Frank R. Crosswaith, labor organizer and political activist.

Here’s a fascinating new article on the history of Harlem activists A. Philip Randolph and Frank R. Crosswaith, and their involvement with the Socialist Party (riven by right and left factionalism) in the 1920s.

It places them in contrast to Black Nationalism, but highlights the abuse they were willing to put up with at the hands of some purported “comrades” for their belief that race and class struggles are inextricable.

It’s also a nice picture of the diversity of the Socialist Party of America at the time, which in the New York Socialist Party was made up of many dozens of active locals. The full text of the article is available [in html and in pdf ] for a limited time. Some excerpts are below.

The history confirms my longstanding dislike of Victor Berger and Morris Hillquit (the right wing apparatchiks that overtook the party in the 20s) and my love of Eugene Debs and Big Bill Heywood, men continually struggling with the blindness of their times.

In the wake of this, I’m also eager to read more about St.Croix born New Yorker, labor activist and socialist Frank Crosswaith. Crosswaith, although a young radical, a lifelong socialist and prominent trade union organizer, in the 30s and 40s chose the Social Democratic blind alley of Roosevelt and various anti-communist Democratic party front groups.

Cornelius L. Bynum. The New Negro and Social Democracy during the Harlem Renaissance, 1917–37 The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2011), 10: 89-112

Randolph and Crosswaith’s assessment of socialism’s radical potential to counter racial discrimination aligned closely with the basic position that Eugene Debs took on race and the Socialist Party. Despite the clear racial animosity that both leaders and rank-and-file members openly expressed from the party’s inception, Debs recognized and strongly argued that racism and racial discrimination fundamentally violated the party’s core principles and mission. Though he was equally susceptible to the kind of personal failings on race that he so forthrightly criticized in others, Debs insisted that economic freedom and political equality went hand-in-hand. This reasoning fit with the sense of open participation at the center of Randolph and Crosswaith’s notion of social justice. Even as Socialist Party leaders and rank-and-file members continued to exhibit deep racial hostility, Deb’s position on economic justice and racial equality largely matched key aspects of Randolph and Crosswaith’s appraisal of African Americans’ plight.

…….

By the time Randolph and Crosswaith joined the Socialist Party it had lost much of the organizational cohesion of its first years. Nevertheless, they still viewed it as African Americans’ best political option. Portraying the plight of black workers as fundamentally caused by the impact of racial discrimination on their ability to “sell their labor in the market effectively,” they were convinced that the solution to this problem lay in greater labor organization and overhauling industrial capitalism. They and others maintained that the competition at capitalism’s core accentuated the economic roots of racism. The Socialist Party’s determination to redress the ills of industrial capitalism and promote unionization led Randolph and Crosswaith to believe that it was central to challenging racial discrimination and fostering the kind of social justice that they envisioned. It was this link between unionization and social justice that propelled them into the Socialist Party and became such a central component of the radical message that they preached in the postwar years.

……..

For Randolph, Crosswaith, and the small group of African Americans recruited into the New York Socialist Party‘s Twenty-first Assembly District in Harlem, this commitment to progressive reform and political mobilization was attractive. Randolph and Crosswaith in particular recognized the significant, if unintended, implications embedded in this electoral strategy for African Americans “seeking human status and full freedom.” The participatory nature inherent in drawing workers into local and regional politics fit neatly with their conception of social justice. As Crosswaith explained years later in reflecting back on his role in building interracial trade unions, he and Randolph understood that “the nation’s labor could not exist half-slave and half-free.” They looked to mobilization and interracial labor solidarity to promote the kind of industrial democracy that would ensure an “equality of responsibility and equality of benefits” for all workers. In fact, their willingness to turn a blind eye to clear racial antipathy in the party seemed largely predicated on the argument that African Americans could only “become a power to be feared and respected throughout this nation” by joining the Socialist Party. Their belief that the party’s emphasis on social and economic reform could be turned to the specific advantage of African Americans certainly seemed to have factored into Randolph’s decisions to accept the party’s nomination to run for New York state comptroller in 1920 and secretary of the state assembly in 1921. Even if Berger and Hillquit never really intended to engage an agenda of social justice for African Americans, Randolph and Crosswaith nonetheless found meaningful resonance between the reform strategies they promoted and the conception of social justice he and Crosswaith were formulating.

Randolph also found common cause with the syndicalist element of the Socialist Party concentrated in the mining and lumber states of the Mountain West. Primarily organized around William “Big Bill” Haywood’s Western Federation of Miners that gave rise to the IWW in 1905, this wing of the party endorsed industrial sabotage and violence as acceptable protest tactics and believed that workers should use the ballot to gain administrative control over government’s police powers to protect striking workers. They adamantly opposed any program of progressive reform on the grounds that it merely forestalled the inevitable workers revolution. Instead, Haywood and the IWW pushed for a general strike to reorganize society around factories, mines, and other places of production. Haywood was an especially strong advocate of industrial unionism. Focusing almost exclusively on labor’s immediate demands, he looked to organize all workers into one vast and well-disciplined labor organization with enough political power to successfully challenge their opponents. Most importantly perhaps for Randolph, Haywood and the IWW attacked all divisions of the working class—racial, religious, and ethnic—as detrimental to the cause of overthrowing of industrial capitalism. This decidedly inclusive organizational policy fit neatly with Randolph and Crosswaith’s conception of social justice and their determination to bring African Americans into the working-class fold.

……..

In the years immediately following World War I, A. Philip Randolph and Frank R. Crosswaith began devising a notion of social justice that set them apart from other African American radicals in Harlem and mainstream white socialists. Although they too believed that transforming industrial capitalism was central to combating racial discrimination, they rooted their assessment of modern industrial society in a conception of social justice that stressed the shared humanity of all and insisted that all were equally entitled to benefit from society’s advances. In fashioning their critique in these terms rather than the more standard producer theory associated with mainstream socialism, Randolph and Crosswaith articulated a position that set out to adapt the broader spirit of postwar reform to the particular conditions and concerns of Harlem. Even as their message of interracial cooperation in organized labor was simultaneously drowned out by the powerful appeal of Garveyism, ignored by white labor unions, and undermined by the Socialist Party’s inability to address the Negro question, the conception of social justice that Randolph and Crosswaith formulated in these years creatively fused black racial identity and class consciousness into an authentic and largely independent strain of black radicalism.

Related articles

• The Frank R. Crosswaith Papers, 1917-1965 at the New York Public Library.
• HW Bio: Hubert Henry Harrison A short introduction to the famous Harlem Socialist, Hubert Harrison (harlemworldblog.wordpress.com)
• Celebrating Hubert Harrison (socialistwebzine.org)
• On the Harlem Socialist activists: Afro-Americans and radical politics (From “Richard B. Moore: Caribbean Militant in Harlem,” edited by W. Burghadt Turner and Joyce Moore Turner) 1969, reprinted 1999.
• the Socialist Party of New York City (SP-USA)
• African Americans and the struggle for socialism, 1901-1925 By Abayomi Azikiwe and How Debs became a socialist by Paul D’Amato (1989) both deal with the same history from a Black Nationalist perspective (dandelionsalad.wordpress.com)
• Study Shows Depth of Unemployment for Blacks in New York – NYTimes.com a little reported survey showing the depth of the ethnic disparity still seen in a “colorblind” New York under “Business Friendly” capitalism (economix.blogs.nytimes.com)

Free stickers, via IDollarNY.org

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is general election day here in New York City and across the waters in NJ.  If you can vote, use it to make a point.

I know all the debates about voting not changing anything, and while I tend to agree, I’m not asking you to overthrow capitalism with your vote.  It won’t do that.  But it is a splendid soapbox from which to shout, and it is a way to ensure the object with which those in power can hit you is as small as possible.

So here are my recommendations:

Vote Against Bloomberg

The 4th richest man in America and the 17th richest in the world, Bloomberg is a billionaire 16 times over.  He’s spending over $100 Million to finance a campaign that is illegal under NYC law, after we all voted twice for term limits.  Of course he got other politicians to annul this law.  I wonder how?

Bloomy has jumped UP the rankings, making billions more during his two mayoral terms.  And yet he’s cutting schools, health care, services, and raising only those taxes that hit the working poor hardest.

http://www.voterevbilly.org

In short, he’s a scumbag.  Tell him what you think by voting for Reverend Billy Tallen for mayor!

You don’t have to worry that Billy will win and be corrupted by power.  And Billy has always been the first at every little picket or protest, always offered solidarity, always been there for those fighting power.  You owe him one (if not several).

Vote Socialist for NJ Governor

Greg Pason, perennial candidate for the Socialist Party is running for governor.  I may be biased.  But the media driven acceptable choices are the fat Republican who loves George Bush, or the hairy Democrat who made billions as a unrepentant capitalist merchant banker, or the “independent” who’s really a Republican who just doesn’t hate everyone who’s not straight/white/rich as much as the first guy.

http://www.votepason.org/

Greg Pason is not going to win.  Again, if you think this is a question of revolutionary principles, you’ve gotten ahead of yourself.  This is a lifeline to those out there who’ve always been told that capitalism, free markets, and wage labor are the only choices there are.  I’ve seen the effect that Greg’s campaigns can have on people across the state.  People are so rarely reached by radical newspapers, protests, email lists, or punk rock fanzines.  New Jersey law gives an avowed anti-capitalist air time, mailings that go to every home in the state, and a platform bigger than any march you’ve ever put together.  Every vote Greg and other anti-capitalist candidates gets lends legitimacy to a future more just society.

And this society has gotten so used to abstention, that despite what you’re told, no power is threatened when you stay home.  They just think you’re too fat and happy to shift your ass.

So drag it out: you won’t find a better use for a vote, even abstention.

Vote for Debbie Rose for NY City Council

Next Left Notes Photo: Michelle Akyempong

If you’re lucky enough to live on Staten Island, you have the chance to vote for Debbie Rose for City Council.  After decades of grassroots activism, Debbie got out the vote and shocked the Democratic Party machine in the primaries, spanking the right wing Democrat Fred Flintstone look alike Ken Mitchell.  Now Debbie is a day away from being the first person of color to be elected from any Staten Island election.  Ever.

If that’s not reason enough, Ken Mitichell is storming back, using the Conservative Party ballot line (NYC politicians stand on, sometimes seemingly contradictory, multiple party lines) to try and win back his City Council seat.  The same seat he was gifted by the Democratic machine, with which he did zero, except voting against a law that would protect Abortion providers from harassment.

Is Debbie Rose going to change the world? Hardly.  But she’s good people, has always been loyal to her working class community and the struggles here against racism, police brutality, pollution and poverty. We need to give her a louder megaphone, and take it away from the idiots who hold it now.

So like I said, votes won’t make a revolution.  That’s up to the rest of us.  Your vote can make a point.  Use it.

Related articles:

• See another leftist set of recommendations at  Next Left Notes (nextleftnotes.org)
• Reverend Billy: New York’s Consumerism (huffingtonpost.com)
• Bloomberg Sets Record for His Own Spending on Elections (nytimes.com)
• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spending 15000 an hour on reelection bid (telegraph.co.uk)
• On Tuesday Your Vote is Really Going to Count (streetsblog.org)
• New Poll: Anybody But Bloomberg [Polls] (cityfile.com)
• Newark Mayor Backed Bloomberg, Then Got Funds (nytimes.com)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pittsburgh, PA – From September 22nd to 25th members of the NYC Local of the Socialist Party USA, will be in Pittsburgh, PA to participate in mass demonstrations in opposition to the G20 meeting being held in the city. We will be providing live reports, pictures and videos to the Socialist Webzine (http://socialistwebzine.blogspot.com) and our twitter account (@socialistzine). We will also be available by phone for interviews before, during and after the street protests.

Nations in the G20 control 90 percent of world GDP, and 80 percent of world trade and operate under the free market direction of the IMF and World Bank. As a result, UNICEF reports that more than 25,000 children die each day due to poverty and millions survive on less than $1 a day. The economic policies of the G20 are a direct cause of the current global economic crisis which has produced mass layoffs and social suffering throughout the world.

The G20 meetings have no published agenda and there is no accountability – the meetings are conducted in secret and remain closed only through the violent acts of police. We oppose these policies and will make this opposition clear by taking part in the demonstrations against the G20 meeting.

“People are tired of settling for the crumbs of the global economy,” says Billy Wharton, Editor of The Socialist and Socialist Webzine. “Thousands will march in Pittsburgh to demand democracy, economic redistribution, and a future beyond capitalism.”

The NYC Local of the Socialist Party USA supports the creation of a world where the vast wealth in society is used for the benefit of the greater good. We believe in a radical expansion of democracy to all areas of life and we promote the use of our civil rights to protest. With our participation in these demonstrations we are not only declaring our opposition to the G20, but also our belief that the exploitative policies of capitalism offer no way forward for humanity. For us, taking part in these demonstrations are a declaration in our belief that a more democratic and equitable future is possible.

###

For more information or to arrange interviews contact:

Billy Wharton
Editor, The Socialist and The Socialist WebZine
718-869-2279
billyspnyc (at) yahoo.com