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'''"We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People"''', often shorted to '''"We Charge Genocide"''', is a document accusing the United States government of [[genocide]] according to the [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide|UN Genocide Convention]]. This document was created by the [[Civil Rights Congress]] (CRC) and presented to the [[United Nations]] in December 1951.
'''"We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People"''' is a document accusing the United States government of [[genocide]] according to the [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide|UN Genocide Convention]]. This document was created by the [[Civil Rights Congress]] (CRC) and presented to the [[United Nations]] in December 1951.


As evidence of [[genocide]], defined as acts committed with "intent to destroy" a group, "in whole or in part", the document cites many instances of [[lynching in the United States]], as well as legal discrimination, and systematic inequalities in health and quality of life. It argues that the US government is both complicit with and responsible for a genocidal situation.
As evidence of [[genocide]], defined as acts committed with "intent to destroy" a group, "in whole or in part", the document cites many instances of [[lynching in the United States]], as well as legal discrimination, and systematic inequalities in health and quality of life. It argues that the US government is both complicit with and responsible for a genocidal situation.
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As evidence, the 237-page petition addresses the question of racism in the United States from different angles. It lists hundreds of wrongful executions and lynchings, referred to at least 10,000 undocumented cases, and also charged that U.S. had engaged in a conspiracy against African Americans' ability to vote through [[poll taxes]] and [[literacy tests]]. In addition to legal discrimination, the petition discusses systematic economic inequalities and differences in quality of life.<ref name=Afro>"[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113%2C3191483 UN Asked to Act Against Genocide in the United States]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 22 December 1951, p. 19.</ref>
As evidence, the 237-page petition addresses the question of racism in the United States from different angles. It lists hundreds of wrongful executions and lynchings, referred to at least 10,000 undocumented cases, and also charged that U.S. had engaged in a conspiracy against African Americans' ability to vote through [[poll taxes]] and [[literacy tests]]. In addition to legal discrimination, the petition discusses systematic economic inequalities and differences in quality of life.<ref name=Afro>"[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113%2C3191483 UN Asked to Act Against Genocide in the United States]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 22 December 1951, p. 19.</ref>


Ultimately, the petition holds the US government responsible for genocide, through endorsement of both racism and "monopoly capitalism"—without which "the persistent, constant, widespread, institutionalized commission of the crime of genocide would be impossible".<ref name=Martin44&45/>
Ultimately, the petition holds the US government responsible for genocide, through endorsement of both racism and "monopoly capitalism"—without which "the persistent, constant, widespread, institutionalized commission of the crime of genocide would be impossible".<ref name=Martin44&45/> Seeking to demonstrate the urgency of the problem, and to invite explicit comparisons between American genocide and Nazi genocide, the document focuses on incidents occurring after 1945.<ref>Anderson, ''Eyes Off the Prize'' (1995), p. 165. "The CRC only focused on incidents of mob violence and police terror since 1945; that is to say, since America proclaimed itself the leader of the 'free world' The charge of genocide, in the wake of the Holocaust, was devastating; it was more wrenching under the klieg lights of the Korean War and American platitudes about democracy. And everyone knew it."</ref> The CRC procured source material carefully, and critics of the document acknowledged that its facts were correct.<ref>Anderson, ''Eyes Off the Prize'' (1995), p. 166. "After it became clear that the CRC had, in fact, meticulously verified each incident, White tried another tactic. The 'facts are true' he lamented, but 'like all indictments drafted by a prosecutor', ''We Charge Genocide'' is one-sided [...]."</ref>


The CRC sought to demonstrate that systematic oppression of African Americans amounted to genocide because it reflected a violent [[white supremacy]] at the core of American culture.<ref>Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 269–270.</ref>
The CRC sought to demonstrate that systematic oppression of African Americans amounted to genocide because it reflected a violent [[white supremacy]] at the core of American culture.<ref>Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 269–270.</ref>


==Delivery==
==Delivery==
On 17 December 1951, the petition was presented to the [[United Nations]] on two separate venues: [[Paul Robeson]], concert singer and activist, together with people who signed the petition, handed the document to a UN official in [[New York]], while [[William L. Patterson]], executive director of the [[Civil Rights Congress]], delivered copies of the drafted petition to a UN delegation in [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|title=We Charge Genocide: The cry rings true 52 years later|url=http://peoplesworld.org/-we-charge-genocide-the-cry-rings-true-52-years-later/|work=Article|publisher=peoples world|accessdate=4/21/2012}}</ref>
On 17 December 1951, the petition was presented to the [[United Nations]] on two separate venues: [[Paul Robeson]], concert singer and activist, together with people who signed the petition, handed the document to a UN official in [[New York]], while [[William L. Patterson]], executive director of the [[Civil Rights Congress]], delivered copies of the drafted petition to a UN delegation in [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|title=We Charge Genocide: The cry rings true 52 years later|url=http://peoplesworld.org/-we-charge-genocide-the-cry-rings-true-52-years-later/|work=Article|publisher=peoples world|accessdate=4/21/2012}}</ref> [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], also slated to deliver the petition in Paris, had been designated an "unregistered foreign agent" and was deterred from traveling.<ref name=Docker>John Docker, "Raphaël Lemkin, creator of the concept of genocide: a world history perspective", ''Humanities Research'' 16(2), 2010; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/763259026/ via ProQuest].</ref><ref>Anderson, ''Eyes Off the Prize'' (1995), p. 169. "Du Bois was ready to take his stand. He anticipated the inevitable passport problems with the State Department but did not forsee the warnings from his attorney as well as from his new wife, Shirley Graham. They cautioned him just after winning that bitter and expensive legal battle against the Justice Department, it would not be wise to provoke another indictment."</ref>


The 125 copies Patterson mailed to Paris did not arrive, allegedly intercepted by the US government. However Patterson was able to distribute other copies, which he had shipped in small packages to individuals' homes.<ref name=Hicks>James L. Hicks, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HDsmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rv4FAAAAIBAJ&dq=patterson%20charges%20us%20stole%20passport&pg=4609%2C3636082 Patterson Charges U.S. Stole Passport]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 2 February 1951.</ref>
The 125 copies Patterson mailed to Paris did not arrive, allegedly intercepted by the US government. However Patterson was able to distribute other copies, which he had shipped in small packages to individuals' homes.<ref name=Hicks>James L. Hicks, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HDsmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rv4FAAAAIBAJ&dq=patterson%20charges%20us%20stole%20passport&pg=4609%2C3636082 Patterson Charges U.S. Stole Passport]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 2 February 1951.</ref>
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Patterson said he was ignored by [[Ralph Bunche]] and [[Channing Tobias]], but that [[Edith Sampson]] would talk to him.<ref name=Hicks/>
Patterson said he was ignored by [[Ralph Bunche]] and [[Channing Tobias]], but that [[Edith Sampson]] would talk to him.<ref name=Hicks/>


Patterson was ordered to surrender his passport at the United States embassy in France. Having refused, US agents said they would seize it as his hotel room.<ref>"W. L. PATTERSON SAYS U. S. BARS HIM AT U. N.", ''New York Times'', 1 January 1952, p. 10; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/112282891 via ProQuest].</ref> Patterson fled to Budapest, where through the newspaper ''[[Népszabadság|Szabad Nép]]'' he accused the US government of attempting to stifle the charges.<ref>"U.S. 'Muzzle' on Genocide Alleged", ''Washington Post'', 1 January 1952, p. 2; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/152465079 via ProQuest].</ref> The US government ordered Patterson detained in Britain and seized his passport when he returned to America.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 50–51.</ref> Robeson had been unable to obtain a passport, and the difficult these two men faced in traveling led some to accuse the American government of censorship.<ref> Louis Lautier, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pbpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3ykMAAAAIBAJ&dq=us%20should%20revise%20its%20passport%20denial%20policy&pg=647%2C15419238 U.S. Should Revise Its Passport Denial Policy]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 29 December 1951.</ref><ref>"[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mNQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=paul%20asks%20passport%20to%20give%20un%20report&pg=4808%2C2877955 Paul Asks Passport to Give UN Report]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 15 December 1951.</ref>
Patterson was ordered to surrender his passport at the United States embassy in France. Having refused, US agents said they would seize it as his hotel room.<ref>"W. L. PATTERSON SAYS U. S. BARS HIM AT U. N.", ''New York Times'', 1 January 1952, p. 10; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/112282891 via ProQuest].</ref> Patterson fled to Budapest, where through the newspaper ''[[Népszabadság|Szabad Nép]]'' he accused the US government of attempting to stifle the charges.<ref>"U.S. 'Muzzle' on Genocide Charge Alleged", ''Washington Post'', 1 January 1952, p. 2; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/152465079 via ProQuest].</ref> The US government ordered Patterson detained in Britain and seized his passport when he returned to America.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 50–51.</ref> Robeson had been unable to obtain a passport, and the difficult these two men faced in traveling led some to accuse the American government of censorship.<ref> Louis Lautier, "[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pbpjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3ykMAAAAIBAJ&dq=us%20should%20revise%20its%20passport%20denial%20policy&pg=647%2C15419238 U.S. Should Revise Its Passport Denial Policy]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 29 December 1951.</ref><ref>"[http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mNQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=paul%20asks%20passport%20to%20give%20un%20report&pg=4808%2C2877955 Paul Asks Passport to Give UN Report]", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 15 December 1951.</ref>


==Reception==
==Reception==
"We Charge Genocide" was mostly ignored by the mainstream American press, except for the ''Chicago Tribune'', which called it "shameful lies" (and evidence against the value Genocide Convention itself).<ref>"The Genocide Trap", ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', 22 December 1951, p. 8; [http://search.proquest.com/docview/178309143 via ProQuest].</ref> [[I. F. Stone]] was one of the only white American journalists to write favorably of the document.<ref name=Afro/><ref>Martin, '"Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 51–52.</ref> The CRC had communist affiliations, and the document attracted international attention fueled by the worldwide communist movement.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 37.</ref> [[Raphael Lemkin]], who invented the term "genocide" and advocated for the Genocide Convention, disagreed with the petition because the African American population was increasing—and accused its authors of wishing to distract attention from [[Mass_killings_under_Communist_regimes#Soviet_Union|genocide in the Soviet Union]] because of their communist sympathies.<ref name=Afro/>
"We Charge Genocide" was mostly ignored by the mainstream American press, except for the ''Chicago Tribune'', which called it "shameful lies" (and evidence against the value Genocide Convention itself).<ref>"The Genocide Trap", ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', 22 December 1951, p. 8; [http://search.proquest.com/docview/178309143 via ProQuest].</ref> [[I. F. Stone]] was one of the only white American journalists to write favorably of the document.<ref name=Afro/><ref>Martin, '"Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 51–52.</ref> The CRC had communist affiliations, and the document attracted international attention fueled by the worldwide communist movement.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 37.</ref> [[Raphael Lemkin]], who invented the term "genocide" and advocated for the Genocide Convention, disagreed with the petition because the African American population was increasing—and accused its authors of wishing to distract attention from [[Mass_killings_under_Communist_regimes#Soviet_Union|genocide in the Soviet Union]] because of their communist sympathies.<ref name=Afro/> Lemkin accused Patterson and Robeson of serving foreign powers, and published an op-ed in the ''[[New York Times]]'' arguing that Blacks did not experience "destruction, death, annihilation" that would qualify as genocide.<ref name=Docker/>


The petition was particularly well-received in Europe, where it received abundant press coverage.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 53.</ref> Indeed, "We Charge Genocide" was popular almost everywhere in the world except in America—one American writer traveling India in 1952 found that many people had become familiar with the cases of the [[Martinsville Seven]] and [[Willie McGee (convict)|Willie McGee]] through the document.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 54.</ref>
The petition was particularly well-received in Europe, where it received abundant press coverage.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 53.</ref> Indeed, "We Charge Genocide" was popular almost everywhere in the world except in America—one American writer traveling India in 1952 found that many people had become familiar with the cases of the [[Martinsville Seven]] and [[Willie McGee (convict)|Willie McGee]] through the document.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 54.</ref>


The American delegation heavily criticized the document. Eleanor Roosevelt called it "ridiculous". Black delegates [[Edith Sampson]] and [[Channing Heggie Tobias|Channing Tobias]] spoke to European audiences about how the situation of African Americans was improving.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 49–50.</ref>
The American delegation heavily criticized the document. Eleanor Roosevelt called it "ridiculous". Black delegates [[Edith Sampson]] and [[Channing Heggie Tobias|Channing Tobias]] spoke to European audiences about how the situation of African Americans was improving.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 49–50.</ref><ref name=Docker/>


The NAACP, at the request of the State Department, drafted a press release repudiating "We Charge Genocide", calling it "a gross and subversive conspiracy". However, upon hearing initial press reports of the petition, and the expected NAACP response, the group decided to hold back, ultimately deciding that the petition did, indeed, reflect many of its views.<ref>"White Turns Down State Dept. Bid", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 8 December 1951; [http://search.proquest.com/docview/531712825 via ProQuest].</ref><ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 46–47.</ref>
The NAACP, at the request of the State Department, drafted a press release repudiating "We Charge Genocide", calling it "a gross and subversive conspiracy". However, upon hearing initial press reports of the petition, and the expected NAACP response, the group decided to hold back, ultimately deciding that the petition did, indeed, reflect many of its views.<ref>"White Turns Down State Dept. Bid", ''Baltimore Afro-American'', 8 December 1951; [http://search.proquest.com/docview/531712825 via ProQuest].</ref><ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 46–47.</ref> "How can we 'blast' a book that uses our records as source material?", asked [[Roy Wilkins]].<ref>Anderson, ''Eyes Off the Prize'' (1995), p. 166–167.</ref>


The CRC's power was already declining due to accusations of Communism during the [[Red Scare]], and it disbanded in 1956.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 54.</ref>
The CRC's power was already declining due to accusations of Communism during the [[Red Scare]], and it disbanded in 1956.<ref>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 54.</ref>

The United Nations did not acknowledge receiving the petition. Nor was it expected to, given the strength of U.S. influence.<ref name=Docker/><ref>"UN May Not Accept CRC Petition", ''Atlanta Daily World'', 18 January 1952; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/490960765 via ProQuest].</ref>


==Legacy==
==Legacy==
The document has been credited with popularizing the term "genocide" among Blacks.<ref>Robert G. Weisbord, "Birth control and the black American: A matter of genocide?", ''Journal of Demography'' 10(4), 1973, p. 576; [http://www.springerlink.com/content/b214530230281636/?MUD=MP via SpringerLink], DOI: 10.2307/2060884.</ref> After renewed interest generated by [[Malcom X]] and the [[Black Panther Party]], "We Charge Genocide" was republished in 1970 by [[International Publishers]].<ref name=Martin55>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 55.</ref> Allegations of genocide were renewed in relation to the disproportionate effects of [[CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the US|crack cocaine]] and [[HIV/AIDS_in_the_United_States#Disparities_in_treatment|HIV/AIDS]] in the United States.<ref>Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 276–279.</ref> [[United States incarceration rate|Mass incarceration]] is another American phenomenon sometimes connected to the word "genocide."<ref>Glen Ford, "[http://blackagendareport.com/content/mass-black-incarceration-damn-right-we-charge-genocide Mass Black Incarceration: Damn Right, We Charge Genocide]", ''Black Agenda Report'', 14 February 2012</ref> The term has generally not used, by the United Nations, [[anthropologist]]s, or mass media to refer to the internal affairs of Western states after 1945.<ref>Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 273–274.</ref><ref>Joy James, "The Dead Zone: Stumbling at the Crossroads of Party Politics, Genocide, and Postracial Racism", ''South Atlantic Quarterly'' 108(3), Summer 2009; accessed [http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/108/3/459.full.pdf+html via Duke University Press]; DOI: 10.1215/00382876-2009-003.</ref>
The document has been credited with popularizing the term "genocide" among Blacks.<ref>Robert G. Weisbord, "Birth control and the black American: A matter of genocide?", ''Journal of Demography'' 10(4), 1973, p. 576; [http://www.springerlink.com/content/b214530230281636/?MUD=MP via SpringerLink], DOI: 10.2307/2060884.</ref> After renewed interest generated by [[Malcom X]] and the [[Black Panther Party]], "We Charge Genocide" was republished in 1970 by [[International Publishers]].<ref name=Martin55>Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 55.</ref> Allegations of genocide were renewed in relation to the disproportionate effects of [[CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the US|crack cocaine]] and [[HIV/AIDS_in_the_United_States#Disparities_in_treatment|HIV/AIDS]] in the United States.<ref>Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 276–279.</ref> The [[National Black United Front]] petitioned the United Nations in 1996–1997, directly citing "We Charge Genocide" and using the same slogan.<ref name=Worrill>Worrill, Conrad W., "We Charge Genocide", ''New York Amsterdam News'', 19 April 1997; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/390454526 via ProQuest].</ref><ref>Askia Muhammad, "We Charge Genocide... Again!", ''The Washington Informer'', 14 May 1997; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/367741567 via ProQuest].</ref> Their petition begins:

<blockquote>''Declaration of Genocide by the U.S. Government Against the Black Population in the United States.''</br>
Whereas, we the undersigned people of African ancestry understand that the proliferation of the distribution and sale of crack cocaine...has reached epidemic proportions, causing serious harm to the African community in the United States. Therefore, we understand that this harm can only be described as acts of genocide by the United States government through its Central Intelligence Agency.</br>
In addition to acts of genocide perpetuated through the CIA and in this recent revelation, acts of genocide can also be attributed to the Government's use of taxpayers' resources to wage war on a segment of the U.S. population. This is evidenced by the following: (1) cutting back on welfare; (2) privatization of public housing and land grab schemes; (3) privatization of public education; (4) racist immigration policies; (5) privatization of basic health care; (6) building prisons and the expanding incarceration of millions of African and Latino youth.<ref name=Worrill/></blockquote>

[[United States incarceration rate|Mass incarceration]] is another American phenomenon sometimes connected to the word "genocide."<ref>Glen Ford, "[http://blackagendareport.com/content/mass-black-incarceration-damn-right-we-charge-genocide Mass Black Incarceration: Damn Right, We Charge Genocide]", ''Black Agenda Report'', 14 February 2012</ref> Disproportionate application of the death penalty has been cited,<ref>Alton H. Maddox Jr., "'We Charge Genocide!'--50 years later", ''New York Amsterdam News'', 30 August 2001; accessed [http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.usc.edu/docview/390387465 via ProQuest].</ref> as it was in the 1946–1951 era by the CRC. The term has generally not used, by the United Nations, [[anthropologist]]s, or mass media to refer to the internal affairs of Western states after 1945.<ref>Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 273–274.</ref><ref>Joy James, "The Dead Zone: Stumbling at the Crossroads of Party Politics, Genocide, and Postracial Racism", ''South Atlantic Quarterly'' 108(3), Summer 2009; accessed [http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/108/3/459.full.pdf+html via Duke University Press]; DOI: 10.1215/00382876-2009-003.</ref>


The petition also represented one of the first high-profile uses of the modern concept of "[[racism]]", framed in relation to the [[Eugenics|eugenic]] ideology of the reviled [[Nazi]]s.<ref>Barnor Hesse, "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Postracial Horizon", ''South Atlantic Quarterly'' 110(1), Winter 2011; accessed [http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/110/1/155.full.pdf+html via Duke University Press], doi: 10.1215/00382876-2010-027.</ref>
The petition also represented one of the first high-profile uses of the modern concept of "[[racism]]", framed in relation to the [[Eugenics|eugenic]] ideology of the reviled [[Nazi]]s.<ref>Barnor Hesse, "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Postracial Horizon", ''South Atlantic Quarterly'' 110(1), Winter 2011; accessed [http://saq.dukejournals.org/content/110/1/155.full.pdf+html via Duke University Press], doi: 10.1215/00382876-2010-027.</ref>
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===Works cited===
===Works cited===
* Anderson, Carol Elaine. ''Eyes off the prize: African-Americans, the United Nations, and the struggle for human rights, 1944–1952''. Dissertation (approved), submitted 1995 at Ohio State University; accessed [http://search.proquest.com/docview/304223742 via ProQuest].
* Martin, Charles H., "Internationalizing "The American Dilemma": The Civil Rights Congress and the 1951 Genocide", ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' 16(4), Summer 1997, accessed [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502217 via JStor].
* Martin, Charles H., "Internationalizing "The American Dilemma": The Civil Rights Congress and the 1951 Genocide", ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' 16(4), Summer 1997, accessed [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502217 via JStor].
* Vargas, João H. Costa, "Genocide in the African Diaspora: United States, Brazil, and the Need for a Holistic Research and Political Method", ''Cultural Dynamics'' 17(3), November 2005; accessed [http://cdy.sagepub.com/content/17/3/267 via SAGE], DOI: 10.1177/0921374005061991.
* Vargas, João H. Costa, "Genocide in the African Diaspora: United States, Brazil, and the Need for a Holistic Research and Political Method", ''Cultural Dynamics'' 17(3), November 2005; accessed [http://cdy.sagepub.com/content/17/3/267 via SAGE], DOI: 10.1177/0921374005061991.

Revision as of 03:45, 29 November 2012

"We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People" is a document accusing the United States government of genocide according to the UN Genocide Convention. This document was created by the Civil Rights Congress (CRC) and presented to the United Nations in December 1951.

As evidence of genocide, defined as acts committed with "intent to destroy" a group, "in whole or in part", the document cites many instances of lynching in the United States, as well as legal discrimination, and systematic inequalities in health and quality of life. It argues that the US government is both complicit with and responsible for a genocidal situation.

The document received international media attention and became caught up in Cold War politics. Its many examples of shocking conditions for African Americans shaped beliefs about America in countries across the world. The American government and white press accused the CRC of exaggerating racial inequality to advance the cause of Communism. The US State Department forced CRC secretary William L. Patterson to surrender his passport after presenting the petition to a UN meeting in Paris.

Background

Soon after the United Nations was created in 1945, it began to receive requests for assistance from across the world. These came from European colonies in Africa and Asia, but also from African Americans. The first group to petition the UN regarding African Americans was the National Negro Congress (NNC), which in 1946 delivered a statement on racial discrimination to the Secretary General. The next appeal, from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1947, was over 100 pages in length. W. E. B. Du Bois presented it to the UN on 23 October 1947, over the objections of Eleanor Roosevelt, then an American delegate to the UN.[1] Du Bois, frustrated with the State Department's opposition to the petitions, criticized Walter White for accepting a position as consultant to the US delegation; White in turn pushed Du Bois out of the NAACP.[2]

The petitions were praised by international press and by Black press in the United States. America's mainstream media, however, were ambivalent or hostile. Some agreed that there was truth to the petitions, but suggested that 'tattling' to the UN would aid the cause of Communism. And indeed the Soviet Union did cite them as evidence of poor conditions in America.[3]

The Civil Rights Congress (CRC), the successor to the International Labor Defense group, began to gain momentum domestically by defending Blacks sentenced to execution such as Rosa Lee Ingram and the Trenton Six. The NNC joined forces with the CRC in 1947.[4]

Contents

The petition quotes the UN’s definition of genocide as “Any intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, or religious group is genocide." and concludes that "the oppressed Negro citizens of the United States, segregated, discriminated against, and long the target of violence, suffer from genocide as the result of the consistent, conscious, unified policies of every branch of government. If the General Assembly acts as the conscience of mankind and therefore acts favorably on our petition, it will have served the cause of peace." The CRC emphasized that attempts to destroy a group "in part" was part of the definition, and argued that treatment of African Americans qualified as genocide.[5]

As evidence, the 237-page petition addresses the question of racism in the United States from different angles. It lists hundreds of wrongful executions and lynchings, referred to at least 10,000 undocumented cases, and also charged that U.S. had engaged in a conspiracy against African Americans' ability to vote through poll taxes and literacy tests. In addition to legal discrimination, the petition discusses systematic economic inequalities and differences in quality of life.[6]

Ultimately, the petition holds the US government responsible for genocide, through endorsement of both racism and "monopoly capitalism"—without which "the persistent, constant, widespread, institutionalized commission of the crime of genocide would be impossible".[5] Seeking to demonstrate the urgency of the problem, and to invite explicit comparisons between American genocide and Nazi genocide, the document focuses on incidents occurring after 1945.[7] The CRC procured source material carefully, and critics of the document acknowledged that its facts were correct.[8]

The CRC sought to demonstrate that systematic oppression of African Americans amounted to genocide because it reflected a violent white supremacy at the core of American culture.[9]

Delivery

On 17 December 1951, the petition was presented to the United Nations on two separate venues: Paul Robeson, concert singer and activist, together with people who signed the petition, handed the document to a UN official in New York, while William L. Patterson, executive director of the Civil Rights Congress, delivered copies of the drafted petition to a UN delegation in Paris.[10] W. E. B. Du Bois, also slated to deliver the petition in Paris, had been designated an "unregistered foreign agent" and was deterred from traveling.[11][12]

The 125 copies Patterson mailed to Paris did not arrive, allegedly intercepted by the US government. However Patterson was able to distribute other copies, which he had shipped in small packages to individuals' homes.[13]

The document was signed by many people, including:[6]

  • W. E. B. Du Bois, African American sociologist, historian and Pan-Africanist activist
  • George W. Crockett, Jr., African American lawyer and politician
  • Benjamin J. Davis, Jr., African-American lawyer and communist New York councilman
  • Ferdinand Smith
  • Oakley C. Johnson, Communist activist
  • Aubrey Grossman, labor and civil rights lawyer
  • Claudia Jones, Communist and black nationalist activists
  • Rosalie McGee, the widow of Willie McGee, who in 1951 was executed after being controversially convicted of rape
  • Josephine Grayson, the widow of Francis Grayson, one of the "Martinsville Seven", who in 1951 were executed in Virginia after a much-publicized trial
  • Amy Mallard and Dorris Mallard, remaining family of George Mallard, lynched in 1948 for voting
  • Paul Washington, veteran on death row in Louisiana
  • Wesley R. Wells, prisoner in California facing execution for throwing a cuspidor at a guard
  • Horace Wilson, James Thorpe, Collis English, and Ralph Cooper, four of the Trenton Six

Patterson said he was ignored by Ralph Bunche and Channing Tobias, but that Edith Sampson would talk to him.[13]

Patterson was ordered to surrender his passport at the United States embassy in France. Having refused, US agents said they would seize it as his hotel room.[14] Patterson fled to Budapest, where through the newspaper Szabad Nép he accused the US government of attempting to stifle the charges.[15] The US government ordered Patterson detained in Britain and seized his passport when he returned to America.[16] Robeson had been unable to obtain a passport, and the difficult these two men faced in traveling led some to accuse the American government of censorship.[17][18]

Reception

"We Charge Genocide" was mostly ignored by the mainstream American press, except for the Chicago Tribune, which called it "shameful lies" (and evidence against the value Genocide Convention itself).[19] I. F. Stone was one of the only white American journalists to write favorably of the document.[6][20] The CRC had communist affiliations, and the document attracted international attention fueled by the worldwide communist movement.[21] Raphael Lemkin, who invented the term "genocide" and advocated for the Genocide Convention, disagreed with the petition because the African American population was increasing—and accused its authors of wishing to distract attention from genocide in the Soviet Union because of their communist sympathies.[6] Lemkin accused Patterson and Robeson of serving foreign powers, and published an op-ed in the New York Times arguing that Blacks did not experience "destruction, death, annihilation" that would qualify as genocide.[11]

The petition was particularly well-received in Europe, where it received abundant press coverage.[22] Indeed, "We Charge Genocide" was popular almost everywhere in the world except in America—one American writer traveling India in 1952 found that many people had become familiar with the cases of the Martinsville Seven and Willie McGee through the document.[23]

The American delegation heavily criticized the document. Eleanor Roosevelt called it "ridiculous". Black delegates Edith Sampson and Channing Tobias spoke to European audiences about how the situation of African Americans was improving.[24][11]

The NAACP, at the request of the State Department, drafted a press release repudiating "We Charge Genocide", calling it "a gross and subversive conspiracy". However, upon hearing initial press reports of the petition, and the expected NAACP response, the group decided to hold back, ultimately deciding that the petition did, indeed, reflect many of its views.[25][26] "How can we 'blast' a book that uses our records as source material?", asked Roy Wilkins.[27]

The CRC's power was already declining due to accusations of Communism during the Red Scare, and it disbanded in 1956.[28]

The United Nations did not acknowledge receiving the petition. Nor was it expected to, given the strength of U.S. influence.[11][29]

Legacy

The document has been credited with popularizing the term "genocide" among Blacks.[30] After renewed interest generated by Malcom X and the Black Panther Party, "We Charge Genocide" was republished in 1970 by International Publishers.[31] Allegations of genocide were renewed in relation to the disproportionate effects of crack cocaine and HIV/AIDS in the United States.[32] The National Black United Front petitioned the United Nations in 1996–1997, directly citing "We Charge Genocide" and using the same slogan.[33][34] Their petition begins:

Declaration of Genocide by the U.S. Government Against the Black Population in the United States.

Whereas, we the undersigned people of African ancestry understand that the proliferation of the distribution and sale of crack cocaine...has reached epidemic proportions, causing serious harm to the African community in the United States. Therefore, we understand that this harm can only be described as acts of genocide by the United States government through its Central Intelligence Agency.

In addition to acts of genocide perpetuated through the CIA and in this recent revelation, acts of genocide can also be attributed to the Government's use of taxpayers' resources to wage war on a segment of the U.S. population. This is evidenced by the following: (1) cutting back on welfare; (2) privatization of public housing and land grab schemes; (3) privatization of public education; (4) racist immigration policies; (5) privatization of basic health care; (6) building prisons and the expanding incarceration of millions of African and Latino youth.[33]

Mass incarceration is another American phenomenon sometimes connected to the word "genocide."[35] Disproportionate application of the death penalty has been cited,[36] as it was in the 1946–1951 era by the CRC. The term has generally not used, by the United Nations, anthropologists, or mass media to refer to the internal affairs of Western states after 1945.[37][38]

The petition also represented one of the first high-profile uses of the modern concept of "racism", framed in relation to the eugenic ideology of the reviled Nazis.[39]

"We Charge Genocide" was used as an example of how the Genocide Convention could be used against the United States.[40] The convention remained unpopular with the United States government and was not ratified until 1986.[31]

References

  1. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 37–38.
  2. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 41–42.
  3. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 39–40.
  4. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 42.
  5. ^ a b Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'"' (1997), pp. 44-45.
  6. ^ a b c d "UN Asked to Act Against Genocide in the United States", Baltimore Afro-American, 22 December 1951, p. 19.
  7. ^ Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize (1995), p. 165. "The CRC only focused on incidents of mob violence and police terror since 1945; that is to say, since America proclaimed itself the leader of the 'free world' The charge of genocide, in the wake of the Holocaust, was devastating; it was more wrenching under the klieg lights of the Korean War and American platitudes about democracy. And everyone knew it."
  8. ^ Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize (1995), p. 166. "After it became clear that the CRC had, in fact, meticulously verified each incident, White tried another tactic. The 'facts are true' he lamented, but 'like all indictments drafted by a prosecutor', We Charge Genocide is one-sided [...]."
  9. ^ Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 269–270.
  10. ^ "We Charge Genocide: The cry rings true 52 years later". Article. peoples world. Retrieved 4/21/2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ a b c d John Docker, "Raphaël Lemkin, creator of the concept of genocide: a world history perspective", Humanities Research 16(2), 2010; accessed via ProQuest.
  12. ^ Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize (1995), p. 169. "Du Bois was ready to take his stand. He anticipated the inevitable passport problems with the State Department but did not forsee the warnings from his attorney as well as from his new wife, Shirley Graham. They cautioned him just after winning that bitter and expensive legal battle against the Justice Department, it would not be wise to provoke another indictment."
  13. ^ a b James L. Hicks, "Patterson Charges U.S. Stole Passport", Baltimore Afro-American, 2 February 1951.
  14. ^ "W. L. PATTERSON SAYS U. S. BARS HIM AT U. N.", New York Times, 1 January 1952, p. 10; accessed via ProQuest.
  15. ^ "U.S. 'Muzzle' on Genocide Charge Alleged", Washington Post, 1 January 1952, p. 2; accessed via ProQuest.
  16. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 50–51.
  17. ^ Louis Lautier, "U.S. Should Revise Its Passport Denial Policy", Baltimore Afro-American, 29 December 1951.
  18. ^ "Paul Asks Passport to Give UN Report", Baltimore Afro-American, 15 December 1951.
  19. ^ "The Genocide Trap", Chicago Daily Tribune, 22 December 1951, p. 8; via ProQuest.
  20. ^ Martin, '"Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 51–52.
  21. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 37.
  22. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 53.
  23. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 54.
  24. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 49–50.
  25. ^ "White Turns Down State Dept. Bid", Baltimore Afro-American, 8 December 1951; via ProQuest.
  26. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 46–47.
  27. ^ Anderson, Eyes Off the Prize (1995), p. 166–167.
  28. ^ Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), p. 54.
  29. ^ "UN May Not Accept CRC Petition", Atlanta Daily World, 18 January 1952; accessed via ProQuest.
  30. ^ Robert G. Weisbord, "Birth control and the black American: A matter of genocide?", Journal of Demography 10(4), 1973, p. 576; via SpringerLink, DOI: 10.2307/2060884.
  31. ^ a b Martin, "Internationalizing 'The American Dilemma'" (1997), pp. 55.
  32. ^ Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 276–279.
  33. ^ a b Worrill, Conrad W., "We Charge Genocide", New York Amsterdam News, 19 April 1997; accessed via ProQuest.
  34. ^ Askia Muhammad, "We Charge Genocide... Again!", The Washington Informer, 14 May 1997; accessed via ProQuest.
  35. ^ Glen Ford, "Mass Black Incarceration: Damn Right, We Charge Genocide", Black Agenda Report, 14 February 2012
  36. ^ Alton H. Maddox Jr., "'We Charge Genocide!'--50 years later", New York Amsterdam News, 30 August 2001; accessed via ProQuest.
  37. ^ Vargas, "Genocide in the African Diaspora" (2005), pp. 273–274.
  38. ^ Joy James, "The Dead Zone: Stumbling at the Crossroads of Party Politics, Genocide, and Postracial Racism", South Atlantic Quarterly 108(3), Summer 2009; accessed via Duke University Press; DOI: 10.1215/00382876-2009-003.
  39. ^ Barnor Hesse, "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Postracial Horizon", South Atlantic Quarterly 110(1), Winter 2011; accessed via Duke University Press, doi: 10.1215/00382876-2010-027.
  40. ^ Anton Weiss-wendt, "Hostage of politics: Raphael Lemkin on 'Soviet genocide'", Journal of Genocide Research 7(4), 2005; T&F Online, DOI:10.1080/14623520500350017.

Works cited

  • Anderson, Carol Elaine. Eyes off the prize: African-Americans, the United Nations, and the struggle for human rights, 1944–1952. Dissertation (approved), submitted 1995 at Ohio State University; accessed via ProQuest.
  • Martin, Charles H., "Internationalizing "The American Dilemma": The Civil Rights Congress and the 1951 Genocide", Journal of American Ethnic History 16(4), Summer 1997, accessed via JStor.
  • Vargas, João H. Costa, "Genocide in the African Diaspora: United States, Brazil, and the Need for a Holistic Research and Political Method", Cultural Dynamics 17(3), November 2005; accessed via SAGE, DOI: 10.1177/0921374005061991.

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