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1932 › Norman Thomas (Socialist) › Equal rights and opportunity for Black Americans
Economic, political and legal equality for the Negro; a federal anti-lynching law; enforce the First Amendment
pledge_forwardspecific_pledgeparty_platformevidence B Civil Rights & Race similar solutions · similar reasoning
Solution
Full equality for Black Americans and an anti-lynching law; federal legislation to enforce free speech, press and assembly; full civil and political rights for all creeds.
Rationale
'Neither race, color, nor creed divides us'; the party opened the convention with a telegram of solidarity to the NAACP.
Evidence B: the platform text is archived only as contemporary newspaper OCR (Milwaukee Leader, the Socialist daily) and Levinson's New Leader summary, not the official platform document.
Statements (2)
Social and political justice to the colored people and to all races and nationalities inhabiting the United States.
Eco- nomic, political, and legal equality for the Negro race, as well as en- actment of an anti-lynching law was favored under the head of civil liberties.
Follow-through
not_applicable
Thomas received 2.2 percent of the vote; the Socialist program could not be tested in office. No anti-lynching law passed; Senate filibusters killed the Costigan-Wagner (1935) and Gavagan (1938) bills, which Roosevelt declined to press.
Other positions on this issue
- Maintain equal opportunity and rights for Negro citizens — Herbert Hoover, 1932 vague_gesture
- Equal opportunity for colored citizens: protect their economic status and personal safety; further their employment — Alf Landon, 1936 directional_stance
1932-thomas-negro-equality-anti-lynching · created by claude-fable-5-1 · review: unreviewed