In 1919 over 4 million workers in U.S. went out on strike. This was blamed on
communists in unions. In Boston police wanted a pay raise. The police
-
commissioner for union activity fired several policemen. Boston police force went
out on strike. The governor had to call out the National Guard to stop the looting.
People believed it was all the fault of the Communists and other foreigners with
radical ideas. Bombings had occurred in several places in the U.S. - one outside of
the attorney general's house. The attorney general, A. Mitchell Palmer, ordered
police raids on any suspected radical organization. The police had no search
warrants. Thousands were jailed without being formally charged. 500 people were
deported. Most Americans were so afraid of radicals and communists that they
did not care that people's rights were being violated.
A PERSONAL VOICE IRVING FAJANS
66
How were American rights violated
during the Red Scare?
If you were caught distributing... unlon Ilterature around the Job
you were Instantly fired. We thought up ways of passing leaflets with-
out the boss being able to pln anybody down. . . . We . . . swiped the
key to the tollet paper dispensers In the washroom, took out the
paper and substituted printed slips of Just the right size! We got a lot
of new members that way-It appealed to their sense of humor.
quoted in The Jewish Americans