The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1932-12-31
by NAT ROSS

nm Dec. 10 a sharp battle took
v place in Reeltown (Notasulga),
Tallapoosa County, just Is miles
from Camp Hill, scene of the his
toric struggle of the Negro CROP
pers and farmers in July, 1881.
Reeltown is a continuation of the
Camp Hill struggle on a much
higher political and organizational
plane. AT Camp Hill the armed
mob broke into mass meeting of
the Share Choppers Union held in
a church, the result being the kill
ing of the Negro farmer, Ralph
Grey, and an unknown number of
others, and the arrest of 80 other
choppers. The nationwide pro-
tests, the release of all arrested,
the forcing of immediate conces-
sions from the landlords in the way
of relief and extension of credits,
showed the Negro people that the
way of revolutionary mass struggle
was the correct way.
In the Camp Hill struggle the
Sheriff'S force succeeded in get
ting large numbers of poor white
farmers in the lynch mob with
the lies that the Negroes wanted
to take the land and women away
from ALL the white people. But
the poor whites began to realize
their mistake when they saw the
concessions forced on the landlords
by the struggle.
ORGANIZER SENT INTO FIELD
In the summer of 1882 an Or
ganizer was sent into the field, the
Union was e-eStabliShed on cor
rect organizational form with a
committee of 10 or SO based on the
plantation or locality forming a
local. Mass meetings were discon-
tinued except on special occasions,
such as Anti-War day, when the
meeting was held illegally. All
meetings were to be held illegally
until the Union was strong enough
to come out In the open. 1t was
not long before many locals were
organized in TallapooSa, Macon,
Lee, Chambers and Elmore Coun-
ties, composed Of Negro farm work
ers, troopers and tenants, their
wives and children. Leaflets were
distributed and the troopers be-
gan to move against hunger in the
most elementary forms of struggle.
Every struggle forced conces-
sion, because the landlords well
knew that the choppers were or
ganizing to fight and not to starve
to death. On one large plantation
the choppers won the important
right to sell their own cotton. On
another the landlord was forced to
give a cropper and his family an
order for clothes as well as cash
relief. On another plantation, the
landlord, George Harper, demanded
that many choppers move off his
place and leave all their belong
ings, but after the increased activ-
ity Of the union, withdrew his
threat and cancelled all debts,
some of them running up to $500.
The landlords then tried to halt
the growth of the union by trying
to frame Euther Hugely for dis
tribution of leaflets, but this
scheme was defeated by mass de-
Tense. At the same time (Dec. 81
the farmer delegates from the five
counties named were leaving for
Washington to attend the National
Farmers Relief Conference. The
white farmers were drawing closer
to the Union, which they began to
see was fighting for the needs of
the entire poor farming population.
I Ell us for a minute glance at the
Il beastly economic, political and
social oppression of the Negro peo-
pie. Quotations from some letters
from this BLACK Belt" section will
explain the condition in the words
of the choppers themselves.
eve work on farm this year
and 1 and my children are naked
and barefooted and my husband
can't get any clothes, at all. We
work hard and don't get any
thing out of it,"
my wife is ordered to 60 to
the fields Ito work. sick or WELL"
my boss lady she claim to be
sick and got me stay 2 weeks
and the pay she give me is an old
dress and told me she would look
up something else sometime"
Il work for Mrs. Clary Pogue
for wages and my wife has crop
and Mrs. Pogue is trying to run
me off SO she can get the crop.
She don't pay me at all and her
brother tried to jump on me and
I can't stay at home at all. She
said If / come on the place she