The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-08-18
The Scottsboro Case and the
Negro Lawyers

of claw and order were concerned, the Amer
lean working class was still enjoying period of
prosperity" and the Negro workers were ex-
periencing only peaceful race relations" with
the American white ruling class and its bloody
Ku Klux Khan.
The agenda of the Convention contained such
reports as THE Importance of local bar asso-
Citations as adjuncts to or branches of the Ma
tional Bar Association" 1.-THE justification of
higher standards in legal education" 1.-THE
colored lawyer in America, his program and
advancement" etc, and, of course, the leading
lights had assigned the task of reporting to
themselves.
But a note of struggle was injected into the
proceedings by Attorney Joseph Brodsky of the
International Labor Defense one of the defend
ing attorneys in the case of the innocent Ne
gro boys in Scottsboro, Ala. and William L.
Patterson of the League of Struggle for Negro
Rights. Their presence caused great uneasiness
among these defenders of Jim-crow capitalism
On the first night of the Convention, at it's
open mass meeting, Joseph Brodsky followed
Clarence Darrow on the program Although
given but brief moment to speak. in no I'M
certain terms Brodsky condemned the philo-
sophy of despair and of hopelessness which
barrow had pronounced condemned the open
support of the NAACP of the legal and extra
legal lynch program of the American ruling
class stressed the necessity for organization
and relentless struggle on the part of the Ne
gro masses and announced the fact that he and
Patterson would speak on the Scottsboro case at
the Convention on the following day.
Comraoe Brodsky received tremendous ova-
uon from the Negro workers who were present
Even some of the Negro attorneys expressed
their agreement with the line proposed bv Com
rade Brodsky. On the next day. the conven-
ton hall was crowded The Negro workers re-
celVed the report of the Scottsboro case and
the Camp Hill case from Comrade Brodsky with
tremendous applause. The first signs of split
in the ranks of the Negro attorneys openly
manifested itself Some of them even rising to
grasp Brodsky's hand at the conclusion of his
speech. But the report of Comrade Brodskv
threw the leadership of the Bar Association into
CONSERVATION. The program of peaceful &C
ceptance of things they WERE with reports
clarifying the American ruling class and its
democratic" policy towards the Negro masses
was not running smoothly but the worst was
yet to come Comrades Brodsky and Patterson
introduced a resolution on the Scottsboro case
calling for the Conventions approval of the eff
forts of the International Labor Defense and it's
attorneys to reverse the verdict of conviction in
the Scottsboro case and the presentation of
orderly procedure.
The class position OF the leaders of the Bar
Assn clearly came to the fore. They expressed
in no uncertain terms their unwillingness to be
associated in any way with this Communist"
organization They proclaimed its program to
be one which demanded the overthrow of the
American government and they expressed their
unwillingness to this government of lynch
ers and of mobbists overthrown by the "vo-
lent" reds But the rank and file of the Bar
Assn. were not so willing to support American
Imperialism Their presence there in jim
Grow Bar Association Convention very clearly
exposed the hypocrisy of American democracy.
The program of struggle outlined by the at
torney of the l. L. D. appeared to them to offer
larger possibilities to secure democratic rights
for the Negro masses than was to be found in
full support OF the Flaw and order" Of the bosses
government By vote Of S, the resolution
failed of passing, but the tone of the Conven-
ton was completely changed Among the rank
and file, the lawyers openly expressed their
Willingness to financially contribute to the de-
Tense campaign of the International Labor De-
fenSe and to support its program. In the face
of the militancy of the rank and file a resolu-
ton was passed supporting the program of the
l. L. d. in the defense of the Negroes who had
been deprived of their rights were suffering
from national persecution.
The Convention Of the Negro Bar Assn
brought sharply to the forefront the deep-going