We’re pausing our series on the groundbreaking 1975 Boston Summer for this issue to bring you the conclusion of our luminous four-part series on the defense of the Scottsboro Boys. 

In 1931, during the depths of the Great Depression, nine young Black men were falsely accused of raping two white women aboard a freight train in Scottsboro, Alabama. In response, the U.S. Communist Party (CPUSA) initiated and led a worldwide campaign involving millions of people to prevent their execution and demand their freedom. In Part III we learned about how the ILD (the legal arm of the CPUSA) sharpened their strategy to combat racism in the racist kkkourts largely by building a multiracial campaign and rejecting unity with reformists like the NCAA. In Part IV the CP abandons this strategy and dilutes the fight by forming a United Front against fascism.

We launch Part IV in the thick of our annual summer project and in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Boston’s 1975 Summer Project. That summer, Progressive Labor Party (PLP) played a pivotal role in defeating Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR), the local Nazis and their racist political allies, and in stopping their campaigns of racist violence against young Black students who were being bused in an effort to desegregate Boston’s all-white schools. The movement mobilized working-class youth and community members in an unforgettable, militant struggle against gutter racist capitalism and state-sanctioned violence.

This series analyzes the roles of the two major defense strategies in the Scottsboro case: the International Labor Defense (ILD), the legal arm of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), and the NAACP. We will examine how their differing strategies addressed the questions of mass protest, institutional racism, the fight for legal reforms, and the use of the courtroom as a site to elevate political consciousness and struggle.
Please stay tuned for Part II of the Boston ‘75 summer project series in the next issue of CHALLENGE available online and in print  July 31st. 

United front strategy undermines communist politics

Soon after the trial the defense strategy changed radically. The roots of this change were contained in a pronounced shift in the line of the Communist International in the summer of 1935. To fight the rise of worldwide fascism, the International said, it was necessary to make alliances with the organizational leadership of the Social Democrats, formerly considered to be “bourgeois reformists.” In the U.S., this meant such groups as the Socialist Party, the NAACP, and the Urban League.

The key to this “United Front Against Fascism” was common unity around “democracy” and against fascism. As this theory related to the practice of the Scottsboro case this meant forming a united front defense committee very different from the ILD. On the initiative of the ILD the Scottsboro Defense Committee (SDC) was formed in December 1935, consisting of the ILD, the League for Industrial Democracy (a Socialist Party-led group), the ACLU, the NAACP, and the Episcopal Federation for Social Service. On the initiative of Norman Thomas of the Socialist Party, the Reverend Allan Knight Chalmers was appointed chairman of the SDC. The new defense committee immediately ruled out mass demonstrations as contradictory to the freedom of the defendants.

The memorandum of agreement between the organizations gave the Executive Committee of the SDC, which consisted of one representative of each organization, full power to make decisions in publicity and hiring of counsel. No organization in the SDC could publicly criticize SDC policies.

The ILD pamphlet, Scottsboro: Shame of America, which attacked the racism in the case, was not republished.

The ILD agreed with this arrangement. Despite the ILD assessment that mass protest had saved the defendants from the electric chair and won significant legal reforms while involving millions of people in struggle and the raising of antiracist consciousness, it now indirectly accepted the argument that injecting radical politics into the case would only hurt the efforts of the SDC.

In effect, the ILD was succumbing to the politics of Chalmers, the NAACP, and others. Chalmers exercised substantial control over day-to-day decisions of the SDC. Chalmers' strategy was to form a local defense committee in Alabama composed of “distinguished good people” and “respectable” citizens of Alabama (i.e., newspaper editors, lawyers, ministers, businessmen, and college deans).

In an initial agreement between Chalmers and the ASC, it was stipulated that “control of the case by the communists makes acquittal impossible” and “Communist propaganda can be held up during the conduct of the case.”
The fact remains that by October 1937, because of the SDC strategy, Scottsboro was not the mass issue it had been from 1931 until 1935.

Conclusions from the Scottsboro battleground

The ILD proved in four years the strength of mass protest and the tremendous effect it had on the racist courts. Although the ILD in 1931-1935 was unable to free the defendants, they made tremendous inroads worldwide against the factors that caused the Scottsboro case to happen in the first place, racism, and economic exploitation. They alone saved the defendants from the electric chair. The total of the ILD work was a formidable display of legal and political brilliance which has since rarely been outshone.

The Scottsboro case played a key role in both attracting, recruiting, and giving leadership opportunities in the CP and the broader workers' movement of the time to Black workers, and particularly young and Black women workers, including the parents of the defendants themselves. This led to a qualitative change in the CP membership, from being a mostly white and European immigrant party, to being a genuine multiracial party.

The Scottsboro case also contributed to the rapid growth of the CP in the U.S. from a party of thousands to a party of tens of thousands. The Scottsboro case, along with all the other Depression-era struggles they were part of or led, put the CP on the “political map” in the U.S., particularly in the U.S. South.

One of the most exciting things about the Scottsboro case was that, after the initial conviction and sentencing to death of the Scottsboro Boys by the racist Jim Crow system, one of the original accusers, Ruby Bates–– who of course was white ––decided to tell the truth about what really happened. She admitted she had lied– there was no rape, only sex with white youth before the nine defendants got on the train.
This subjected her to vicious attacks by the entire legal and political establishment behind Jim Crow, which she withstood. She traveled to other countries with the Scottsboro parents, speaking at rallies, denouncing Jim Crow, and praising the Communists. She was a splendid example for unity between white and Black workers, especially as the Depression deepened and unemployment and evictions soared.

Finally, the two U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the Scottsboro case, Powell v. Alabama (on ineffective assistance of counsel) and Norris v. Alabama (on the systemically racist jury pool) were decided by a conservative-dominated Court, clearly to try and quell the mass outrage and mass movement that had built up around the case and helping the CP grow dramatically. This helps us undermine the argument that the solution to attacks on “civil rights” is to get more liberals in the U.S. Supreme Court, instead of seeing this case as an example of how the ruling class uses the Courts to serve its purposes and to maintain racism.

PLP carries antiracist torch of communist movement 

PLP stands on the shoulders of giants. Since our founding in 1965, we have always made the fight against racism in all its many forms key to our political program. We could not have taken that struggle to the point where it is now without the courageous and death-defying efforts of Black and white workers who fought Jim Crow in the 1930s. We continue to fight for the communist revolution which will eventually destroy racism and consign its sordid past to the dustbin of history.

OWENSBORO, KY, July 5 —Antifascist workers and youth organized a rally today for community members to stand up to the modern Nazis known as the "Proud Boys," the same fascists who Klansman-in-Chief Trump pardoned after their riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021. The Proud Boys came to Owensboro for a social gathering, and communists in the revolutionary Progressive Labor Party (PLP) were there to help ruin their little fascist barbecue!

Despite warnings from liberals against protesting the Proud Boys, confronting these fascists was necessary to show that they weren’t welcome in Kentucky, and that workers here would oppose them. With actions like these you're not just dealing with fascists like the Proud Boys but also the racist police/state terror apparatus there to protect them, and the liberal fascists whose role is to weaken antifascist militancy and promote passivity.

Against this capitalist dictatorship, ultimately only a communist revolution for workers’ power can smash these fascists - and the genocidal imperialist system that spawns them - once and for all!

When the enemy camps, we harass!

The plan was to march on the park where the fascists were gathered, chant, make our presence known and not put anyone in unnecessary danger – especially given the police presence at the other end of the field. As we congregated in the parking lot, a drunk Proud Boy leader on a motorcycle rode up and tried to intimidate us and yelled the N-word at a comrade - but rode off as we walked up in unison. When the Proud Boys heard our chants, about ten of them jumped a fence separating us and advanced towards us.

Fascists only understand violence and will always attack if they are more in number. Unlike what the liberal fascists and misleaders claim, the very fact that workers fear protesting these gutter fascists is what emboldens them – and the fascists fear workers’ anger the most.

Tactical retreat leads to strategic advance

And so, despite being outnumbered and out-gunned, we held the line when the fascists attacked. PL’ers gave direction for everyone to fall back orderly and safely, protecting anyone in danger, especially the women who were specifically targeted during the fascists' failed assault. The fascists’ attack ended in such failure and confusion the Proud Boys could even be seen slamming women who were trying to run at us.

Despite things not going to plan, we took advantage of the fascists’ disorganization and repelled the fascist attack through leadership, discipline, and decades of PLP experience dealing with these fascist cockroaches. And by looking out for each other on the ground, everyone made it out safely with no arrests. The highlight of the day was when a Black antifascist knocked the racial slur-spewing leader of the Proud Boys to his knees.

The liberal misleaders and fake leftists publicly condemn antifascist violence and threaten militant workers not to confront fascism with “blacklists” — they even told a Black antifascist fighter to “get out and stay out of Owensboro!” Actual workers from the community, however, admired our commitment and said we spoke and stood on behalf of them. One worker said, "I need you all to understand that you ALWAYS have a home with us, whether it be meetings, somewhere to sleep, or grabbing a meal.” Another said, “You are all absolutely welcome anytime and we'll happily continue to rally with you!” Afterwards, we were given free drinks from a local pub where the fascists were banned.

Stand in the face of fascism – build a mass PLP!

The event inspired confidence in new antifascist fighters – as one reflected, this event showed we can say, “No.” Not in our town! We stood in the face of charging Proud Boys and refused to submit to their aggression!” We’ve already followed up with our new contact, and several are interested in joining the Party.

BALTIMORE, MD, July 2—Members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) came out to the street to protest the genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, Sudan, and Congo. We distributed dozens of CHALLENGEs and communist flyers with great response. We had our signature chants on hand: “From Palestine to Mexico, these racist borders got to go,” and “Arab, Jewish, Black and White, Workers of the World Unite!" 
Two Party friends who joined us distributed CHALLENGE, often coming back for more to distribute! One person who received a copy screamed “Free Palestine!” showing solidarity to the workers fighting overseas. The working class in Baltimore and worldwide needs communism and to lead that fight to put these genocidal bosses in the ground once and for all!

Rallying against genocide

We referred to our rally as “Balloon Theater,” which was inspired by our new comrade. We set up our “stage” on the sidewalk between Northeast Market and busy Monument Street, where workers at Johns Hopkins often pass by. We decorated the space with three large balloons painted with slogans “Fight for Communism,” “No to Genocide and Fascism,” and “Smash Capitalism and Imperialism.” 

We had to battle market security personnel, who threatened us with bogus rules. Standing firm, we refused to move and we won in the end!
Workers in Palestine have faced terror, torture, extermination and execution by occupying Zionists since the early days of the 20th century. Our goal was to link this history to the current catastrophes under capitalism worldwide and our urgent need to build an international communist movement in response. 

All bosses guilty of fascism

We held speeches exposing the imperialist U.S. government and their unwavering support for the Zionist state of Israel. Both Democrats and Republicans have a bloody role in the catastrophe, as war criminal Joe Biden’s administration gave about $18 billion and—so far—$4 billion by chief terrorist Trump. We highlighted the U.S. government’s imperialist wars in Sudan and Congo and their support of proxy nationalist factions to do the dirty work of torturing, displacing and murdering workers. 

Our struggles are all connected!

One comrade talked about the ongoing local West Wednesday events, which have been protesting the KKKops who murdered Tyrone West in cold blood 12 years ago. The member also recounted supporting a Black family facing racist attacks in their neighborhood in the early 1990s; a PLP-led collective chased away the racist skin heads, gaining respect from students. As these attack dogs-in-blue kill Black and Latin workers without remorse, their imperialist handlers are ordering the same against our working class brothers and sisters in the Middle East. As the ruling class continues losing its grip on workers, we see increasing fascism abroad and here, with the state attacking those who dare to question this modern-day Holocaust.

A friend to the Party also gave a speech that called out the U.S. and Israel for their treatment of workers in Palestine. We did not agree with the nationalist points made—regarding Iran having the right to defend itself. However, we appreciated their support in joining us. 
PLP is charging boldly to create an egalitarian communist society, where the ills of capitalism, racism, sexism, and exploitation are a thing of the past. Our enthusiasm and determination to continue this action will carry on. We set a date for our next Balloon Theater in August, with a plan to build our base in the community and to invite more friends and community members to participate in our next action on the streets. Since three of our comrades will attend the Boston summer project, the energy from the experience will hopefully strengthen our work once we return.

BALTIMORE, June 21—Members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) have been attending the annual Marxist Literary Group Summer Institute (MLG-ICS) for more than 25 years, presenting our communist analyses at panels we organize, speaking up in other sessions, and sharing our newspaper and building personal ties with others. At this year’s conference at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in June, organized around the theme of “Marx and the Rightward Turn,” we upped our game to a new level.

Capitalist issues need communist fightback!

Ten members and longtime friends of the Party presented papers on four different panels addressing important contemporary themes, including: fascism/anti-fascism and its connections with liberalism; the consideration of the Party as a necessary form for revolutionary organization, the value of contemporary literature that shows the value of fighting racism and sexism; an analysis of the accomplishments and shortcomings of the role of the Communist Party’s work in India, and a final panel on how the Party has actively been organizing against the rightward turn of liberals on our campuses and in our communities. Our contingent also reflected the multiracial and intergenerational composition of our Party and the strong leadership role played by women.

For years, raising the politics of our Party has mainly been done one-on-one or in small groups, with friends and scholars we have come to know at the MLG Summer Institute. In part, this was a response to the unspoken notion that participants should leave any party affiliations “at the door.” However, in recent years, new and younger generations of scholars have been less inculcated with these politics, and there has been more interest and discussion of the potential positive role and need for a party. In recent years, we have also raised our Party more openly in discussions at the MLG sessions, put copies of CHALLENGE on the MLG literature table, and distributed our literature in a more mass way. In the opening panel on fascism/anti-fascism, a comrade explored the similarities and differences between liberalism and fascism and another friend provided a case study of the contradictions — achievements and shortcomings — of the communist movement’s role within the massive farmers’ movement.

Developing plans and being bold with our politics

The power of this openness was particularly evident this year in the panel that concluded the conference, made up of four comrades and a friend to the Party focusing on  political repression on campus and beyond, asking “What is to be Done?” In this panel, we discussed the practical strategies and lessons we’ve gained from our campus and community organizing. Each member recognized themselves as a member of PLP, something that—according to what our comrade experienced in the MLG—was traditionally not encouraged.

Our comrade from Newark exposed the hypocrisy of Mayor Ras Baraka’s protesting the detention of targeted workers by ICE this year after being silent in 2010 when Deporter-in-Chief Barack Obama built the ICE detention center there.    Another comrade discussed organizing in Baltimore during the slow-down of the anti-genocide movement against Israel. Practice—distributing CHALLENGE, political conversations, study groups, and protesting in the streets— helping young comrades overcome their fears, illustrating the long-term process required in party-building. 

Workers become radicalized, the bosses exert more control

Two panelists – activists in the Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA)—outlined the long history of the “rightward turn” of those two organizations. When APHA and MLA members—increasingly outraged by the genocide in Gaza—overwhelmingly passed motions or resolutions  against the genocide in Gaza in 2024, the leaders of both organizations refused to take action, and the following year they refused to consider any proposed resolutions. Furthermore, the MLA  even changed its constitutions to make it increasingly difficult for any meaningful actions to be taken. 

The APHA speaker, a recent Ph.D. graduate who now works as a union organizer, asked how many people in the audience were activists, which elicited a wide show of hands, indicating that while most of the MLG panels focus primarily on issues of theory and literature and culture, participants also see themselves as activists as well as scholars..

For members and friends of the Party this year’s summer institute was inspiring, reflecting both the increased urgency felt by many of the “rightward turn” being witnessed in the U.S., but also recognition of the increased potential for organizing and the urgency of sharpening our discussion of politics to include the need to discuss the importance of building a revolutionary movement and recruiting more friends to join the PLP.