Today in Labor History October 14, 1949: 11 leaders of the US Communist party were convicted of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the US government. 10 of the defendants were sentenced to 5 years in prison. The 11th was sentenced to 3 years. The Supreme Court upheld the convictions in June of 1951. The trials were part of the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders accused of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the federal government. However, the defendants argued that they advocated a peaceful transition to socialism, and that the First Amendment guaranteed their freedom of speech and of association protected their membership in a political party. While the trial was under way, the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon, and communists won the Chinese Civil War. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) had also begun its investigations of writers and producers during this period. Public opinion was strongly against the defendants. The judge also sentenced all five defense attorneys to imprisonment for contempt of court. Two of the attorneys were subsequently disbarred.
Today we’re seeing an attempted repeat of these events, ad absurdum, with the Trump administration labeling virtually all its enemies to be terrorists that threaten to overthrow the U.S., from Trans folks; to imaginary drug dealers in fishing boats off the coast of Venezuela; to anyone with dark skin; to those who speak out in support of Palestinians; to anyone who disses the nuclear family, capitalism, Charlie Kirk; to anyone opposed to fascism; and, of course, to anyone who’d question the supremacy cis, white male privilege.
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