[Letter from Tony Huxley to Harper's magazine]

              To the Editors of Harpers Magazine: r\p.  (i^T^x3t~i
Robert Watson's piece "Media Martyrdom" is such a blatant example
of blaming the victims of violence for violence that one cannot
help but fear that 1984 is LESS than four years away.
I only pray that reasonable people will remember history and
its bloody lessons.  The tone and content of Watson's arguments
are so similar to those circulating in Germany prior to the
complete domination of the Nazis that democratic-minded people
must speak up.  After all, it was Hitler who accused the victims
of fascism of being criminals and fanatics.  It was Hitler who
ordered the Reichstag be burned to the ground so he could blame
the communists and pave the way for the suspension of democratic
rights and complete domination of fascism.
Regardless of whether one agrees with the Maoist principles of
the Communist Workers Party, the cold blooded murder of five of
their members by the KKK and Nazis must be thoroughly condemned
and investigated.  That is if one believes that justice should
prevail.
There are several points made by Watson which would lead one to
believe that perhaps the best way to seek justice in this case is
to condemn the activities of the leftists in Greensboro and sympathize with the KKK and Nazis.  For example:
1. Watson attempts to portray the Klansmen and Nazis as good old
boys who had nothing better to do the morning of November 3rd but
go to the anti-Klan rally.  He would have us believe there was
no conspiracy, just a last-minute response to a "provocation."
Yet all five of those killed were members of the CWP and in fact
held leading positions in that organization.  It appears even by
Watson's account that the klansmen took careful aim.  How did
they know who to shoot?  Was it just a coincidence that they
picked these people out of the crowd?
2. Three of those killed were also involved in union organizing
drives in North Carolina's mills.  Watson dismisses this fact by
inserting that they were unsuccessful.  North Carolina is infamous
for its anti-labor activity, and has been successful over the years
in keeping unions out of the mills.  Since Watson raised the
question of the union activity of those murdered, what are the
facts?  Obviously, the mills are still non-union, but North Carolina
is a "right-to-work" state.  Did these people have any success
whatsoever in organizing mill workers into unions? This is an
important question because historically those die-hard owners of
industry who resisted unionization have been known to go to great
lengths in order to squash organizational drives.  I do not wish
to make unfair accusations.  Yet it seems to me this is an important question that deserves investigation if justice is to be
served and if we wish to clear the air of the stench of murder.