Full Description
On November 3rd, 1979, in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Communist Workers Party (CWP) planned a "Death to the Klan" march in the predominately black, working class, public housing community of Morningside Homes. Nazis and Klansmen drove through and unloaded gunfire killing five CWP members. This work sets apart the story of Morningside Homes residents in this tragedy.
The book outlines three key contributions, recognizing the fight for equality beyond the Civil Rights Movement, centering local history, and tying race and class together to underscore "the disregard for the impoverished." It also offers a goal of becoming a blueprint for reconciliation and healing. It builds on previous notions about the relationship between political ideologies such as communism and the ways in which black movements connected or disconnected with those ideas depending on their class and geographical positionality.
This book will be of interest to scholars in civil rights/black power history and urban history, specifically those studying the ways in which notions of community politics in the urban south worked to dismantle racial residential segregation.
Contents
1. Introduction. 2. "We Shall Not, We Shall Not Be Moved": The Communist Workers Party (CWP) And The Fight Against White Supremacy. 3. "I Don't See The Difference Between Killing Communists In Vietnam And Killing Them Here": The North Carolina Klan And Their Strategies Of Defense Against Leftist Politics. 4. The Local Police And Their Response To Extremism: "Our Planning And Preparation For The Anti-Klan March Was Adequate And Proper". 5. "The Dirt Is Still Bloody": Morningside Homes And The Lasting Effects Of A Tragedy. 6. Conclusion. 7. Epilogue.
