Child of the Sit-Downs_ The Revolutionary Life of Genora Dollinger - Carlton Jackson [39]
Genora, and by extension Kermit, roused jealousy in numerous parts of the Socialist Party (SP). Factionalism always seemed to affect labor movement as much as, or more than, capital endeavors. With Communists of two or three sorts and various shades of Socialist ideology, it’s little wonder that unionists were frequently at each other’s throats. All these people believed intensely, almost evangelically, that their system was the best for solving national and international problems. The SP in Michigan and throughout the nation rose and fell according to economic indicators. During World War I, the SP prospered, although “like the IWW [International Workers of the World, or “Wobblies”], the Socialist Party was preoccupied with defending itself against . . . wartime repression” and “provided no national coordination for the upsurge of new unionism.”24 As a result, in the 1930s, the party was a “mere skeleton of its former self. The appearance of prosperity had seemed to refute Marxist claims of the decline of Capitalism.”25
As the Great Depression intensified, with high rates of unemployment, scarcity of money for most people, and an almost total lack of social services, the philosophies of the SP once again became attractive to thousands of people sympathetic to the workers’ movement. By the late 1930s, however, there were at least partial economic recoveries, and the fortunes of Socialism in America once again began to plunge. Kermit and Genora got caught up in the vicissitudes of the SP and its ideological conflicts. Having made enough enemies with the SP by 1938, the couple was either expelled, or left voluntarily, depending on who tells the story. Their continued Trotskyism, which ran counter to the beliefs of many Communist and Socialist followers of Joseph Stalin, did not sit well with many party members. The Johnsons’ most intense Trotskyist period occurred from 1934 to 1938, during which, according to Martin Glaberman, the objective of the Trotskyists was to capture the left wings of the European social democracies.26 This policy was known as “entrism,” by which the SWP (Socialist Workers Party) would infiltrate into the Socialist or Communist parties with their messages of Trotskyism.27 Accused of sabotage toward the SP (which in Michigan was on the verge of collapse) and a general disruption, Genora and Kermit issued this statement: “After seven years’ membership in the Socialist Party, striving for the true path to socialism . . . the facts have shown us that the Socialist Party had not and can not provide the leadership necessary.” They added further: “We are leaving the Socialist Party and joining the Socialist Workers Party to build the vanguard of the coming revolution unhampered by reformist maneuvers, petty intriguers, opportunists and careerists.”28
Though no precise definitions or explanations were given here, in all likelihood, the attention Genora received for her part in the sit-downs, her speaking tour, and, above all, the Death Watch, created jealousies and resentments hard to overcome. With only two dissenting votes, the Flint SP deprived the Johnsons of membership despite the fact that they had already resigned. Bruce Sloan, for one, rejoiced to see them go. He wrote scathingly to George Clarke that “I cannot resent your party [SP] relieving us of Genora and her carbon-copy Kermit . . . and I have watched the amusing tantrums of the SWP . . . but by the beard of Leon Trotsky, if what the SWP does is revolutionary, then I’ll eat the beloved beard.”29
The Third Communist International of 1919 had been described as the first group with the distinct objective of worldwide revolution, thus introducing Trotskyism.30 In America, Trotskyist origins go back to the Sixth Congress of the Communist International