News-Record.com

Mr.Franklin, you need to get a grip. In case you forgotten, the klan members were charged with murder, and adquitted by a juror. whether it was right or wrong, that is how our judical system works.

Before you forget even more, the communist were also armed and involved in the shooting also.

Both sides had a hand in what happened.

You can keep living in the past if you want to, but the majority of the city has moved on with their lives.

The commission was created for show and tell and did a poor job of presenting the truth.

Before you start condemning the police and the courts, you had better know what you are talking about. Get over it and live your life in the present and not the past, you'll enjoy it more.

I say put this issue on the back burner for another 25 years or so as to allow the facts to become more clear, then have another trc to investigate what happened. Maybe by that time, Ed Cone will have had his fill of it and our children/grandchildren won't have to read his opinions about it.

Not only that, but future race baiters may have a greater need for something of this caliber to keep the fires stoked.

The TRC victimology is hosting a meeting of other like minded individuals seeking publicity for their "causes" this week. News and Record article here: http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/NEWSREC0101/607010302

From the article:

"Members of truth commissions from Peru, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Northern Ireland will meet in Greensboro next week with people from similar projects in Greensboro and across the United States.

It is the first such meeting to be held in this country.

Among those scheduled to attend is Irving Joyner, vice chairman of the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission. That commission was created by the N.C. General Assembly to study and report on the 1898 seizure of power in Wilmington from a democratically elected, majority-black city government -- the only overthrow of a government in U.S. history.

• New Orleans, where government inaction during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has raised questions of race, class and politics.

• Moore's Ford, Ga., where the killings of four young African American men on July 25, 1946, remain unsolved.

• The Anthony P. Crawford Remembered Memorial Committee, which seeks justice on behalf of more than 5,000 people lynched in the American South during and after Reconstruction"

Not sure about hurricane Katrina, but the facts surrounding that 1898 overthrow of the Wilmington city government should be clear as a bell by now. I just hope my great grand pappy won't be implicated.

Mr. Franklin, I suggest you get an education about the JURY SYSTEM before you go hurling blame hither and yon.

are we back on this again? I need to go back to bed.

I am in kinda in the middle on this issue. I remember the event as a child. I think most people were horrified while at the same time, disgusted at both groups involved. However, I am not sure Bobby's statment is true "Before you forget even more, the communist were also armed and involved in the shooting also." I do not think the communist demonstraters had guns. Bobby, if you have proof of your claim, I would love to know more. I may be wrong but I saw communists with sticks and signs and klansmen with guns.

p.s. Jcackbar, do you ever do anything but make comments about how everyone is stupid except you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_massacre

An excerpt:

On the day in question, a rally of industrial workers and communists against the Ku Klux Klan, then active in the area, was due to march in Greensboro. Normally at such events, marchers carried firearms openly for self-defense, as allowed under North Carolina law. Greensboro Police had stipulated that the marchers on November 3rd be unarmed in order to receive their parade permit. However, several of the protestors brought guns to the march.

Interesting Neo. I am still not sure this Wiki article is clear about which demonstraters had guns. However, if the communists were armed with guns as well, it definately adds another dimension to the issue. It seems odd that none of the communist demonstraters opened fire.

Both groups were armed. The Klan simply outgunned the communists. Don't get me wrong, I have no sympathy for either of these despicable groups. I think it's a damn shame that they didn't somehow manage to wipe out each other completely. Then maybe we wouldn't be having all these nonsensical 'trc investigations' that is nothing more than some people playing the victim role in hopes of squeezing more cash out of the city. imo of course.

Neo, I'm still not sure about your assessment of this event. I think you are incorrectly characterizing it as if it were a gun fight. I concede to the fact that some communist members may have been armed, against the rules of their permit. I had never heard that.

Wikipedia is great, don't get me wrong, but it is not always reliable. Either way, only the Klan is seen on the video tape firing guns.

This is just another issue that divides and conquers people who should be uniting.

Stevie D., I was around at the time as a police office with the High Point PD. For two (2) weeks we were on high alert because of it.

It was reported in the papers and at the court trials about both sides been armed. The Communist workers called out the klan before the march and also threaten them if they showed up. This is and was common knowledge at the time, but some where these facts were lost or ignored.

I could give a rat about either group, I personally wished they had kill each other, then it would the be over and I and a bunch of our officers wouldn't have had to go through what we did during those times.

This was brought up to inflame the races on both sides. It was to heal. Where is the healing process. Where are all the facts. Neither were offered to the public, just the same race baiting.

Live in the past if you must, but I refuse to join you or your cause.

On page 171 of the recently released 529 page report by the T&R Commission the guns held by the CWP were Tom Clark's 12 gage pump shotgun, Dori Blitz .30 caliber handgun, Claire Butler's .357 caliber magnum handgun, Frankie Powell had a two shot Derringer .38 caliber handgun and Bill Sampson's .38 caliber handgun plus several long guns still in one of the CWP cars.

According to the court testimony of FBI audio witness Bruce Koenig, 39 shots were fired on Nov. 3rd; 23-25 of them were likely fired by the Klan, and 14 to 16 shots were probably fired by the CWP. Koenig's testimony was not accepted by the T&R Commission because he did slightly change his testimony between the 1st and 2nd trial however all three juries basically accepted his analysis. I think the Commission did identify at least 12 shots from the CWP.

Wow! I had no idea they were that heavily armed. Thanks for the post from the Commission Report John. It's amazing that more people weren't killed on that day.