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COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY
P. 0. Box 20^
Greensboro, N* 0* 27^20
December 23. 1979
Dear Friend t
The reality of November 3 Is etlll reverberating throughout the Greensboro eoa-
munlty, the state and the country* The brutal daylight asaassination of five members.
of our Party while preparing for a march against the Klan is. unprecendeted in the
history of this country* In the wake of the avalaneh of. anti-communist hysteria sii:-
November 3, many honest people have lost sight of the basic facta surrounding the
November 3 murders. That is why the Communist Workers Party (CWP) is communicating
with you directly. We want to raise and discuss some critical questions with you.
We will start with several basic points which wo should not forgetJ
A. While we were preparing for a legally called march (exeroising our constitutlontl
rights, we were attacked without warning by the Klan and Nazis. Five people
were selectively murdered. JDfe was not a shoot ootl
B. The attack on ua by the Klan and Nazis was a surprise which we were neither
expecting nor prepared to deal with. Host of us had our fsallies present,
including children. It waa not a ahoot out!
C*. .The Greensboro police department did not fixe a aingle shot to defend us as we
were murdered* This occurred despite the fact that the police department knew
In advance that the Klan and Nazis were armed and planned to be at our march.
It was not a ahoot out!
We are asking you to ponder these po nts deeply* We want you to atop thinking
in terms of labels and ideologies, Try to stop thinking of the half truths and
speculations so that the issue of what happened can be more deeply understood.
You probably did not know Jim, Bill, Sandy. Cesser or Mike. These five people
were murdered. They were not plastic faceless reflections of ideology* They were
fine, dedicated, hardworking selfless people. All of them had their families and
f loved ones just as you do. Far from the impression of the press that these comrades.
ijwere a "little off," all of them had a comprehensive understanding of the social
forces which underlie the current crisis In this country* They understood deeply
-; the forces giving rise to the Klan. and Nazis and the interests which these racist
groups aerved. Moat importantly, all of them had the courage to act on their con-
Yiotiona. That's why we were all in Ilornlngside on November 3rd*
I know that what I have just described is not the picture that you have been
getting from the media* The basic facta of what happened are being lost in e growing
< hysterical atmosphere. In fact* things are being turned upside down. Our Party
is actually being seen by some people as the cause of the assassinations. Coverage
Jhv the proas* particularly the Greensboro press, has been scandalous* If you go
back through the dally coverage you can see the pattern of escalating hysteria daily.
It eventually reached a point where the Greensboro Record permitted a story essentially saying that we planned the murder of our beloved Party members in order to
have myrters because our work was not going well J You really have to step back
and think hard in order to appreciate how deep that charge is* Frankly, the massive
attack on the CMP, the work it has been doing and our members, both dead and alive,
Is unequalled In recent times.
Object Description
| Title | [Letter from Communist Workers Party] |
| Date | 1979-12-23 |
| Creator | Communist Workers Party U.S.A. |
| Contributors | Johnson, Nelson N. |
| 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 | Ku Klux Klan (1915- );Greensboro Massacre, Greensboro, N.C., 1979;North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University |
| Topics | Greensboro Massacre, 1979;Ku Klux Klan;North Carolina A and T College and State University |
| Place | Greensboro (N.C.) |
| Description | This December 23, 1979 mimeographed letter from the Communist Workers Party (CWP) to its supporters and contacts discusses the November 3, 1979 Death to the Klan march where five protestors were killed, and its after effects, including job firings of CWP supporters. The letter criticizes "well intentioned" clergy members and others who have decried the violence without examination of the source, and suggests that community organizations must work together for justice. Nelson Johnson, author of the letter and CWP spokesperson, offers to meet with groups publicly or privately to discuss the issue. |
| Type | text |
| Original format | correspondence |
| Original dimensions | 8.5" x 11" |
| Original publisher | [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified] |
| 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.00134.1191 |
| 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 | 884367690 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY P. 0. Box 20^ Greensboro, N* 0* 27^20 December 23. 1979 Dear Friend t The reality of November 3 Is etlll reverberating throughout the Greensboro eoa- munlty, the state and the country* The brutal daylight asaassination of five members. of our Party while preparing for a march against the Klan is. unprecendeted in the history of this country* In the wake of the avalaneh of. anti-communist hysteria sii:- November 3, many honest people have lost sight of the basic facta surrounding the November 3 murders. That is why the Communist Workers Party (CWP) is communicating with you directly. We want to raise and discuss some critical questions with you. We will start with several basic points which wo should not forgetJ A. While we were preparing for a legally called march (exeroising our constitutlontl rights, we were attacked without warning by the Klan and Nazis. Five people were selectively murdered. JDfe was not a shoot ootl B. The attack on ua by the Klan and Nazis was a surprise which we were neither expecting nor prepared to deal with. Host of us had our fsallies present, including children. It waa not a ahoot out! C*. .The Greensboro police department did not fixe a aingle shot to defend us as we were murdered* This occurred despite the fact that the police department knew In advance that the Klan and Nazis were armed and planned to be at our march. It was not a ahoot out! We are asking you to ponder these po nts deeply* We want you to atop thinking in terms of labels and ideologies, Try to stop thinking of the half truths and speculations so that the issue of what happened can be more deeply understood. You probably did not know Jim, Bill, Sandy. Cesser or Mike. These five people were murdered. They were not plastic faceless reflections of ideology* They were fine, dedicated, hardworking selfless people. All of them had their families and f loved ones just as you do. Far from the impression of the press that these comrades. ijwere a "little off" all of them had a comprehensive understanding of the social forces which underlie the current crisis In this country* They understood deeply -; the forces giving rise to the Klan. and Nazis and the interests which these racist groups aerved. Moat importantly, all of them had the courage to act on their con- Yiotiona. That's why we were all in Ilornlngside on November 3rd* I know that what I have just described is not the picture that you have been getting from the media* The basic facta of what happened are being lost in e growing < hysterical atmosphere. In fact* things are being turned upside down. Our Party is actually being seen by some people as the cause of the assassinations. Coverage Jhv the proas* particularly the Greensboro press, has been scandalous* If you go back through the dally coverage you can see the pattern of escalating hysteria daily. It eventually reached a point where the Greensboro Record permitted a story essentially saying that we planned the murder of our beloved Party members in order to have myrters because our work was not going well J You really have to step back and think hard in order to appreciate how deep that charge is* Frankly, the massive attack on the CMP, the work it has been doing and our members, both dead and alive, Is unequalled In recent times. |
