Commies in Paterson, NJ (Re: Black freedom struggle and the CP's , contributions [sic])

Frances Bolton (PHI) fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu
Sat Aug 15 17:41:11 PDT 1998


On Fri, 14 Aug 1998, Doug Henwood wrote:


> Frances Bolton (PHI) wrote:
>
> >I think this might be a generational thing. I'm 30, and never, ever, heard
> >about the party, except for the occasional story about my great-Uncle Joe,
> >who was a member in the 20s and 30s. I am at my parents house as I'm
> >writing, and to quote my father (just now told me) that Uncle Joe referred
> >to everyone who was *not* a member of the Party as "hoodlums, hooligans,
> >capitalist pigs, and warmongers." To continue quoting my father,
> >"Capitalist belt buckles he liked, schnorring off of welfare he liked. I
> >had to save his ass from being deported to Russia."

And Doug asked:>
> But you never heard that Commies in general were bad?
>
No, I didn't. I think this might be specific to NJ/NY working class Jews of a certain age. Everyone had a family member who was a Party member, it seems. So, when I heard about the Party, it was always within the context of a story about a relative. Another good story-- Mrs. Meyerson's father was a party member and, according to legend, he'd always harangue his brothers about communism. The brothers got sick of it, and, holding onto his ankles, dangled him out a 5th story window until he promised to stop. Maybe I'm just blinded by sentimentality, though.

Frances



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