Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXIV, Africa

607. Memorandum From Charles E. Johnson and Ulric Haynes of the National Security Council Staff to President Johnson¹

Washington, July 13, 1965, 9:30 a.m.

Status Report—Tracking Stations in South Africa. For his own domestic political reasons Prime Minister Verwoerd is taking a tough line toward our non-segregation policy. In a recent speech he said that South Africa would not permit US Negroes to work at US space tracking stations in his country. His statement following only weeks after South Africa’s similar ban on mixed aircrews from our carrier Independence and after repeated official criticism of the US Embassy for holding multi-racial functions.

Your accomplishments in race relations and civil rights here at home make it essential that our position on similar issues abroad be consistent with domestic policy. Failure to do so if this issue becomes widely publicized, would alienate some members of Congress, American Negroes, civil rights groups, labor, church groups and liberals in general. It would also jeopardize our continued use of important installations in the rest of Africa, and could result in some loss of Afro-Asian and Latin American support in the UN.

However, it might also force us to get out of certain US installations in South Africa. NASA, DOD and the Smithsonian have space facilities manned by 143 South African contract employees and 53 Americans. None of the Americans is Negro. Some of these facilities are required to read out “Mariner IV” pictures of Mars this month, and for the first attempts at a “Surveyor” lunar landing in the fall of 1965 and spring of 1966.

We’ve anticipated this problem, and through sensible contingency planning alternate facilities are now under construction in Madagascar, Spain and on Ascension Island. They will be fully operational by June 1966. To meet expected continuing pressure to accommodate to South American racial practices, we are (a) examining emergency measures to be taken if early evacuation becomes necessary; and (b) fixing the timing of the scheduled transfer of facilities to assure the least interference with our on-going space programs.

In the past, the US has quietly complied with South African racial practices by not spending Negros to represent us at our Embassy or other official establishments. However, we probably cannot continue to avoid the issue. Therefore, the State Department is considering issuing a statement emphasizing that (a) the tracking station agreements contain no racial clauses, (b) the South African Government has not approached us for modification of these agreements, and (c) the US cannot accept the imposition of racial conditions by the South African Government at our tracking facilities. While avoiding a confrontation, this approach puts us on record as firmly opposed to racist conditions on our activities in South Africa. It remains to be seen if the South African Government will choose to press the issue.

• Charles E. Johnson
• Ulric Haynes, Jr.

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. 12. Confidential. The source text is attached to a memorandum from Bundy to President Johnson that reads: “Mr. President: I think this memorandum, drafted by two members of my staff, is worth reading. The statement referred to in the last paragraph will not be issued except in response to questioning. For your information, Charles Johnson is a veteran NSC Staff Officer who monitors NASA and AEC. Rick Haynes is a talented young Negro Foreign Service Officer who covers Africa under Bob Komer. It was Johnson’s initiative that led to the contingency planning which had given us a prospect of alternative facilities if we run into a dead-end with the South Africans. McG. B.”