Newspapers / North Carolina Anvil (Durham, … / Nov. 9, 1979, edition 1 / Page 1
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the north carol in VOLUME 13, NUMBER 646 A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF POLITICS AND THE ARTS NOVEMBER 9, 1979 The Greensboro Killings THE DEATH OF A REVOLUTIONARY R. BROWN In the aftermath of the brutal slayings in Greensboro, the death count totals five, nine were wounded and one is still hospitalized. The po lice have in custody 14 people, in cluding a 16-year-old boy, all with ties to the hodge-podge of North Carolina KKK klaverns or the Nazi Party. In broad outline, what took place last Saturday morning at the anti- Klan rally, touted as a “Death to the Klan” demonstration called by the Communist Workers Party (for merly the Workers Viewpoint Or ganization), needs little additional attention here. Who in North Caro lina, or lor that matter, the nation, the world isn’t already familiar with what happened? The Klan/Nazi cara van arrived at the low-income housing project, the gathering point of the planned march, and moments later opened up with shotguns, rifles, pistols, gunning down 14 demonstra tors, all members of the radical left CWP. Nonetheless, a general knowledge of what took place is not sufficient for an understanding of the event. There are too many details within Photo By Jim Stratford, C 1979 Greensboro Daily News Sally Bermanzohn Aids Unidentified Wounded Demonstrator What a difference two years makes ANVIL STAFF REPORTS Two years ago Bill Smith received 7,000 votes to lead the at-large race for three Durham City Council seats. Voter turnout was 35 percent. The 1977 city elections tipped the council in favor of the progressives for the first time in years. Last week incumbent Paul Bland got 7,781 votes in the at-large seat, according to unofficial returns, and finished out of the money in fourth position. Voter turnout was roughly 42 percent. The leader was Duke administrator Paul Vick with 9,838 votes. And so it went as the conserva tive Aiusiness forces turned out their folks. Moderate/conservative vot ers have always outnumbered liberal A>lack voter s, but the conser- I vatives seldom voted or cast their votes as a bloc. The conservative slate, headed by accountant and former school board member Harry Rodenhlzer, swept the mayor’s post and six council seats. The council is now back where it was prior to 1977 with an 8-5 margin lor the conserva tives. The number of black repre sentatives dropped from five to two. C.E. Boulware and Carolyn Thorn ton did not seek reelection and Bland was defeated. “You can’t say we didn’t work,’’ commented a Durham Voters Alli ance precinct worker. “We turned out our folks, probably better than we’ve ever done, but it was to no avail. We couldn’t match the adver- tlsting blitz and phone bank, backed by the new conservative political group. Voters for Durham’s Future, Our goals and objectives are so well defined that we’re drawing on a small pool of voters, much smaller than they are. Our potential is limited... “Nobody’s throwing in the towel, however, there are county and state elections next year, and another council election in two years.We’re not going to sit back and let the conservatives steamroller us.We’ll be working on voter registration and other projects, but we’ll be at com mittee meetings, public hearings and council sessions too. They may ig nore us and vote against us, but our presence will be seen day in and day out . , . “The Durham Committee (on the Affairs of Black People) did an ex cellent job, along with Carolina Ac tion, N.C. PIRG and others, but the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 the framework of the killings which remain murky or completely hidden, *How did the KKI/Nazl caravan of nine vehicles know the precise lo cation of the demonstration when the GWP only two days previously, changed the origin point? ♦Why were police not on the spot in a situation which had clear vio lent ramifications? Challenges from the CWP were sent to top Klan lead ers to attend the rally. The police were aware of these communiques which were destined to draw a res ponse. ♦While the CWP advocated the use of physical force and self-defense, the leadership assured the police they would carry no firearms at the demonstration as part of an agree ment to receive a parade permit. Apparently they honored it, though in some recent reports, one CWP member may have been armed with a pistol. ♦The police acknowledge they had under surveillance the KlanAazi caravan as it entered Greensboro. They followed the vehicles to the demonstration area, but took no ac tion even as the caravan turned into the street which was the staging point of the demonstration. Instead, the police stopped more than a block away. A more explosive situation is difficult to imagine. ♦There are many more details which require answers - the re- gionse time of the police to the shootings, for example. Reports in dicate stop-watch timing of the vio lence on video tape show, more tlian a minute of shooting. Yet the police claim to have had five cars on the scene In that time. The tapes and eyewitness: reporters dilute the claim. ♦But a last detail and the most Important, is that despite the ra dical rhetoric of the CWP, they had worked through the system to hold the demonstration. They had a per mit, agreed to certain restrictions and were entitled to express them selves. Instead, five were murdered. I know some of the people who were shot through various progres sive activities during the past ten years. They were all activists and hence newsworthy participants in civil rights on through to the re cent protests against the school competency tests. But one of the dead was a friend. Jim Waller. Dr. Jim Waller. When I met Jim five years ago, he had come down from New York after completing his residency. He was a good man and I liked him immediately. We didn’t always agree on the topics discussed, but he was the kind of solidly committed person who could laugh at my sometimes pointed jibes at his “ideological ice cream.’’ He was an intense man, thoughtful. He seemed preoccupied with heavy intellectual orobines: looking for answers. His concern was to help, to be human and do what he could. When adisasterousfireburnedmy CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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