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Communist Workers Party (U.S.) Wikipedia

The Communist Workers Party (CWP) was a Maoist group in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the Workers' Viewpoint Organization. Its founding cadre were drawn from the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) but had grown disenchanted with that group.

The party followed the policies of both Mao Tse-Tung and Josef Stalin, later also praising Pol Pot, and gave some support to the Islamists of the Iranian Revolution, approving of their persecution of Trotskyists. The CWP also incorporated aspects of the The Communist Party and African-Americans|CPUSA's pre-Popular Front program. In particular it emphasized unionization and self-determination for Black nationalism|African-Americans.

The CWP focused its organizing efforts in textile cities of the American South, where the PLP had organized 10 years before. The new party succeeded in establishing small branches, but encountered considerable resistance. The CWP was also opposed by the Ku Klux Klan, which opposed civil rights and communism. Confrontations were particularly acute in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the Klan attempted to disrupt the work of the CWP and vice versa. In July, 1979, the Klan held a rally and viewing of The Birth of a Nation in China Grove, North Carolina|China Grove, near Greensboro, which was disrupted by CWP members who burned a Confederate flag and taunted members of the KKK. There were also challenges in the press; CWP leader Paul Bermanzohn wrote that, "The KKK is one of the most treacherous scum elements produced by the dying system of capitalism. We challenge you to attend our rally in Greensboro." These apparent provocations provided the KKK a pretext for a coming violent showdown.

In a November 3, 1979 incident which became known as the Greensboro Massacre, members of the KKK, including a police informant, and the American Nazi Party attacked a "Death to the klan!" rally, organized by the CWP. Two members of the CWP and three rally participants were killed in the gunfight with the KKK. In response to the failure of the Jimmy Carter|Carter administration to ensure the conviction of the accused killers, the group attempted to storm the 1980 Democratic National Convention and succeeded in setting off firecrackers in Madison Square Garden. Despite this, the group decided to dissolve itself into the United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party in 1985, renaming itself the New Democratic Movement.

Last Modified:   2005-11-07