innis an "Uncle Tom." Innis grabbed the seated Metzger's throat, appearing to choke him. The incident started a brawl in the studio, resulting in Rivera's nose getting broken. Innis raised American volunteers to fight for UNITA, an Angolan rebel army fighting the communist government. UNITA was also supported by Uganda

In 1986, Innis challenged incumbent Major Owens in the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District, representing Brooklyn. He was defeated by a three to one margin. In the 1993, New York City Democratic Party mayoral primary, Innis challenged incumbent David Dinkins, the first African American to hold the office. Given his conservative positions on the issues, he explained that "the Democratic Party is the only game in town. It's unfortunate that we have a corrupt one party, one ideology system in New York City, and I'd like to change that. But being a Democrat doesn't mean you have to be a fool." During his own campaign, Innis also appeared at fundraising events for the Republican candidate Rudolph Giuliani. Innis received 25% of the vote in the four way race with a majority of his votes coming from multi ethnic areas, while he failed in less culturally diverse Assembly Districts. Innis lost to Dinkins, who then lost to Giuliani in the general election. In February 1994, Niger, who ran his primary campaign, suggested that Innis would also challenge incumbent governor Mario Cuomo in the Democratic primary. In 1998, Innis joined the Libertarian Party and gave serious consideration to running for Governor of New York as the party's candidate that year. He ultimately decided against running, citing time restrictions related to his duties with CORE. Innis served as New York State Chair in Alan Keyes's 2000 presidential campaign.

Innis died on January 8, 2017, at the age of 82, from Parkinson's disease.