This article is Part I of a four-part series on the Scottsboro Boys. Parts I and II coincide with the 160th celebration of Juneteenth—the day enslaved Black workers in Texas finally learned they were “free”, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. The racist travesty of the Scottsboro case is part of a long, unbroken chain of racist violence, forged during the transatlantic chattel slave trade, and is inseparable from the capitalist system itself.

Parts III and IV will help us get ready for our annual summer project. This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Boston’s 1975 Summer Project. That summer, the communist Progressive Labor Party (PLP) played a pivotal role in the struggle against local Nazis and their racist political allies from attacking young Black youth who were being bussed in effort to desegregate, all-white schools in Boston. The movement mobilized working-class youth and community members in an unforgettable, militant struggle against gutter racist capitalism and state-sanctioned violence.

In 1931, during the Great Depression, nine young Black men were falsely accused of raping two white women on a freight train in Alabama.  The two poor white women were pressured into lying against the Black youths by the local racist bosses and their cops. One of these women later recanted and actually joined the Communist Party and the struggle against racism. The youth, ages 13 to 19, were riding the rails looking for work.They were quickly convicted by an all-white jury. Eight were sentenced to death— another cruel episode in a long history of lynchings and frame-ups. However, the U.S. Communist Party (CP) initiated and led a world-wide struggle involving millions of people fighting to prevent their execution and to free the “Scottsboro boys.”

NAACP ramps up anti-communism

The parents of the nine jailed youths appreciated the way Party members treated them with respect and equality, in contrast to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which tried to take over the case and called the parents “ignorant” when they rejected their anti-communist pleas. The parents spoke at dozens of CP-organized rallies in a worldwide campaign to win freedom for their children.

At the exact same time that these Black youth were being railroaded, an intense internal discussion was taking place within the Communist Party of the United States. The goal of that struggle was to unify Party members to make fighting racism a mass issue, and to lead multiracial class battles to counter its use by the bosses to divide the working class. The communists knew, in the wake of the worldwide economic depression, that unity of Black and white workers was critical to any revolutionary movement to overthrow capitalism, the source of mass economic misery for all workers.

CPUSA hits back against gutter racism 

The reds also knew that, historically, the use of racism, both before and after slavery, had always been the key to the existence of extremely low living standards for white workers and unlivable standards for Black workers. A week after CP organizers in the South learned of the Scottsboro arrests, the CP newspaper, the Daily Worker, editorialized that the frame-up was “part of a campaign of terror against the Negro workers and impoverished farmers and sharecroppers of the South, to ‘teach the n——- his place,’ lest he join with his natural comrades, the white workers and poor farmers of America in their struggle against starvation and boss rule.”

To its credit, the CP did use the case to expose the system of racist oppression in both the South and the North, including the racist “justice” system. It also used the case to advance Black-white unity in the fight against a capitalist system that had thrown millions onto the unemployment lines and into dire poverty. The CP pointed out that capitalism had created and benefited from the racist hell suffered by millions of Black workers and that the fight to free the Scottsboro boys was just one battle in the war to end capitalism and build a society without racism.

The CP explained to white workers that class solidarity was necessary to fight capitalist exploitation, and that the first step in forging this solidarity was to fight against the special oppression of Black workers. Every Party member was responsible for raising the Scottsboro case in whatever union, neighborhood group, or unemployed council he or she belonged to. 

Hundreds of these organizations passed resolutions and donated money in support of the struggle. The CP’s focus on the case was highlighted during a confrontation between a CP-led Unemployed Council and a Bronx, NY property owner who exclaimed, “I’ll fix the plumbing and paint the halls, but I can’t free the Scottsboro boys!”

The odds against stopping the legalized murders and freeing the nine youth were enormous. Almost every Southern newspaper in the region had joined in the effort to condemn the Scottsboro defendants before they were put on trial. An example of the “objectivity” of racism is the following description of the “crime”: “the most atrocious ever recorded in this part of the country, a wholesale debauching of society” The report went on to say that the rape “savored of the jungle” and the “meanest African corruption.” 

Black liberal misleaders fail Scottsboro boys

This series of articles will analyze the role of the two major defense strategies in this case, the International Labor Defense (ILD) and the NAACP. We will study the different strategies as they relate to the questions of mass protest, institutional racism, the fight for legal reforms, and the use of the courtroom to raise the level of political consciousness and struggle.

The CP-led International Labor Defense (ILD) organizers had to first befriend and then convince the parents (mostly mothers) of the teenage boys to support a strategy of mass struggle to demand freedom for their sons. They had to overcome the fear that lynch terror had inspired, particularly amongst Black workers in the South. But these brave parents enthusiastically embraced the ILD. One Scottsboro mother said that what she liked best about the reds was their promise to “get rid of this so-called government and the big boss.”

The ILD also had to fight the sell-out misleaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who fought the ILD for political and legal leadership of the case. Walter White, national secretary of the NAACP, promised the parents “the support of the wealthiest [white] people in” Alabama. White defended the do-nothing alcoholic defense lawyer, claiming that he made “an honest defense of the boys.”  

The differences between the NAACP and the ILD were basic. In the first place, the NAACP tried to ignore the case, because “rapists give the race a bad name” and only became interested in it when the ILD began working on it. Second, the NAACP and the ILD had a totally different class line on the case. White of the NAACP told the boys that it was a “working class mob of whites” which almost lynched them at Scottsboro, and promised them that if they allied with the NAACP they would have “the support of the wealthiest people in the state.” The ILD stressed both the class and racial repression in the case, and brought it to the attention of workers all over the world. 

The NAACP’s contempt for the Black working class shaped their contacts with their parents, just as the respect of the Communists for workers shaped their contacts. When the Black workers chose the ILD over the NAACP, NAACP leader Pickens described the parents as “the densest and dumbest animals it has yet been my privilege to meet.” 

The parents responded, both to personal kindness and to political ideas. “I can’t be treated any better than the Reds have treated me,” Janie Patterson wrote one of the ILD lawyers. Her letter was signed “From one of the Reds, Janie Patterson.” Another parent, Mrs. Montgomery, wrote that the part she liked best about the Communist program was the promise to “get rid of this so-called government and the big boss.” 

The parents responded angrily to the NAACP smears against them. “We are not too ignorant to know a bunch of liars and fakers when we meet up with them, and are not too ignorant to know that if we let the NAACP look after our boys, that they will die.” 

The key difference between the ILD and the NAACP strategies was that the NAACP opposed all political struggle, both inside and outside of the courtroom. They opposed rallies in defense of the framed Black youth, on the grounds that this would just alienate the liberal Southern elite, the so-called “best people” on whom the NAACP relied.

Newark, NJ, May 9­­ - A multiracial, worker-led movement against the privately funded ICE detention center, Delaney Hall, was co-opted by a protest in response to the arrest of Newark’s Mayor Ras Baraka amidst his gubernatorial campaign. The Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and friends were there to fuel the communist confidence of our class to reject the spectacle of claiming Baraka as savior. We raised the need for revolution–the mass leadership of workers as the solution to smash racist detentions, deportations, and all of the bosses' borders.

PL’ers showed how communist power works by building on our base with workers, students, and community members—people we have fought alongside in various local struggles—to sharpen the politics of the demonstration with our own chants.  

Liberal identity politics confronts multiracial mass unity

“Hey Hey, Ho, Ho, Detention Centers Have Got to Go” a Muslim young woman started to chant before quickly being shut down by Baraka’s supporters. They were satisfied with the Democratic Party controlling the mic and shouting “Free Ras” and the vague and safe slogan “No Justice, No Peace.”

The political base of Baraka is composed mainly of Black and Latin workers whom Baraka, a Black politician, has provided jobs to in exchange for supporting him. Baraka uses the political power of his common identity with workers to act as a shield for millions worth of capital and law enforcement coming to terrorize and displace hundreds of thousands more workers in the city. 

At first the majority of people in the crowd were silent. We paused and explained that no matter how golden the words of any politician are, no politician can stand in the way of growing fascism. Then, workers started to cheer. Sensing the fire, we chanted, “Who Got Us?!” Workers didn’t need us to teach the rest of the chant. They responded “We Got Us. Who Keeps Us Safe?! We Keep Us Safe!” 

After winning half a dozen friendly Black, Latin, and white workers to wait for an opportunity to chant something sharper, we witnessed a brave young woman get shut down. Thereafter, we united and backed her up. Despite the threats, this brave woman worker and PLP members inspired each other to be bold and fight back. Right before Baraka left after being released, we began to chant “When Immigrants are Under Attack What Do We Do?!” and the crowd thundered “Stand Up Fight Back.” 

Maga or liberal fascists all the same: detain, deport, divide

Baraka’s arrest occurred outside the Delaney Hall detention facility during a protest where he and other Democratic Party officials were attempting to enter the facility to inspect it and were accused of trespassing. Delaney Hall is owned by Geo Group, a massive, private prison company with ICE facilities throughout the U.S. The gutter racist Trump administration in February gave a 15-year contract worth $1 billion to Geo Group to operate Delaney Hall. 

One worker in the protest shared, “ This shows how U.S. imperialism is imploding.” .” It is true. The splits in the U.S. ruling class are becoming more dangerous. Baraka’s arrest emboldened Trump and the short-sighted, isolationist Small Fascists in the Republican Party against the Bigger Fascist-backed Democratic Party. The section of the U.S. ruling class tending to be backed by Republicans we call Small Fascists, and short sighted is because they tend to be more interested in accumulating wealth quickly to catch up, in flashy acts of terror, are erratic in their commitment to protect U.S. imperialism abroad, and want to get rid of the expenses associated with governing over the working class, evidenced by the recent push to cut funding. In comparison, we call the Democrat-backed section of the U.S. ruling class the Big Fascists because of the threat they present to the working class with their broader connections to finance capital across the world.. 

Less than a year ago, Baraka used Newark kkkops to attack Rutgers students and destroy the longest running encampment against the Israeli genocide of Palestinian workers and youth. The arrest and deportation of immigrant workers and students fighting back is a small sample of the fascist violence to come. This is happening as a world of aspiring bosses await the defeat of U.S. imperialism  as it spirals closer to World War III with Chinese imperialists. 

The most dangerous Big Fascist Democrats from Baraka to AOC are trying to build unity with workers in support of undocumented workers. The most racist, deranged Small Fascist Republicans try to build unity with workers against undocumented workers. All of them exist to protect bosses’ profits. They will never say nations only serve bosses, not workers!

Build a mass base of communist fighters to defeat the builders of fascism

Neighbors committed to building a tenants union and learning about the communist politics of the Progressive Labor Party recognized the need to show up. .

We must  fight to shed the misleadership of politicians.. Simultaneously we must target the whole profit system that is fed by these concentration camps. Building PLP and its mass base of millions of communist fighters for these ideas is the shining path to a brand new world for the international working class! Join us!

On May 16th, New Jersey Transit locomotive engineers decided to hit back against their rotten bosses—and go on strike! This came after negotiations between their union and management fell apart, and the rank and file voted no on a previous agreement. Though the union reached another tentative deal two days later, this moment remains significant. It marked the first time they’ve walked off the job since 1983. New Jersey was at a standstill.

Strikes are schools for communism. When workers go on strike, it sharpens the contradictions between bosses and workers, exposes the limits of reform, and gives workers a taste of their collective power. It’s training for the kind of organization workers need to bring this whole system grinding to a halt. With communists in Progressive Labor Party (PLP) by their side, showing the way, they can take things further—fighting for a new world where we’re in charge. Join us!

These engineers have been without a new contract or a raise since 2019. Despite that, they’ve kept the system running—moving around 350,000 New Jersey residents each day—while enduring substandard equipment, managerial neglect, and unsafe conditions, especially during the worst days of COVID-19.

As expected, NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri has slandered these workers for daring to withhold their labor. He’s accused them of "holding the state hostage" for wanting to earn more than their base $89,000 salary—an amount that’s barely survivable in the New York metropolitan area. Meanwhile, his own annual salary sits at $280,000. On top of that, NJ Transit blew over $400 million on a completely unnecessary new headquarters just a few years ago.

Kolluri and Governor Phil Murphy pushed  the tired excuse that if engineers get the raise they’re demanding, the state would have to extend similar raises to other NJ Transit workers. But engineers are in a separate union from conductors and other staff—it’s a weak excuse meant to divide and delay.

As a worker myself in New York City, I know this playbook well. Metropolitan Transportation Authority bosses have repeatedly slandered us for demanding a living wage, all while enriching themselves off our labor. They left us to die when COVID hit. Our equipment constantly fails due to neglect and poor maintenance.

These workers took a strong first step—but they can go further. The fight isn’t just for better contracts. It’s for a system where we, the workers, run things. The fight is for communism.

NEW YORK CITY, April 19 – The working class took to the streets of Uptown Manhattan today, marching to combat fascist ICE raids and deportations, and attacks on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Progressive Labor Party (PLP) was in the middle of it, providing key leadership in the leadup to the march, recruiting many to attend, and on the day of the march, leading chants and distributing our literature. This march showed both the tremendous potential to unite workers in class struggle, and also the poison of nationalism and class collaboration that threatens to divide and deaden the workers’ struggle.

Upwards of 400 workers marched, spanning several city blocks, with hundreds more enthusiastically cheering us on from sidewalks, bodegas, and apartment buildings (some no doubt wisely keeping their distance from the KKKops). What’s more, organizers blanketed Uptown Manhattan and the Bronx with 10,000 leaflets, announcing our intent to organize workers against the current wave of racist, fascist attacks.

The potential of multiracial unity vs. the poison of nationalism

The march was organized by a newly-formed coalition of some leftist political parties from the Dominican Republic,  joined by organizations from the neighborhood. Because PLP has a long history in this neighborhood, and because we understand the importance of rooting ourselves inside mass organizations, we immersed ourselves in the planning. 

It became evident there was a right- and a left-wing amongst the leadership. On the right, some argued that we had to stick to the three demands—(1) Stop the ICE raids and deportations; (2) Stop the cuts; and (3) Tax the millionaires. The left advocated expanding these demands, emphasizing how our struggles are all connected. Some spoke forcefully and eloquently, for example, against the racist attacks in the Dominican Republic against Haitians, rightly drawing comparisons to the treatment of immigrants in the U.S. But we were told that two coalition groups were so nationalist that they would not allow the issue of racism against Haitians to be discussed lest it pull apart the coalition. On the other hand, we were successful in getting Palestine on the program. The speech on ICE raids and deportations was given by a representative of Uptown4Palestine, and ended up connecting rising fascism in the U.S. with U.S. imperialism in the Middle East and the rulers’ need to crack down on dissent.

The nationalism was so thick that one coalition leader, in criticizing chants that “were irrelevant” to their struggle, singled out the chant “Workers’ struggles have no racist borders!” as inappropriate. Luckily, there were several others who came to the staunch defense of that and other slogans that drew connections among workers’ struggles. 

PLP provides crucial leadership

We in PLP understand our role is to inject revolutionary communist politics into the class struggle, and on the day of the march, that’s exactly what we did. We became the march’s main chanting force, captivating the crowd with steady, booming chants that highlighted our internationalist revolutionary line, providing much needed march discipline, and attracting and inspiring many around us. As reported in the last issue, we also distributed 1,000 communist leaflets and over 400 CHALLENGE newspapers. 

Deadly class collaboration threatens movement

Although some inside the coalition expressed mistrust and hatred of the KKKops, some saw benefits to working with them. In fact, the precinct’s community liaison was in our group chat! Again, nationalism played a negative role: the captain of one of the local precincts is Dominican. Despite these nationalist “ties,” the KKKops and the city kept us on edge for weeks, up to the very start of the march, over whether they would allow us to legally march in the street. Many of us know our true power lies not in permits and collaboration with KKKops, but with our base in the working class. 

The only reason there were not more politicians present was that most (including Alexandria Ocasìo-Cortez) ignored invitations to attend, showing how little they care about workers under attack. The one mayoral candidate who did speak gushed about how much he cares. But many of us remember bosses’ tool Ydanis Rodríguez, a local politician who rose to fame as a Dominican “leftist”/”activist” who promptly sold out to real estate interests and who is now hated in his own neighborhood. If our fledgling movement is to accomplish anything positive uptown, it has to recognize what most uptown workers and youth already know: the KKKops and politicians are our mortal class enemy. 

More work to be done

The building towards this march helped us advance our literature distribution and Party building in the neighborhood, and as a result we were able to bring some workers to our May Day march, but not enough! Our base needs to better understand the difference between mass marches for reforms and the absolute necessity of building a revolutionary movement led by a revolutionary communist party. We need to build their confidence in our Party as the only force capable of leading the working class to defeat fascism and capitalism once and for all. It’s a life or death struggle.