Codename Greenkil: The 1979 Greensboro Killings

Unfortuantely, I have only seen Codename Greenkil's chapter 4 regarding the "CWP's role" in the organization of the Brown Lung Association. I can speak to this with certainty and state that this chapter is on the money. Some current CWP veterans claim that they organized the first chapter of the BLA in Greensboro, NC. This simply is not true. The hard work of organizing, i.e. facing down the fear factor of what Cone Mills might do, door knocking, building leadership, coordinating meetings/events, etc, was done by social activists with no affiliation with the individuals who later formed the CWP. However, those individuals who later became the CWP did contribute invaluable medical roles in helping workers become identified as "possible" victims of brown lung disease, a critical first step in getting eligible for compensation and one that rarely occured in the Carolina's before 1974. In spite of the fact of expert physician estimates of 30-40,000 brown lung cases in the Carolinas, only some 80 had received workers' compensation before 1974.

I lived in Greensboro, NC when the the events in this book took place. Ms. Wheaton has done a remarkable job of research, in addition to naming names and defining the racist nature of the actions and the cover up. So sadly, it was no surprise that these events took place in my former city. It was also no surprise that the collaboration between the police/Klan/lawyers/city officials convinced the 'jury' that the so-called officials had acted properly. In this year it perhaps becomes a more important read than when it was first published.