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Title |
[Indict the U.S. Government's Upside Down Justice / Free the Greensboro Six] |
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Date |
1980-05-03 |
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Creator |
Communist Workers Party U.S.A. |
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Contributors |
Yuen, Marion |
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Biographical/historical note |
The Communist Workers Party (CWP) was a Maoist group in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the Workers' Viewpoint Organization. The party is mainly remembered for the "Greensboro Massacre", a November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march that left five of the CWP protesters dead.
The CWP emphasized unionization and self-determination for African-Americans and enjoyed some success in textile cities of North Carolina. The party established branches in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Greensboro, West Virginia, Colorado and other locations. Prior to its reorganization as a political party, the group had been known as the Workers Viewpoint Organization. Under this umbrella, it directed groups as the Revolutionary Youth League, the African Liberation Support Committee, and the Trade Union Education League.
Confrontations with the Klan were particularly acute in Greensboro, where the Klan attempted to disrupt the work of the CWP and vice versa. In July, 1979, the Klan held a rally and viewing of The Birth of a Nation in China Grove, N.C., which was disrupted by CWP members who burned a Confederate flag and taunted members of the KKK. There were also challenges in the press. These provocations were a precursor to the November 3, 1979. "Death to the Klan!" rally organized by the CWP. Members of the Klan were armed, as were some members of the CWP. Two members of the CWP and three rally participants were killed in the assault by the KKK. This was the incident that became known as the "Greensboro Massacre". In response to the acquittal of the accused killers, the CWP attempted to storm the 1980 Democratic National Convention and succeeded in setting off firecrackers in Madison Square Garden.
Subsequent to the Greensboro massacre, the group moved towards a social democratic formation that would work for peaceful transition to socialism; it dissolved the Communist Workers Party and formed the New Democratic Movement in 1985. The New Democratic Movement lasted but a few years. The Greensboro Justice Fund is a still extant remnant of this movement. |
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Subject headings |
Greensboro Massacre, Greensboro, N.C., 1979 |
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Topics |
Greensboro Massacre, 1979 |
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Place |
Greensboro (N.C.) |
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Description |
This May 3, 1980 press release, issued by the Communist Workers Party (CWP), announces the release on bail of three of the six CWP members indicted on rioting charges stemming from the November 3, 1979, Death to the Klan march (also known as the Greensboro Massacre). The CWP accuses the government of blaming the victims of the shooting, and of a cover-up to hide its role in the murders. The CWP demands that charges be dropped, that thirty-five Ku Klux Klan and Nazi party members be prosecuted for their roles in the murders, and that all law enforcement documents related to the event be made public. The press release also contains an announcement that the CWP would begin the process of a civil rights suit to be filed against the federal, state, and city governments over the shootings. |
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Type |
text |
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Original format |
reports |
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Original dimensions |
8.5" x 11" |
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Original publisher |
Greensboro, N.C. : Communist Workers Party U.S.A. |
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Language |
en |
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Contributing institution |
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University |
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Source collection |
RL.00134 Blanche M. Boyd Papers |
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Finding aid link |
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/boyd/ |
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Rights statement |
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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Additional rights information |
IN COPYRIGHT. This item is subject to copyright. Contact the contributing institution for permission to reuse. |
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Object ID |
Duke_RL.00134.1202 |
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Digital publisher |
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/ |
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Sponsor |
LSTA grant administered by the North Carolina State Library -- http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/grants/lsta.html |
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Full text |
COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY
GPO BOX 2256
NEW YORK, NY 10001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Marion Yuen
May 3, 1980 212-233-0988
INDICT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S UPSIDE DOWN JUSTICE /
FREE THE GREENSBORO SIX
Today Nelson Johnson, leading member of the Communist Workers
Party in North Carolina and Rand Manzella, a CWP supporter, were
released from jail in time to speak at a rally demanding freedom for
the GREENSBORO SIX, in Greensboro, NC. Property bonds of $15,000
each had to be put up for their release.
The GREENSBORO SIX are 6 anti-klan demonstrators indicted
yesterday for felony, inciting to riot. They were present at the
November 3 anti-klan rally in Greensboro where Klan/Nazi gunmen \ shot
and killed 5 members of the Communist Workers Party.
Five of the GREENSBORO SIX were arrested yesterday in full
sight of TV cameras. Raising their clenched fists, they chanted, .<;.
"Cops and the Klan are the same. They shoot us down and give us
the blame." Three of the GREENSBORO SIX remain in jail, waiting to
be bailed out.
The bail of $15,000 each for the GREENSBORO SIX must be compared
to the low bail of $4,000 set for some of the Klan/Nazi assassins
charged with murdering the 5 members of the Communist Workers Party.
Clearly yesterday's felony indictments are another attempt by the
U.S. government to impose upside down justice and blame the victims
for the government's crimes.
In related developments, the CWP announced the filing of a
claim against the city of Greensboro, for damages resulting from the
murders of its five members last November 3. This legal action is
the first part of a civil rights suit to be filed against the
federal, state and city governments,charging them with planning and
directing the assassinations of the Communist Workers Party Five. |
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OCLC number |
884367490 |
Civil Rights Greensboro
