• SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    Always has been the case. IIRC, back in the 40's during an early 'Red Scare' in the US, a massive union purged a lot of members that it suspected of being communists/communist sympathizers to try and appear as though they were not too leftist.

    The union was accused of being communists anyway.

    • DeepPoliSci [none/use name]
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      edit-2
      4 years ago

      Those purges were actually targeting communists.

      The CIO was a communist-led organization from the 30's to mid-40's. Notable leaders in the CPUSA occupied top positions.

      Gus Hall, the leader of the CPUSA throughout the "Cold War", was the founder of the CIO's United Steelworkers - the largest steelworkers union in the country. Hall spent the 50's in prison under the under the Smith Act.

      Harry Bridges, another top Communist Party leader, founded the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. He was stripped of his position as the CIO Regional Director & the ILWU was removed from the CIO during the Red Scare. He wasn't tried under the Smith Act. Instead, the US pursued deportation.

        • DeepPoliSci [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          The Smith Act is basically treason, but the US government knew they couldn't get away with publicly executing labor leaders.

    • Wildgrapes [she/her]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Sounds about right. If there's anything to learn from politics in the US it's gotta be to just announce actually that you are communist and that it's good actually. No playing games of defending against bad faith accusations.