Civil Rights Congress
The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a civil rights organization formed in 1946 by a merger of the International Labor Defense and the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties. It became known for involvement in civil rights cases such as the Trenton Six and justice for Isaiah Nixon. The CRC also held multiple high profile protests in Washington DC and at the UN. Due to its Communist Party affiliations, the CRC was cited as subversive and communist by U.S. President Harry S. Truman's Attorney General Thomas Clark
Contents |
[edit] Leadership under William Patterson
International Labor Defense (ILD) national secretary William Patterson led the group throughout its existence.[1] Frank Marshall Davis served on the organizations National Executive Board.[2] Patterson also headed, the Abraham Lincoln School in Chicago, with Davis also on the faculty and Board of Directors.[3]
In December 1947, the National Negro Congress was merged with the CRC. In 1951, the Civil Rights Congress issued its a petition to the United Nations entitled, "We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People".[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Gerald Horne, Communist Front? The Civil Rights Congress, 1946-1956 (Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1987); Horne, Civil Rights Congress, in Mary Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas, eds., Encyclopedia of the American Left (New York: Garland Publishing, 1990), 134-135, BlackPast.org
- ^ Honolulu Record, May 12 1949, v.1 no.41. p.3.
- ^ Chicago Defender, October 20, 1945, cited in FBI file Frank Marshall Davis Correlation Summary 12/28/55, v.4 p.80 pdf.
- ^ Cornell, Douglas B. (1951-12-22). "UN Asked to Act Against Genocide in United States". The Afro American: pp. 19. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113%2C3191483. Retrieved 2011-12-21.; Goldstein 2008, 72
[edit] Sources
[edit] Primary Materials
- Civil Rights Congress (1951). We Charge Genocide, The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief from a Crime of the United States Government Against the Negro People. New York: Civil Rights Congress
[edit] Secondary Materials
- Goldstein, Robert Justin (2009). American Blacklist: The Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1604-6
[edit] Further reading
- Report on Civil Rights Congress as a communist front organization. Investigation of un-American activities in the United States, Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off. September 2, 1947.
[edit] External links
- Civil Rights Congress (1946-1956) A history of the CRC at BlackPast.org.
|
||||||||||||||||
