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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. 5, NO. 42
NOVEMBER 10-16, 1980
KLAN TRIAL CLOSING ARGUMENTS
Twisted Logic,
Demented Arguments
GREENSBORO. N.C, Oct. 31—If there had been any doubt during the Klan/Nazi trials that the only defense of the Klan/
Nazi killers was the defense of fascism itself, it was blown away by the week long closing statements-of the six man defense
team. On this, the last day of closing statements, Robert Cahoon, attorney for Nazi Roland Wood, said, "If these boys had used
machine guns on November 3 and mowed down all those people, they would have been in the right and performed their duties."
This was the summation of a solid week of vicious slander of the Communist Workers Party and patriotic jingoism as illustrated by
the waving of the Stars and Stripes topped off with the Confederate flag and the reciting of the words to the song "My Country
'Tis of Thee." The jingoism and the slander have been the two main parts of the defense arguments. The evidence of the ambush
and killings of the CWP 5 has been twisted to concoct a most fantastic tale of the events of November 3.
LONG LIVE THE
SPIRIT OF THE CWP 5
GREENSBORO, N.C, Nov. 2-The
CWP held a memorial for the CWP 5. In
defiance of the government and the police, the Revolutionary Youth League
stood at full attention throughout the 90
minute ceremony. Signe Waller, widow of
James Waller, spoke for the CWP 5 widows, (right) Lacy Russell (with shovel)
and Rand Manzella (right), two of the
Greensboro 6, placed a temporary, wooden tombstone on the graves. The City of
Greensboro had blocked a tombstone inscription from the Central Committee of
the Communist Workers Party. Although
the city backed down, the tombstone was
not ready in time for the memorial.
(Top picture, from right to left):
Joyce Johnson, wife of CWP member Nelson Johnson; Dale Sampson, widow of
Bill Sampson; Kurt Krumperman, member of the CWP, Tony To, member of the
Central Committee of the CWP. □
At the beginning of the week,Cahoon,
the white-haired jokester of the defense
team, characterized the killers as "loyal,
plain American citizens who believe in the
respect and support of the police and the
court." Then he explained why they became Nazi and Klan members. He did this
by comparing the South's defeat in the
Civil War with Germany's defeat in World
War I. "Hitler," he said, "offered simple
solutions. Germans needed a scapegoat
and they blamed the Jews. The Klan does
offer simple solutions and they have a
certain appeal-ceremony and the like.
All of us, in our churches ancTfraternal
organizations, like these rituals. The Klan
goes after the weak. But people don't
always know what is true or not. But like
Billy Carter said,'Hindsight ain't worth a
...damn.'". '- __ -,..■■■ *>-
'When Mr. Greasonriawyerfor Klansman Coleman Pridmore, addressed the
jury, he surpassed even this shameless
excuse for the Klan/Nazi assassins."Cole-
maii Pridmore became the Exhalted
Cyclops because, like in many organizations, somebody had to take the responsibility. The Klan is not the organization
you hear about in stories or see depicted
on TV. There aren't any hooded horsemen
riding around the countryside. It is basically a good organization."
Using two CWP leaflets which exposed the link between the Klan/Nazis, the
police and the government as evidence,
Cahoon opened his barrage on the CWP.
"They hate the police, the government,
the Constitution more than the Klan.
Wood and Fowler (both Nazis and two of
the killers on tria\-ed.) both have cousins
on the police force. The line was drawn.
These six defendants were smarter than I
Cahoon tried to defend capitalism
with quotes from Winston Churchill and
by skying, "Here you're not subjected to
the dictatorship of nothing. If you got
what it takes, you'll make it." While
praising the Klan/Nazis out of one side
of his mouth, he twisted the lives of
black leaders George Washington Carver
and Martin Luther King, Jr. as "not
wanting to overcome anybody." '
As if these distortions of history could
prove a point, Cahoon continued his demented arguments. "The CWP needed a
martyr. Maybe Jim Waller wasn't supposed
to be a martyr. Could it be that they
wanted to use someone else-those little
black children? They put them right in
frontMhey would have loved to have
seen ithem shot. Thank God for the
children, Waller didn't get the martyr he
wanted."
And what was D.A. Schlosser's response? He seemed to revel in it as
much as the Klan/Nazi defendants. Schlosser must be taking detailed notes on
the defense's closing arguments. It is
almost certain he will use every last
lie and slander when he prosecutes the
Continued on page 7
Object Description
| Title | Workers viewpoint [1980-11-16] |
| Date | 1980-11-16 |
| Creator | Communist Workers Party U.S.A. |
| 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. |
| Subject headings | Greensboro Massacre, Greensboro, N.C., 1979 |
| Topics | Greensboro Massacre, 1979 |
| Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
| Description | These photocopies of two pages from the November 10-16, 1979 Workers Viewpoint newspaper, a publication of the Communist Workers Party (CWP), pertain to the November 3, 1979, Greensboro Massacre where five CWP members were killed. An article on the murder trial of the six Ku Klux Klan members and Nazis accused in the shootings discusses the defense's closing arguments and "shameless excuses." Also mentioned in a separate article is a memorial for the victims held in Greensboro on November 2, 1980. |
| 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 |
| Source collection | RL.00134 Blanche M. Boyd Papers |
| Finding aid link | http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/boyd/ |
| Rights statement | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Additional rights information | IN COPYRIGHT. This item is subject to copyright. Contact the contributing institution for permission to reuse. |
| Object ID | Duke_RL.00134.1169 |
| 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/ |
| Sponsor | LSTA grant administered by the North Carolina State Library -- http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/ld/grants/lsta.html |
| OCLC number | 884367518 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | 4.66.1169-01 |
| Full text | 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. 5, NO. 42 NOVEMBER 10-16, 1980 KLAN TRIAL CLOSING ARGUMENTS Twisted Logic, Demented Arguments GREENSBORO. N.C, Oct. 31—If there had been any doubt during the Klan/Nazi trials that the only defense of the Klan/ Nazi killers was the defense of fascism itself, it was blown away by the week long closing statements-of the six man defense team. On this, the last day of closing statements, Robert Cahoon, attorney for Nazi Roland Wood, said, "If these boys had used machine guns on November 3 and mowed down all those people, they would have been in the right and performed their duties." This was the summation of a solid week of vicious slander of the Communist Workers Party and patriotic jingoism as illustrated by the waving of the Stars and Stripes topped off with the Confederate flag and the reciting of the words to the song "My Country 'Tis of Thee." The jingoism and the slander have been the two main parts of the defense arguments. The evidence of the ambush and killings of the CWP 5 has been twisted to concoct a most fantastic tale of the events of November 3. LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF THE CWP 5 GREENSBORO, N.C, Nov. 2-The CWP held a memorial for the CWP 5. In defiance of the government and the police, the Revolutionary Youth League stood at full attention throughout the 90 minute ceremony. Signe Waller, widow of James Waller, spoke for the CWP 5 widows, (right) Lacy Russell (with shovel) and Rand Manzella (right), two of the Greensboro 6, placed a temporary, wooden tombstone on the graves. The City of Greensboro had blocked a tombstone inscription from the Central Committee of the Communist Workers Party. Although the city backed down, the tombstone was not ready in time for the memorial. (Top picture, from right to left): Joyce Johnson, wife of CWP member Nelson Johnson; Dale Sampson, widow of Bill Sampson; Kurt Krumperman, member of the CWP, Tony To, member of the Central Committee of the CWP. □ At the beginning of the week,Cahoon, the white-haired jokester of the defense team, characterized the killers as "loyal, plain American citizens who believe in the respect and support of the police and the court." Then he explained why they became Nazi and Klan members. He did this by comparing the South's defeat in the Civil War with Germany's defeat in World War I. "Hitler" he said, "offered simple solutions. Germans needed a scapegoat and they blamed the Jews. The Klan does offer simple solutions and they have a certain appeal-ceremony and the like. All of us, in our churches ancTfraternal organizations, like these rituals. The Klan goes after the weak. But people don't always know what is true or not. But like Billy Carter said,'Hindsight ain't worth a ...damn.'". '- __ -,..■■■ *>- 'When Mr. Greasonriawyerfor Klansman Coleman Pridmore, addressed the jury, he surpassed even this shameless excuse for the Klan/Nazi assassins."Cole- maii Pridmore became the Exhalted Cyclops because, like in many organizations, somebody had to take the responsibility. The Klan is not the organization you hear about in stories or see depicted on TV. There aren't any hooded horsemen riding around the countryside. It is basically a good organization." Using two CWP leaflets which exposed the link between the Klan/Nazis, the police and the government as evidence, Cahoon opened his barrage on the CWP. "They hate the police, the government, the Constitution more than the Klan. Wood and Fowler (both Nazis and two of the killers on tria\-ed.) both have cousins on the police force. The line was drawn. These six defendants were smarter than I Cahoon tried to defend capitalism with quotes from Winston Churchill and by skying, "Here you're not subjected to the dictatorship of nothing. If you got what it takes, you'll make it." While praising the Klan/Nazis out of one side of his mouth, he twisted the lives of black leaders George Washington Carver and Martin Luther King, Jr. as "not wanting to overcome anybody." ' As if these distortions of history could prove a point, Cahoon continued his demented arguments. "The CWP needed a martyr. Maybe Jim Waller wasn't supposed to be a martyr. Could it be that they wanted to use someone else-those little black children? They put them right in frontMhey would have loved to have seen ithem shot. Thank God for the children, Waller didn't get the martyr he wanted." And what was D.A. Schlosser's response? He seemed to revel in it as much as the Klan/Nazi defendants. Schlosser must be taking detailed notes on the defense's closing arguments. It is almost certain he will use every last lie and slander when he prosecutes the Continued on page 7 |
