Seeking Closure on 'Greensboro Massacre' Survivors Create "truth and reconciliation commission,"

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  • Panel Convenes in N.C. to Address '79 Attack by Nazi Party, Klan
Nelson Johnson says he has forgiven the Klansmen and American Nazi Party members who calmly gunned down five labor organizers at a "Death to the Klan" demonstration he led more than 25 years ago. Still, he says, this city of 220,000 has not gotten past the Nov. 3, 1979, "Greensboro Massacre" that took place in broad daylight and was taped by local television news crews. No one was convicted in two criminal trials conducted with all-white juries. More than 25 years later, at the urging of Johnson and other survivors, a group of civic leaders and activists has begun to organize a South Africa-style "truth and reconciliation commission," the first of its kind in the United States. The commission hopes to elicit testimonials, confessions and acknowledgment of wrongdoing, and release a report that would help "heal broken relations within our community by . . . distinguishing truth from falsehood and allowing for . . . public mourning and forgiveness," Commissioner Cynthia Brown said. But so far, instead of bringing residents together, the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project has reopened racial wounds. It has rekindled accusations, mostly from blacks, that police intentionally left demonstrators unprotected. Many white residents believe Johnson is out for revenge. The city's white mayor, five white City Council members and the white former county prosecutor who lost the case two decades ago oppose the idea. When residents were invited to give statements on Jan. 25, not a soul raised a hand. And that is still the case. No one associated with the Klan or the city's police force is expected to participate. [more]
  • Pictured above: Police in Greensboro restrain suspects after the shootings on Nov. 3, 1979. Five participants in the "Death to the Klan" demonstration were killed.