Yokinen Show Trial

rdf:langString Yokinen Show Trial

rdf:langString The Yokinen Show Trial was a March 1931 public disciplinary proceeding conducted by leaders of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA) against August Yokinen, a Finnish-American Communist janitor who allegedly denied several African Americans entry to a dance at the Finnish Workers Club in Harlem and made racially disparaging remarks against several African-American members of the organization at a social event. Attended by more an audience of 2,000 people, the "party trial" of Yokinen was publicized across America and was intended to emphasize the CPUSA's commitment to eliminate "White Chauvinism" from its ranks and to thereby bolster its status in the eyes of the black American working class and among white intellectuals seeking an end to racism. For his actions Yokinen was expelled from the CPUSA for one year, with provision made for eventual readmission conditional upon active participation in the organization's anti-racist activities. News of the "Yokinen Trial" was picked up by the Associated Press and publicized around the country. The event was also the subject of a pamphlet published by the CPUSA's publishing house, helping to establish the Soviet-style show trial as a seminal event in the history of American Communism during its ultra-radical Third Period of the early 1930s. This publicity attracted the attention of U.S. Immigration authorities, who immediately detained Yokinen for deportation on the grounds that he had violated terms of his entry into the country by holding membership in an organization advocating the use of "force and violence" to overthrow the United States government. Yokinen was defended against these deportation charges by the same Communist Party which had inadvertently placed his immigration status in jeopardy through its International Labor Defense affiliate.