Greensboro massacre

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The Greensboro massacre occurred on November 3, 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Five protest marchers were shot and killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. The protest was the culmination of attempts by the Communist Workers Party to organize mostly black industrial workers in the area.[1]

The marchers killed were: Sandi Smith,[2] a nurse and civil rights activist; Dr. James Waller,[3] president of a local textile workers union who ceased medical practice to organize workers; Bill Sampson,[4] a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School; Cesar Cauce,[5] a Cuban immigrant who graduated magna cum laude from Duke University; and Dr. Michael Nathan,[6] chief of pediatrics at Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham, North Carolina, a clinic that helped children from low-income families.

Contents

Rally [edit]

Hostility between the groups flared in July 1979 when protesters disrupted a screening of the 1915 epic, The Birth of a Nation directed by D. W. Griffith, a cinematographic portrayal of the formation of a Ku Klux Klan, in China Grove, N.C. Taunts and inflammatory rhetoric were exchanged during the ensuing months. On November 3, 1979 a rally and march of industrial workers and Communists was planned in Greensboro against the Ku Klux Klan. The Death to the Klan March was to begin in a predominantly black housing project called Morningside Homes. Communist organizers publicly challenged the Klan to present themselves and "face the wrath of the people".[7] During the rally, a caravan of cars containing Klansmen and members of the American Nazi Party drove by the housing projects where the Communists and other anti-Klan activists were congregating. Several marchers began to attack the Klansmens' cars with small wooden sticks or by throwing rocks. According to white supremacist Frazier Glenn Miller, the first shots were fired from a handgun by an anti-Klan demonstrator.[8] However several witnesses reported Klansman Mark Sherer fired the first shot (into the air).[9] Klansmen and Nazis fired with shotguns, rifles and pistols. Cauce, Waller and Sampson were killed at the scene. Smith was shot in the forehead when she peeked from her hiding place. Eleven others were wounded. One of them, Dr. Michael Nathan, later died from his wounds at a hospital.[8] Most of the armed confrontation was filmed by four local news camera crews.

Role of the police [edit]

One of the most questionable aspects of the shoot-out is the role of the police. Police would normally have been present at such a rally. However, no police were present, which allowed the assailants to escape. A police detective and a police photographer did follow the Klan and neo-Nazi caravan to the site, but did not attempt to intervene. Edward Dawson, a Klansman turned police informant,[1] was in the lead car of the caravan.[8] Two days prior to the march, one of the Klansmen went to the police station and obtained a map of the march and the rally.[7] Bernard Butkovich, an undercover agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) later testified that he was aware that Klansmen and members of the American Nazi Party unit he had infiltrated would confront the demonstrators. In a previous testimony, the neo-Nazis claimed the agent encouraged them to carry firearms to the anti-Klan demonstration.[10]

Aftermath [edit]

Legal proceedings [edit]

Forty Klansmen and neo-Nazis, and several Communist marchers were involved in the shootings; sixteen Klansmen and Nazis were arrested and the six best cases were brought to trial first.[1] Five Klansmen were charged with murder: David Wayne Matthews,[11] Jerry Paul Smith,[12] Jack Wilson Fowler,[13] Harold Dean Flowers,[14] and Billy Joe Franklin.[15] During the second trial nine men were charged; in addition to David Wayne Matthews, Jerry Paul Smith, Jack Wilson Fowler, six other men, Virgil Lee Griffin,[16] Eddie Dawson,[17] Roland Wayne Wood,[18] Roy Clinton Toney,[19] Coleman Blair Pridmore,[20] and Rayford Milano Caudle[21] were charged with other crimes associated with the event. The two criminal trials resulted in the acquittal of the defendants by all-white juries.[22] However, in a 1985 civil lawsuit the survivors won a $350,000 judgment against the city, the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party for violating the civil rights of the demonstrators.[23] However only one plaintiff, Marty Nathan, received his payment.[24]

Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission [edit]

In 2005, Greensboro residents, inspired by post-apartheid South Africa,[25] initiated a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to take public testimony and examine the causes and consequences of the massacre. The efforts of the Commission were officially opposed by the Greensboro City Council, led by then-mayor Keith Holliday. The City Council voted 6 to 3 against endorsing the work of the Commission, with the three votes in favor of it cast by the City Council's African American members.[26] The mayor at the time of the massacre, Jim Melvin, also rejected the Commission.

The Commission determined that Klan members went to the rally intending to provoke a violent confrontation, and that they fired on demonstrators. In addition, the Commission found that the violent rhetoric of the Communist Workers Party and the Klan contributed in varying degrees to the violence, and that the protesters had not fully secured the community support of the Morningside Homes residents, many of whom did not approve of the protest because of its potential for violent confrontation.[citation needed]

The Commission also found that the Greensboro Police Department had infiltrated the Klan and, through a paid informant, knew of the white supremacists’ plans and the strong potential for violence.[citation needed] The informant had formerly been on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's payroll but had maintained contact with his agent supervisor. Consequently, the FBI was also aware of the impending armed confrontation.[27]

The Commission further established that some activists in the crowd fired back after they were attacked.[9] Filmmaker Adam Zucker's 2007 documentary, Greensboro: Closer to the Truth, examines the work of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c Mark Hand (November 18, 2004). "The Greensboro Massacre". Press Action. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
  2. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Sandra Neely Smith. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: James Michael Waller, Dr. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  4. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: William Evan Sampson. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  5. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Cesar Cauce. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  6. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Michael Ronald Nathan, Dr. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Chronology of the November 3, 1979 Greensboro Massacre and its Aftermath". The Prism. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
  8. ^ a b c F. Glenn Miller (March 6, 2005). "A White Man Speaks Out". Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
  9. ^ a b "Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report". Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  10. ^ "Agent Tells of '79 Threats by Klan and Nazis". The New York Times. May 12, 1985. section 1, page 26, column 1. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
  11. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: David Wayne Matthews. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  12. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Jerry Paul Smith. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  13. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Jack Wilson Fowler. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  14. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Harold Dean Flowers. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  15. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Billy Joe Franklin. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  16. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Virgil Lee Griffin, Sr. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  17. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Edward Dawson. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  18. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Roland Wayne Wood. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  19. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Roy Clinton Toney. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  20. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Coleman Blair Pridmore. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  21. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Rayford Milano Caudle. Library.uncg.edu (November 3, 1979). Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  22. ^ "Acquittal in Greensboro". New York Times. April 18, 1984. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  23. ^ Wright, Michael (June 9, 1985). "Civil Convictions In Greensboro". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-15. 
  24. ^ Civil Rights Greensboro: Greensboro Massacre. Library.uncg.edu. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  25. ^ The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. "What is Truth and Reconciliation?". Archived from the original on 11 Mar 2012. Retrieved 8 Dec 2012. "The most famous is the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission... one of the chief architects of South Africa's truth commission founded the International Center for Transitional Justice in 2001 to advise other nations employing the process." 
  26. ^ Hansen, Toran (2007). "Can Truth Commissions be Effective in the United States? An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Greensboro, North Carolina". University of Minnesota School of Social Work. Retrieved November 9, 2012. 
  27. ^ Bermanzohn, Sally Avery (Winter 2007). "A Massacre Survivor Reflects on the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Radical History Review (97): 103. Retrieved 2009-05-31. "In sum, the GPD instigated and facilitated the attack with the knowledge of federal agents in the FBI and the ATF" 

Further reading [edit]

Articles
  • Bacigal, Ronald J., and Margaret Ivey Bacigal. "When Racists and Radicals Meet." Emory Law Journal 38 (Fall 1989).
  • Bryant, Pat. "Justice Vs. the Movement." Radical America 14, no. 6 (1980).
  • Civil Rights Greensboro: The articles of Charles Babington
  • Eastland, Terry. "The Communists and the Klan." Commentary 69, no. 5 (1980).
  • Institute for Southern Studies. "The Third of November." Southern Exposure 9, no. 3 (1981).
  • Parenti, Michael, and Carolyn Kazdin. "The Untold Story of the Greensboro Massacre." Monthly Review 33, no. 6 (1981).
  • Ray O. Light Group. "'Left' Opportunism and the Rise of Reaction: The Lessons of the Greensboro Massacre." Toward Victorious Afro-American National Liberation: A Collection of Pamphlets, Leaflets and Essays Which Dealt In a Timely Way With the Concrete Ongoing Struggle for Black Liberation Over the Past Decade and More pp. 249–260. Ray O. Light Publications: Bronx NY, 1982.
Books
Video

External links [edit]

Articles and news reports
Anniversary news reports
Websites

Coordinates: 36°3′55.81″N 79°45′49.86″W / 36.0655028°N 79.7638500°W / 36.0655028; -79.7638500

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