November 3 is the anniversary of The Greensboro Massacre in 1978 North Carolina. On this day, peaceful protesters were murdered by neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.

When The Communist Worker’s Party (CWP) planned the parade, their parade license was only granted on the condition that they not bring weapons. Despite the questionable legality of the request, they agreed to the condition in order to push the paperwork through. They then posted flyers and advertisements for the parade calling for the expulsion of the Klan. Meanwhile, the Nazis and the KKK prepared for action with the aid of police informants.

On the day of the parade, the police were told to arrive at the rally point at 11:30. The fascists arrived shortly before, and immediately started shooting at the assembling protest. A few CWP members had sneaked handguns with them, and returned fire. The gunfight lasted less than 2 minutes, but it left 5 anti-fascists dead, and another 9 wounded. 2 reporters were wounded, and only 1 fascist was wounded.

The police arrived shortly after. Of the 10 cars in the fascist convoy, they stopped only one, which was carrying a dozen men. Then of course, they started arresting CWP members.

Of course, this story ends like most. The fascists were charged, then acquitted by all white juries. The police were found to be colluding with the fascists on the day of the incident, as well as before.

In 2004, they had a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” re-evaluate the event. They decided that “both sides” contributed to the violence, the CWP by saying things like “Death to the Klan”, and they “Should be physically beaten and chased out of town”, and the fascists by being forced to shoot at them in return. They noted that the police knew about it, and were notably absent.

In 2009, the city issued a “statement of regret”.

In 2015, they installed a marker acknowledging the massacre happened. Two council members opposed it.

In 2020, 41 years later they finally apologised. Two council members still opposed it.