We Charge Genocide facts for kids
We Charge Genocide was an important paper written in 1951. It accused the United States government of committing genocide against Black people. This accusation was based on the Genocide Convention, a rule set by the United Nations. The paper said that the US government was involved in and responsible for actions that aimed to destroy Black people, either fully or partly.
The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) wrote this document. They presented it to the United Nations at meetings in Paris in December 1951. The paper listed many examples to support its claims. These included lynchings, unfair laws that led to discrimination, and preventing Black people from voting. It also talked about police brutality and major differences in health and life quality for Black Americans.
This document gained a lot of attention around the world. It also became part of Cold War politics, as the CRC was linked to the Communist Party USA. Many people in other countries learned about the difficult conditions for African Americans from this paper. The US government and news outlets said the CRC was making racial problems seem worse to help the cause of Communism. After presenting the paper, William L. Patterson, a leader of the CRC, had his passport taken away by the U.S. State Department.
Contents
Why the Paper Was Written
Soon after the United Nations was formed in 1945, many groups asked for its help. These requests came from people in European colonies in Africa and Asia. They also came from African Americans in the United States.
Early Petitions to the UN
The first group to ask the UN for help regarding African Americans was the National Negro Congress (NNC). In 1946, they sent a statement about racial discrimination to the UN Secretary General. The next request came from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1947. This document was over 100 pages long. W. E. B. Du Bois presented it to the UN on October 23, 1947. He did this even though Eleanor Roosevelt, an American delegate to the UN, did not want him to. Du Bois was upset that the US government opposed these requests.
The international news and Black newspapers in the United States praised these petitions. However, most mainstream US news outlets were unsure or against them. Some agreed there was truth to the claims. But they suggested that "telling on" the US to the UN would help Communism. The Soviet Union did use these documents to show poor conditions in the United States.
The Civil Rights Congress
The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a group linked to the Communist party. It became well-known in the US by defending Black people who were sentenced to death. Examples include Rosa Lee Ingram and the Trenton Six. In 1947, the National Negro Congress joined forces with the CRC.
What the Paper Said
The We Charge Genocide paper used the UN's own definition of genocide. This definition says genocide is "Any intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, or religious group." The paper argued that Black citizens in the United States faced genocide. It said this was because of unfair treatment, segregation, and violence. It claimed these were part of the policies of every part of the government.
The CRC stressed that trying to destroy a group "in part" was enough to be called genocide. They argued that the way African Americans were treated fit this definition.
Evidence of Genocide
The 237-page paper looked at racism in the United States from many angles.
- It listed hundreds of wrongful executions and lynchings. It also mentioned at least 10,000 other cases that were not officially recorded.
- It accused Southern states of working together to stop African Americans from voting. They did this using poll taxes and literacy tests.
- Besides unfair laws, the paper talked about widespread economic inequality. It also highlighted differences in the quality of life for Black people.
The paper held the US government responsible for this genocide. It said the government supported racism and an unfair economic system. The CRC carefully gathered its information. Even critics of the document agreed that the facts presented were correct. The CRC wanted to show that the unfair treatment of African Americans was genocide. They believed it showed a violent white supremacy at the heart of American culture.
On December 17, 1951, the petition was presented to the United Nations in two ways.
- Paul Robeson, a famous singer and activist, gave the document to a UN official in New York City. Many people who signed the petition were with him.
- William L. Patterson, the leader of the Civil Rights Congress, delivered copies of the petition to a UN group in Paris.
W. E. B. Du Bois was also supposed to deliver the petition in Paris. However, the US State Department called him an "unregistered foreign agent." This stopped him from traveling.
Patterson mailed 125 copies to Paris, but they never arrived. It was believed the US government stopped them. But he had shipped other copies separately in small packages to people's homes. He was able to distribute those.
People Who Signed
Many important activists and family members of Black people who had suffered signed the document. Some of them were:
- W. E. B. Du Bois, a sociologist, historian, and activist.
- George W. Crockett, Jr., a lawyer and politician.
- Benjamin J. Davis, Jr., a lawyer and Communist councilman.
- Paul Washington, a veteran on death row in Louisiana.
- Rosalie McGee, the widow of Willie McGee, who was executed in 1951.
- Josephine Grayson, the widow of Francis Grayson, one of the "Martinsville Seven". They were executed in 1951 after a trial by an all-white jury.
Patterson said that US ambassador Ralph Bunche and delegate Channing Tobias ignored him. But Edith S. Sampson did agree to talk to him.
Passport Issues
Patterson was told to give up his passport at the US embassy in France. When he refused, US agents said they would take it from his hotel room. Patterson went to Budapest. There, through a newspaper, he accused the US government of trying to stop the charges. The US government ordered Patterson to be held when he passed through Britain. They seized his passport when he returned to the United States. Paul Robeson had not been able to get a passport at all. The travel problems faced by these two men led some to accuse the US government of censorship.
What Happened Later
The We Charge Genocide document helped make the term "genocide" more common among Black people. They used it to describe their treatment in the US. After new interest from Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party, the paper was printed again in 1970.
Renewed Accusations
Accusations of genocide were brought up again later. This happened because of the unfair impact of HIV/AIDS on Black communities in the United States. The National Black United Front asked the United Nations for help in 1996–1997. They directly mentioned We Charge Genocide and used the same idea.
Their petition started by saying:
Declaration of Genocide by the U.S. Government Against the Black Population in the United States.
In addition to acts of genocide perpetuated through the CIA and in this recent revelation, acts of genocide can also be attributed to the Government's use of taxpayers' resources to wage war on a segment of the U.S. population. This is evidenced by the following: (1) cutting back on welfare; (2) privatization of public housing and land grab schemes; (3) privatization of public education; (4) racist immigration policies; (5) privatization of basic health care; (6) building prisons and the expanding incarceration of millions of African and Latino youth.
The high rate of imprisonment of minorities is another American issue sometimes linked to the word "genocide." Also, the unfair use of the death penalty for Black people convicted of the same crime as white people has been mentioned. This was also a point in the 1946–1951 era by the CRC.
The petition also showed one of the first important uses of the modern idea of "racism." It connected racism to the ideas of the Nazis. The We Charge Genocide paper was an example of how the Genocide Convention could be used against the United States. The US government did not like the convention and did not officially agree to it until 1986.
Modern Use of the Title
In November 2014, a group of young activists from Chicago, Illinois, submitted a report to the United Nations Convention against Torture Committee. They used the name We Charge Genocide. Their report talked about police brutality against Black people in Chicago. It also discussed the lack of police accountability and the misuse of tasers by the Chicago Police Department.
