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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, Units!
POLITICAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY, U.S.A.
VOL. 5, NO. 43
NOVEMBER 17-23,1980
GREEK
:<§ ?<0
AWAITS
VERDICT
GREENSBORO, N.C.-Throughout
Greensboro, a person would be hard put
to! find anyone in the communities who
defends the Klan/Nazis murderers. One
woman said, "I can't think of anything to
do but hang them." People everywhere
are angry. IT
Two weeks ago, in Raleigh, N.C,
blacks organized a speak-out against the
recent police murders of a youth. The
city sent black cops to encircle the demonstrators. After marching, Marty Na
than, widow of Mike. Nathan, one of the
CWP 5, and Miami rebellion leader Leo
Harris spoke. The sister of the murdered
youth turned to the crowd and pointed
to the black cops all around, "Are they
our brothers?" Pointing to Marty, she
told how the CWP 5 died fighting for the
people, even though four of them were
white. "They are our brothers and sisters,
they are the ones who are on our side."
Children and older women at the demon-
BUREAU
OF
ALCOHOL
TOBACCO
AND
FIREARMS
See centerfold
stration walked over to the ring of cops
and spat in their faces.-! ~ v
CWP Uniting Blacks and Whites
In every community, our agitation
and propaganda teams are asked the same
question, "What is the CWP going to do?"
The Party has concentrated on
building unity between blacks and whites.
Since November 3rd, the capitalists and
the government have tried to divide
Greensboro. The Greensboro papers play
up the fact that the jury is all white.
Assistant District Attorney Greason covered up the fact that the Klan/Nazi killers were working with the government
by emphasizing that the murderers acted
purely out of "hatred, racism and bigotry." In the black communities, our
teams have exposed the capitalists' attempt to whip up a race war and divide
Continued on page 2
Jury Begins
In Klan/Nazi Trial
GREENSBORO, N.C.-This past
week, Judge Long presented instructions
to the jury in the Klan/Nazi trials. Six
Klan/Nazis have been on trial for the
murder of the CWP 5 in Greensboro, Nov.
3,1979.
Tiis instructions followed the closing
statements of both the prosecution and
the defense. They jury then left to decide.
Lesson in "Blind Justice"
The jury was given five possible verdicts: guilty of first degree murder as
charged, guilty of second degree murder,
guilty of voluntary manslaughter, guilty
of felony riot, or innocent. All six defendants could receive different verdicts.
Judge Long put on a show of "blind
justice" as he read instructions which
would allow as loose an interpretation of
the evidence as possible. Judge Long emphasized that the six must be "guilty beyond a doubt." He went on to instruct
the jury to see all the evidence as equal
and that the jury should give all the testimony and evidence equal weight. As an
example, he referred to the testimony
of one of the residents who had testified
to seeing the six murderers firing their
weapons and killing the five victims. But
Judge Long told the jury that they
"should assess their credibility the same
as you would any other witness."
Throughout the lecture, Judge Long
warned the jurors not to look only at the
instructions, that they were an incomplete summary of the evidence. He said,
"Because of its length, I will be unable to
review all of the evidence." But in a
highly unusual move, he gave each of
the jurors a copy of the 67 pages of
instructions to take with him.
In his presentation to the jury, Judge
Long laid out in detail the evidence that
points to self-defense. At the same time,
he left out evidence that points to first
degree murder. Judge Long said, "Some
prosecution witnesses say they saw demonstrators pull handguns. So the evidence would say the demonstrators
Continued on page 14
Object Description
| Title | Workers viewpoint [1980-11-23] |
| Date | 1980-11-23 |
| 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 eight pages from the November 17-23, 1980 Workers Viewpoint newspaper, a publication of the Communist Workers Party (CWP), pertain to the November 3, 1979, Greensboro Massacre where five CWP memebrs were killed. Articles discuss the conclusion of the murder trial of six Ku Klux Klan members and Nazis accused in the shootings. One article focuses on the beginning of jury deliberations while another discusses implications for the CWP and Greensboro. The article on the deliberations suggests the CWP and the Klan members believe that acquittal is a foregone conclusion. |
| 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.00134.1170 |
| 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 | 884367486 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | 4.66.1170-01 |
| 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, Units! POLITICAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY, U.S.A. VOL. 5, NO. 43 NOVEMBER 17-23,1980 GREEK :<§ ?<0 AWAITS VERDICT GREENSBORO, N.C.-Throughout Greensboro, a person would be hard put to! find anyone in the communities who defends the Klan/Nazis murderers. One woman said, "I can't think of anything to do but hang them." People everywhere are angry. IT Two weeks ago, in Raleigh, N.C, blacks organized a speak-out against the recent police murders of a youth. The city sent black cops to encircle the demonstrators. After marching, Marty Na than, widow of Mike. Nathan, one of the CWP 5, and Miami rebellion leader Leo Harris spoke. The sister of the murdered youth turned to the crowd and pointed to the black cops all around, "Are they our brothers?" Pointing to Marty, she told how the CWP 5 died fighting for the people, even though four of them were white. "They are our brothers and sisters, they are the ones who are on our side." Children and older women at the demon- BUREAU OF ALCOHOL TOBACCO AND FIREARMS See centerfold stration walked over to the ring of cops and spat in their faces.-! ~ v CWP Uniting Blacks and Whites In every community, our agitation and propaganda teams are asked the same question, "What is the CWP going to do?" The Party has concentrated on building unity between blacks and whites. Since November 3rd, the capitalists and the government have tried to divide Greensboro. The Greensboro papers play up the fact that the jury is all white. Assistant District Attorney Greason covered up the fact that the Klan/Nazi killers were working with the government by emphasizing that the murderers acted purely out of "hatred, racism and bigotry." In the black communities, our teams have exposed the capitalists' attempt to whip up a race war and divide Continued on page 2 Jury Begins In Klan/Nazi Trial GREENSBORO, N.C.-This past week, Judge Long presented instructions to the jury in the Klan/Nazi trials. Six Klan/Nazis have been on trial for the murder of the CWP 5 in Greensboro, Nov. 3,1979. Tiis instructions followed the closing statements of both the prosecution and the defense. They jury then left to decide. Lesson in "Blind Justice" The jury was given five possible verdicts: guilty of first degree murder as charged, guilty of second degree murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter, guilty of felony riot, or innocent. All six defendants could receive different verdicts. Judge Long put on a show of "blind justice" as he read instructions which would allow as loose an interpretation of the evidence as possible. Judge Long emphasized that the six must be "guilty beyond a doubt." He went on to instruct the jury to see all the evidence as equal and that the jury should give all the testimony and evidence equal weight. As an example, he referred to the testimony of one of the residents who had testified to seeing the six murderers firing their weapons and killing the five victims. But Judge Long told the jury that they "should assess their credibility the same as you would any other witness." Throughout the lecture, Judge Long warned the jurors not to look only at the instructions, that they were an incomplete summary of the evidence. He said, "Because of its length, I will be unable to review all of the evidence." But in a highly unusual move, he gave each of the jurors a copy of the 67 pages of instructions to take with him. In his presentation to the jury, Judge Long laid out in detail the evidence that points to self-defense. At the same time, he left out evidence that points to first degree murder. Judge Long said, "Some prosecution witnesses say they saw demonstrators pull handguns. So the evidence would say the demonstrators Continued on page 14 |
