WORKERS-
VIEWPOINT
End the Criminal Rule
of the U.S. Monopoly Capitalist Class,
Fight For Socialism!
The Proletariat and,Oppressed People
and Nations of the World, Unite!
POLITICAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY, U.S.A.
VOL. 4, NO. 19
NOVEMBER 12,1979
They Defied Automatic Weapons with Bare Fists and Sticks
LONG LIVE THE
INVINCIBLE
COMMUNIST SPIRIT
OF THE COMMUNIST
WORKERS PARTY5!
,
COMRADE CESAR CAUCE
COMRADE MIKE NATHANS
.\ . rafter
COMRADE BILL SAMPSON
COMRADE JIM WALLER, CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBER, CWP
NATIONAL PRESIDENT, TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE
GREENSBORO, N.C.-"Long Live the CWP!", Signe Waller
shouted as she crouched over the body cj her husband, defying
a hail of bullets. Comrade Jim Waller, Co -"aist Workers Party
(CWP) Central Committee member anr* ** !4*»* ~r "
Trade Union Educational Leagup„_
professional assassins as they b^''
ber 3 anti-Klan demonstratir
COMRADE SANDY SMITH
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.
Subject headings
Greensboro Massacre, Greensboro, N.C., 1979
Topics
Greensboro Massacre, 1979
Place
Greensboro (N.C.)
Description
This photocopy of the November 12, 1979 Workers Viewpoint newspaper, a publication of the Communist Workers Party (CWP), includes articles that report on the shooting deaths of five CWP members at a November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march in Greensboro. One article alleges a conspiracy between the Ku Klux Klan and the United States Government, while others include a profile of the victims, a call to action, and a criticism of the White House response to the shootings.
Type
text
Original format
periodicals
Original dimensions
11" x 17"
Original publisher
Greensboro, N.C. : Communist Workers Party U.S.A.
Language
en
Contributing institution
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University
WORKERS-
VIEWPOINT
End the Criminal Rule
of the U.S. Monopoly Capitalist Class,
Fight For Socialism!
The Proletariat and,Oppressed People
and Nations of the World, Unite!
POLITICAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY, U.S.A.
VOL. 4, NO. 19
NOVEMBER 12,1979
They Defied Automatic Weapons with Bare Fists and Sticks
LONG LIVE THE
INVINCIBLE
COMMUNIST SPIRIT
OF THE COMMUNIST
WORKERS PARTY5!
,
COMRADE CESAR CAUCE
COMRADE MIKE NATHANS
.\ . rafter
COMRADE BILL SAMPSON
COMRADE JIM WALLER, CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBER, CWP
NATIONAL PRESIDENT, TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE
GREENSBORO, N.C.-"Long Live the CWP!", Signe Waller
shouted as she crouched over the body cj her husband, defying
a hail of bullets. Comrade Jim Waller, Co -"aist Workers Party
(CWP) Central Committee member anr* ** !4*»* ~r "
Trade Union Educational Leagup„_
professional assassins as they b^''
ber 3 anti-Klan demonstratir
COMRADE SANDY SMITH
