The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-01-19
For a Sharper Struggle Against
RefOrmism

fender. The role OF PickenS vas to place him
self at the head OF the opposition Of the masses
10 the official bourgeois reformist leadership so
as to head the movement in order TO behead IL,
and lead the rebeluous masses back under the
leadership Of the reactionary reformistS. The
sudden about-face OF Ptckens and the sharp
change of the Chicago Defender, which took
place subsequently, were signals for the deser-
ton of sections of the unstable petty-bourgeois
elements back to the fold Of the official NJ A.
A. c. P leadership
Distortions of Party Line.
But although the policy OF the Party as
whole was correct In the ScottSboro campaign,
there we're in certain instances distortions OF
this policy along the line OF failure TO expose
sufficiently the refoTmists and their petty bour-
geois agents among the masses, preparing them
against the inevitable betrayal. In number OF
articles in the Daily Worker and Iiberator def
mite concessions ere made to the underestima-
ton Of Negro reformisn e.g, the printing by
the Daily-without criticism-of Pickens fake
endorsement Of the campaign; the tendency to
blur over class differentiation among the Ne
groes, as witnessed in the Letter to Negro Ed
itors" in the Liberator, the caption in the Daily
Worker, Negro papers join united front" the
reference to the Chicago Defender as IAN in
Tluental Negro paper With a circulation Of
100000" etc, etc.
These distortions in policy reflected them
selves In practice in the following ways:
The correct line OF the Party calling for
broad united front OF the working class, black
and white, and Of the masses OF the Negro peo-
pie, on the basis of struggle for the immediate
and unconditional release of the Scottsboro VIC
Tins, and accompanied by the sharpest exposure
of the Negro retormiSt and white liberal bloc OF
agents actively engaged in this on behalf
Of the bourgeois hangmen-this correct line laid
down at the beginning Of the campaign was not
consistently carried out
United Front Incorrectly Carried Out.
In nearly all districts OF the Party, the cor
rect line was sacrificed in an attempt to estah-
fish united front from the top" as exem-
plified in the tendency to approach the Negro
masses, not through direct contact at the bottom,
but through the mediation Of the petty bour-
geoS reformist leaders OF the Negro organiza-
tons, Masonic lodges and especially through
obtaining the intercession Of friendly" Negro
preachers, and the giving Of an inexcusable sub
stantial position in Scottsboro conferences to the
Negro churches. Such opportunist distortions
Of the Party line resulted in such a condition
that the movement was placed to a consider
able extent at the mercy Of the petty bourgeois
reforrnist and religious leaders to utilize their
opportunity to strike shsbtering blows at the
united front movement at the most critical mo-
the camp OF the supporters OF the hangmen Of
the ScottSboro victims. AS a result there took
place in many instances rapid deflation OF
the organizational results Of the campaign in
the districts-as witnessed by the liquidation OF
the apparatus that had been set up by the local
Scottsboro conferences, the most glazing example
being the liquidation of the AIl-Southern Scots
boro Defense Committee which had been set up
at the Chattanooga Conference.
Other Glaring Errors In Campaign.
Glaring errors in the campaign were the fall
ure to organize the masses on the basis OF the
movement from the bottom and form rank and
file organizations in the form Of block commit
tees and groups of the League Of Struggle for
Negro Rights and groups around the Liberator;
the failure to organize opposition Of the rank
and file in the Negro mass organizations under
reformist influence, the insufficient building OF
branches Of the International Labor Defense.
The ScottSboro campaign was inadequately
linked up with the struggles for the immediate
demands Of the Negro and white workers. poor
farmers and Share-croppers especially on the
economic field. The revolutionary trade unions
and unemployed councils did not take sufficient
part In the campaign.
There was also failure to link up the Scots
boro struggle with the basic revolutionary de-
mands of the Negro masses, especially in the
South, and especially the demand for the right
Of self determination. The mass indignation
aroused by campaign was insuffciently
utilized to stimulate struggles OF the share-crop-
pers and poor farmers, and to crystalline or
ganization in the agrarian districts.
characterization Of Role Of Negro Reforrnfsm
The theological basis OF these mistakes and
shortcomings in the Scottsboro campaign arose
from an underestimation OF the class role OF
Negro reformiSn, the failure to distinguish
clearly between the national reformist tendency
as based upon the Negro bourgeoisie, and its
alliance with imperialist finance capital on the
one hand and on the other hand the national
revolutionary tendency CT the Negro masses
2ClSt the oppression OF the white ruling classes.
This led to q tendency TO lag at the tell OF the
NcelO refornIsts and their petty bourgeois
agents among the masses and consequently to
blur over cur basic revolutionary demands, to
avoid the linking up Of the campaign to save the
Scottsboro boys with the general and specific
economic and political demands OF the masses.
In practice this resulted In maneuvers OF the
united front from the top, with the Negro re-
formsts This underestimation OF the necessity
OF struggling against Refornism is clearly linked
up with the still existing lack OF faith In the
Negro masses upon the part OF certain sections
Of the Party.
Subsequent developments in the Scottsbcro
campaign have exposed with startling clarity the
reactionsry role OF Negro reYorrnisni, as repre-
sented by the N. A. A. G. p, ETC., as the CHIEF
bulwark Of the slave-driving ruling class against
the Negro masses Consequently, the struggle
for the freedom Of the Scottsboro boys, against
lynching and for Negro rights has as one OF