The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 3, 1927, Page 6

Negro Looks on in Boston (Continued from Page One) something known to them as justice. We cannot understand these. We have never seen a demonstra- tion of justice in our lives, nor have we ever seen any one who ever saw a demonstration of justice. AS we listen, we are amazed at their naivete. For us, it was a little different. Probably we knew more about lynchings. Probably the upwards of three thousand lynchings, legal and illegal, with black men and women. as the victims, committed with the sanction of the best families of Georgia and Mississippi, of Alabama and Tennessee, of Texas and Florida, had driven the last vestige of any illusion of the existence of magnanimity in the heart of the dominant class in America out of our minds. We had come to Boston to repay in our small way the Darrews and others, who in Detroit, Michigan, fought so valiantly for Dr. Sweet. That was one reason for our presence. Yet there was another. A much more vital one. We felt the manifestation of it of the utmost importance. We had come to Boston to dispel any illusion which might exist about Negroes being afraid to align themselves with class conscious, militant labor. We had come to give evidence of that new solidarity of labor which knows no racial differences, permits within its ranks of no racial distinctions, and ada- mantly bans all racial discrimination. We had come to Boston to make manffest the transcendency of class consciousness over race consciousness. We had come to demonstrate as a member of that group, whose suffering in America dates from the found- ing of this “land of the brave and home of the free” against this ghastly, vicious exhibition of man’s in- humanity to man. Boston was ready to receive us, not as a guest invited to witness the assassination of Sacco and Vanzetti! Qh, no! But Boston had mobilized a reception committee of several thousand armed, harnessed police, innumerable motorcycle squads, mounted cossacks, plain clothes men, and then pos- sibly in order that the reception committee might be truly representative, those thugs out of jail and not actively engaged in carrying throvgh any pri- vately planned project, were armed with rifles and clubs and stationed around the public buildings, Truly, for the dastardly task Boston was about to perform, she had selected a worthy body to receive her visitors. These were the outward signs of the extent to which she had. gone to’ make our wel- come indeed one of lasting memory. Later we were to discover that the reception committee had ar- ranged to have several public buildings, almost in their entirety, turned over to us. And to make cer- tain we would remain to partake of their hospitality to the full, those buildings with iron-barred windows and steel doors were the ones selected. They made these preparations to prove beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt that wien a sovereign state, through its duly elected servants, .has decreed a lynching, the protest of its socially-minded citi- zens, even though in the majority, and of the civil- ized members of a so-called civilized world would not be heeded. Steps were taken to prevent all ’ Intimidation « By H. G. WEISS. It is not well to dare the wrath Of them who prize the dollar. Tread you in your accustomed path Ane wear the iron collar. : Not yours to question. Yours to work And take you meagre dole. The rack and whip for them who shirk? Damnation for the soul. Since-when have slaves had_any rights? Be meek and humble, give. ... A kindly master will requite .... Be thankful that you live! Is it not just? The rope and stake’ Are grim and grewsome things. The gallows has a lust to slake And does the will of kings. Think you this fat, fastidious boss So arrogant and proud, Has not some chromosomes whose loss Has left you maimed and bowed? Be silent and accept your lot, Or if to speak you dare, Take warning from your fellows caught In an electric chair! ome Di cae expression of disapproval within the environs of the city. : Bnt we had comé to protest, to peaceably seek to dissuade if possible those servants of the citizens of Massachusetts from an act of terrorism, to as- sert the rights guaranteed us under the constitn- tion of the United States, and cf the state of Massa- chusetts, and though we numbered ourselves among those who realized the. futility of the measures to which we resorted, we proposed to utilize those nethods as long as we remained free agents. Since we intended to carry into effect our desire to_influence those in power, it was necessary to go before the public, and the public in Boston, on Aug- ust 21st, 1297, was most of it to be found on Boston Commons. : For generations, Boston Commons has remained inviolate, the place where the voice of the people might be heard. There, one could petition for a redress of any and all grievances; tould air any political philosophy, could challenge any form of tyranny. But contrary to the belief of many that this would hold true on all occasions, we were soon to discover that the traditional right of the people did not include the right of criticism of a,govern- ment bent on murder. a government bent upon the destruction of the morale of its working-class, bent upon sating itself of its bloodlust with the burning of two. class-conscious workers who wete innocent of all crime, save the crime of exalting class above country, class above race, class above crecd. Determined to proceed, we became one of a small group equally so determined, and armed with pla- cards bearing such inscriptions as “Gov. Fuller is your conscience clear, have you examined the. re- port of your. advisory committee?” “Saeco and Van- zetti must not die!” “Is justice dead in Massachu- setts?” “Has the cradle ef liberty become the ark of tyranny?” and others we proceeded on our mis- sion. The effect of our appearance thus armed was instantaneous. There -was little time given us to speculate about our reception. The preparations Boston had been put to, had a use value, and Bos- tonians were eager to measure its extent. Cheers mingled with boos, curses with words of sympathy, hand claps with cat calls, and then the first dele- gation of the reception committee, the mounted cossacks, charged down upon our line. One gently ran his fingers down our back, and lifting us off of our feet, tenderly yet in unmistakable terms of welcome, said, “You are the first nigger anarchist I ever saw. Just think of a nigger bastard a Bol- shevik!” The placard was torn from our hands and destroyed. By this time others of the reception committee had arrived and between two uniformed officers with several plain clothes men gleefully trotting by their side, we were marched to a patrol waggon. which had been kept waiting ‘at the Tre- mont Street entrance of the Commons for those of Boston’s visitors who had the temerity to comment upon her dishonor. There we were greeted by one ef our comrades who had also been gathered in by the reception committee. She was assisted into the waggon, then one of our guardians said, “We can’t put the nigger in the waggon with a white woman, we will let him ride outside.” And there we rode to the building prepared to receive us. The Passing x 7 | Labor Day (Continued from Page One) tional strike on the first of May, 1886. The response to the strike was so enthusiastic that the employers decided drastic action must be taken to halt the movement. The Haymarket massacre and the bloody persecu- tion and murder of the most militant of la- bor’s leaders was the answer. ~ Following the hanging of the Haymarket trada union leaders a period of apathy pre- vailed until 1889 when the workers again resumed the fight for the eight-hour-day. This time instead of a general strike of all unions, each organization was to strike sep- arately. Some ains were made but after a few years the strugglé was abandoned and when the United States congress in 1894 passed a law declaring Labor Day a holiday in the District of Columbia and the Terri- tories, the officials of the A, F. of L. con- sidered the battle won. Since then Labor Day has been gradually losing its labor character, ~ sgt As the Labor Day blessed by the capital- ists is losing its original vitality and has al- ready become a day of mutual back-scratch- ing between the labor fakers and the em- ployers, May Day—the real Labor Day— will gain in strength, prestige and signific- ance to the workers of the United States,