4.66.1195-01 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 5 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
Full Size
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
Loading content ...
COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY
P.O. Box 6874
Greensboro, North Carolina 27405
February 26, 1980
STATEMENT TO THE NORTH CAROLINA ADVISORY COMMISSION ON CIVIL
RIGHTS
These hearings today are being conducted in a growing atmosphere
of racial tension and anti-communist hysteria. In the last several days, the
shock troops for capitalism, have stepped up their work to cultivate this atmosphere. We view this as an attempt to cover up the criminally calculated
acts Of daylight murder perpetuated against members of our party and affecting
all justice-loving people. Moreover, it is part of the general thrust to divert
attention from the real source of the economic hardships that people are forced
to endure on a day to day basis.
On November 3rd, 1979, Dr. Jim Waller, William Sampson, Sandra
Smith, Cesar Cauce and Dr. Michael Nathan were murdered in the Morningside
Community. Nine other people, including myself, were wounded while preparing
to participate in an anti-Klan march and conference. The entire community was
terrorized. This vicious act of cowardly, organized murder cannot be understood if we see this as merely an outgrowth of anti-Klan and anti-Nazi work.
These acts cannot be understood if we see it as a shoot-out. In fact, the all-out
attempt to portray the November 3rd assassinations as a shoot-out between
similarly deranged extremist fringe groups is not only totally false, it is part
of the conscious political and legal cover-up.
November 3rd can only be properly understood if it is viewed in the
context of the ongoing day to day work that the Communist Workers Party has
been carrying out for several years. The November 3rd massacre is an extension
of the bitter opposition that our party has received from Cone Mills, the police
and the F.B.I, openly and secretly for the last several years. The November 3rd
mu rders differ from the ongoing harrassment our party has been receiving in two
significant ways: it differs firstly in the degree and blatant character of these
murderous acts and secondly it differs in the use of the historically F.B.I. -
infiltrated Klan and Nazis to carry out these acts.
Who were these five people? What work were they doing on a day to day
basis? What type of organization is the Communist Workers Party and whose
interest does it represent? These are the questions which must be considered in
order to put the November 3rd massacre in context.
Dr. Jim Waller gave up a successful medical practice to more actively
take up the cause of exploited and oppressed people. Jim became a textile mill
worker. He was employed for several years at Cone Mills Granite Finishing Plant.
There he worked tirelessly in the interests of the workers. He filed many
grievances and led job actions against unsafe working conditions and for better
wages. In the course of his work, Jim was able to cut through racist attitudes
and unite black and white workers. Under his leadership, the union membership
at Granite was built from 15 members to 200 members. After a bitter strike in
the summer of 1978, Jim was overwhelmingly elected president of his union local.
Object Description
| Title | Statement to the North Carolina Advisory Commission on Civil Rights |
| Date | 1980-02-26 |
| 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 | This February 26, 1980 statement by the Communist Workers Party (CWP) to the North Carolina Advisory Committee on Civil Rights, frames the November 3, 1979, Greensboro Massacre, in terms of civil rights. The statement outlines the work of the CWP and provides biographical background on the five CWP members who were killed. The statement asserts that racial divisions are promoted to distract workers from the economical issues raised by a capitalist system, and that the government is complicit in this process. The statement includes anecdotes gleaned from police reports and other sources alleging mishandling of the situation by the Greensboro police as well as possible collaboration between law enforcement and the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi party members. The CWP requests that all FBI and other law enforcement files on the incident be made available immediately. |
| Type | text |
| Original format | reports |
| Original dimensions | 8.5" x 14" |
| 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.00134.1195 |
| 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 | 884367724 |
Page/Item Description
| Title | 4.66.1195-01 |
| Full text | COMMUNIST WORKERS PARTY P.O. Box 6874 Greensboro, North Carolina 27405 February 26, 1980 STATEMENT TO THE NORTH CAROLINA ADVISORY COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS These hearings today are being conducted in a growing atmosphere of racial tension and anti-communist hysteria. In the last several days, the shock troops for capitalism, have stepped up their work to cultivate this atmosphere. We view this as an attempt to cover up the criminally calculated acts Of daylight murder perpetuated against members of our party and affecting all justice-loving people. Moreover, it is part of the general thrust to divert attention from the real source of the economic hardships that people are forced to endure on a day to day basis. On November 3rd, 1979, Dr. Jim Waller, William Sampson, Sandra Smith, Cesar Cauce and Dr. Michael Nathan were murdered in the Morningside Community. Nine other people, including myself, were wounded while preparing to participate in an anti-Klan march and conference. The entire community was terrorized. This vicious act of cowardly, organized murder cannot be understood if we see this as merely an outgrowth of anti-Klan and anti-Nazi work. These acts cannot be understood if we see it as a shoot-out. In fact, the all-out attempt to portray the November 3rd assassinations as a shoot-out between similarly deranged extremist fringe groups is not only totally false, it is part of the conscious political and legal cover-up. November 3rd can only be properly understood if it is viewed in the context of the ongoing day to day work that the Communist Workers Party has been carrying out for several years. The November 3rd massacre is an extension of the bitter opposition that our party has received from Cone Mills, the police and the F.B.I, openly and secretly for the last several years. The November 3rd mu rders differ from the ongoing harrassment our party has been receiving in two significant ways: it differs firstly in the degree and blatant character of these murderous acts and secondly it differs in the use of the historically F.B.I. - infiltrated Klan and Nazis to carry out these acts. Who were these five people? What work were they doing on a day to day basis? What type of organization is the Communist Workers Party and whose interest does it represent? These are the questions which must be considered in order to put the November 3rd massacre in context. Dr. Jim Waller gave up a successful medical practice to more actively take up the cause of exploited and oppressed people. Jim became a textile mill worker. He was employed for several years at Cone Mills Granite Finishing Plant. There he worked tirelessly in the interests of the workers. He filed many grievances and led job actions against unsafe working conditions and for better wages. In the course of his work, Jim was able to cut through racist attitudes and unite black and white workers. Under his leadership, the union membership at Granite was built from 15 members to 200 members. After a bitter strike in the summer of 1978, Jim was overwhelmingly elected president of his union local. |
