3. The Sixth Comintern Congress and the Negro Question

Abstract

The power struggle in the Soviet Union between Stalin and the 'old guard', especially Trotsky, Bukharin and Zinoviev, had resulted in Stalin's total victory. In the Comintern, the political and ideological change was directly reflected in the establishment of a new policy, the New Line or the Class Against Class thesis. The Ninth ECCI Plenum adopted this policy in February and confirmed it at the Sixth World Congress of the Comintern in August 1928. With regards to the Comintern's commitment to the 'Negro Question' and subsequently to Africa, the factional rift within the CPUSA was crucial. The tense situation within the American party leadership was further complicated by the racial attitude among the Party towards work among African Americans and a schism among the leading African American Communists themselves. The ultimate goal, the Theses declared, was the unconditional and complete state independence and sovereignty of all colonial peoples.Keywords: 'Negro Question'; African Americans; American party leadership; Comintern; Ninth ECCI Plenum; Sixth World Congress; Soviet Union; Stalin; Theses