This Date in History

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05C40 said:
In re: Entertainment venues under Cameron Underground, a/k/a, The Villiage Subway. Back in the day, there were rumors of some sort of government facility under Cameron Underground. Some time in the late 1970's a reporter for the News & Observer, who--just by happenstance I'm sure--was accompanied by an Otis Elevator repairman, somehow pushed the wrong button on a elevator and was taken down to a level below the nightclubs and music venues in Cameron Underground. Immediately upon disembarking from the elevator, the reporter and repairman were surrounded by what the reporter described as, IIRC, government types, who escorted them back to the surface level and advised them not to return. I was unable to find anything on the internet about this story/incident/place, but I swear I read it at the time.
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I read this once upon a time as well...can't say where though.
 
On this day (November 18) in 1980 a Guilford Superior Court jury acquitted six Klan/Nazis in the killing of five members of the Communist Workers Party. An independent investigation found, twenty-five years later, that the murderers had planned their actions and that the police had purposefully withdrawn from the area and through a paid informant knew of the Klan/Nazi plans to attack, shooting to kill, a “Death To The Klan” protest march sponsored partly by the CWP in the Morningside Heights section of Greensboro, a predominantly African American part of town. (https://greensborotrc.org) No one was punished for these murders though there were many eyewitnesses as well as film.

Indeed, on the Right the terrorist Ku Klux Klan had deep roots in the region. In 1979 in Greensboro the Workers Viewpoint Organization was working to energize and organize African American communities and workers in general to realize their civil rights. Connections with the Communist Workers Party were growing among the group’s membership. Some members were already CWP. The KKK found that type of action, especially because it was seeking to break down racism, as anathema. Both groups were aware of the natural hostility extant in their worldviews.

When the word went out that a battle had happened in Greensboro - which then became clearer and clearer was an ambush that turned into a massacre - the paramilitary presence of the KKK in our lives hit home for many of us like never before. Over 40 years later we stand on the precipice of a moment when racist thugs, wrapped in flags - The Confederate Stars and Bars as well as banners sporting Swastikas maddeningly mingled with Old Glory - slouch and slither among us with a boldness unknown in our lifetimes.

The murders of 1979 and the trial verdict of 1980 taught us that unhooded, regular seeming folk among us were deadly and determined enough to murder AND that they could get away with it in court. The NO JUSTICE verdict rendered in Greensboro 1980 wounded a generation but also passed down a sense of impunity to a new spawning of hate that we see so strong around us today.

There was No Justice realized over the Rightist murders that went down in Greensboro and our nation still suffers that travesty for the emboldening it brought on. That is, sadly, why today none of us can relax. The KKK has been joined by The Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers, and myriad other militarist anti-democratic combines - and as Greensboro 1979 and January 6, 2021 and many other operations have shown us - they will kill. Watch one another’s backs. Be on guard. Vigilance may very well be what eventually stems the tide. Countless acts of resistance may yet save the day. We have no real idea how often that it has previously halted The Worst. Let that sink in and invigorate you in these current dark times.

The very headline from ‘The Greensboro Daily News’ is telling in the use of the word “Shootout” instead of the accurate term, ‘Ambush.’

There is a good deal more to tell about the injustice of Greensboro 1979 than I’ve related here. At the link directly below read an excellent piece with a great many hot links and attributions by Guilford College grad, Eric Ginsburg. Don’t let the publication source fool you, this is legit historical writing.

www.google.com

This 1979 Massacre by the KKK Should Be Taught in Schools

Five protesters were killed in North Carolina while police looked the other way.
www.google.com www.google.com

IMG_5653.jpeg
 
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donbosco said:
On this day (November 18) in 1980 a Guilford Superior Court jury acquitted six Klan/Nazis in the killing of five members of the Communist Workers Party. An independent investigation found, twenty-five years later, that the murderers had planned their actions and that the police had purposefully withdrawn from the area and through a paid informant knew of the Klan/Nazi plans to attack, shooting to kill, a “Death To The Klan” protest march sponsored partly by the CWP in the Morningside Heights section of Greensboro, a predominantly African American part of town. (https://greensborotrc.org) No one was punished for these murders though there were many eyewitnesses as well as film.

Indeed, on the Right the terrorist Ku Klux Klan had deep roots in the region. In 1979 in Greensboro the Workers Viewpoint Organization was working to energize and organize African American communities and workers in general to realize their civil rights. Connections with the Communist Workers Party were growing among the group’s membership. Some members were already CWP. The KKK found that type of action, especially because it was seeking to break down racism, as anathema. Both groups were aware of the natural hostility extant in their worldviews.

When the word went out that a battle had happened in Greensboro - which then became clearer and clearer was an ambush that turned into a massacre - the paramilitary presence of the KKK in our lives hit home for many of us like never before. Over 40 years later we stand on the precipice of a moment when racist thugs, wrapped in flags - The Confederate Stars and Bars as well as banners sporting Swastikas maddeningly mingled with Old Glory - slouch and slither among us with a boldness unknown in our lifetimes.

The murders of 1979 and the trial verdict of 1980 taught us that unhooded, regular seeming folk among us were deadly and determined enough to murder AND that they could get away with it in court. The NO JUSTICE verdict rendered in Greensboro 1980 wounded a generation but also passed down a sense of impunity to a new spawning of hate that we see so strong around us today.

There was No Justice realized over the Rightist murders that went down in Greensboro and our nation still suffers that travesty for the emboldening it brought on. That is, sadly, why today none of us can relax. The KKK has been joined by The Proud Boys, The Oath Keepers, and myriad other militarist anti-democratic combines - and as Greensboro 1979 and January 6, 2021 and many other operations have shown us - they will kill. Watch one another’s backs. Be on guard. Vigilance may very well be what eventually stems the tide. Countless acts of resistance may yet save the day. We have no real idea how often that it has previously halted The Worst. Let that sink in and invigorate you in these current dark times.

The very headline from ‘The Greensboro Daily News’ is telling in the use of the word “Shootout” instead of the accurate term, ‘Ambush.’

There is a good deal more to tell about the injustice of Greensboro 1979 than I’ve related here. At the link directly below read an excellent piece with a great many hot links and attributions by Guilford College grad, Eric Ginsburg. Don’t let the publication source fool you, this is legit historical writing.

www.google.com

This 1979 Massacre by the KKK Should Be Taught in Schools

Five protesters were killed in North Carolina while police looked the other way.
www.google.com www.google.com

IMG_5653.jpeg
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Wow, I had never heard of this. Thanks for sharing.
 
On this date in 1928, Walt Disney released “Steamboat Willie,” the first animated short film to feature Mickey Mouse.

IMG_0500.jpeg
 
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farce© said:
On this date in 1928, Walt Disney released “Steamboat Willie,” the first animated short film to feature Mickey Mouse.

IMG_0500.jpeg
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Took a big chance on a cartoon rat. In fact, in Latin America in the early years at least, it was Pato Donaldo that was the big Disney star for exactly the reason that a duck was quite a bit more lovable than such vermin.
 
donbosco said:
Curious. Did you go to High School in North Carolina? Did you take NC History in college?
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I went to all levels of public school in NC, majored in American history and poli sci at Carolina. Think I took NC History to 1865 but not since 1865.

In other words, if I don’t know about it, I’d wager 99.9% of those in my age cohort also don’t know about it.
 
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sringwal said:
The massacre itself (Nov. 3rd, 1979) was three days before I was born. I'm honestly surprised that this is new to you - it's literally the defining moment in the North Carolina protest movement since the Greensboro Four.
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I’m just as surprised as you lol.
 
Paine said:
I’m just as surprised as you lol.
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I get our disconnect now, and suspect that we will be more on the same page once you've learned more about the event - many people that I grew up with attended the rally, and survived. It's why I have a different view of Boomers than others do. They put in far more work than people realize, and were willing to sacrifice far more than people understand. Look up John Kenyon Chapman, who was one of the survivors, and whose house I went to for much of my childhood. Do a google search for the "John Kenyon Chapman Papers" but also search for the name I knew him by, "Yonni."
 
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sringwal said:
I get our disconnect now, and suspect that we will be more on the same page once you've learned more about the event - many people that I grew up with attended the rally, and survived. It's why I have a different view of Boomers than others do. They put in far more work than people realize, and were willing to sacrifice far more than people understand. Look John Kenyon Chapman, who was one of the survivors, and whose house I went to for much of my childhood. Do a google search for the "John Kenyon Chapman Papers" but also search for the name I knew him by, "Yonni."
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Will do. Boomers have understandably taken a lot of heat for our current political circumstances, but there has obviously been a cohort that is willing to stand up. Any study of this era will tell you that, regardless of whether one knows about this particular event or not.
 
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sringwal said:
The massacre itself (Nov. 3rd, 1979) was three days before I was born. I'm honestly surprised that this is new to you - it's literally the defining moment in the North Carolina protest movement since the Greensboro Four.
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I don’t think most people in NC are aware of it.

I became aware of it when I was in college, which made sense considering I went to Guilford College. Other than there and these boards, I don’t think I ever would have heard about it.
 
Icky Mettle said:
I don’t think most people in NC are aware of it.

I became aware of it when I was in college, which made sense considering I went to Guilford College. Other than there and these boards, I don’t think I ever would have heard about it.
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What year did you graduate? I was '02. And, to be clear, I agree that most people don't. I'm more genuinely surprised that it is new to Paine.
 
sringwal said:
What year did you graduate? I was '02. And, to be clear, I agree that most people don't. I'm more genuinely surprised that it is new to Paine.
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I’ve been reading about it since you replied to me. Kind of embarrassing that I’ve never heard of this tbh. For me and for the institutions I came through.

My focus in college was generally on antebellum American history, so I guess it makes since in that context. I still would’ve expected to run into this at some other point in my coursework.

I had similar feelings when I learned about the Battle of Hayes Pond in college.
 
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