Clifton DeBerry (September 18, 1923 – March 24, 2006) was an Americancommunist and two-time candidate forPresident of the United States of theSocialist Workers Party. He was the first black American in the 20th century to be chosen by a political party as its nominee for president.
Clifton DeBerry was born in September 1923 inHolly Springs, Mississippi.[1] He worked as a house painter and was atrade unionist.[2]
In the 1940s, DeBerry left his native South and moved toChicago, where he worked in a factory owned byInternational Harvester.[3] He became active in the Farm Equipment Workers Union and joined theCommunist Party.[3] DeBerry grew critical of the official Communist movement, and in 1953 he joined theSocialist Workers Party, aTrotskyist organization.[3]
During his Chicago years in the late 1950s, DeBerry found it hard to keep a job. "I would get a job and it would last only 3 days. I would go from one job to another. TheFBI would visit my boss and I would be fired."[4] DeBerry gave up on the city and moved toNew York in 1960. DeBerry married Carol Dobbs, daughter of SWP national secretaryFarrell Dobbs.[5]
DeBerry's career as a political activist began in earnest in the 1950s. In 1955 he helped organize a mass protest in Chicago to protest thelynching ofEmmett Till back home in his native Mississippi.[3] DeBerry spoke out in defense of theCuban Revolution, in support of African liberation struggles, and demanded withdrawal of U.S. troops fromVietnam.
DeBerry marched forcivil rights inSelma, Alabama andMemphis, Tennessee and was a supporter ofMalcolm X in the 1960s.[3] He was a delegate to the founding conventions of theNegro Labor Congress and theNegro American Labor Council.[2]
In November 1963, DeBerry ran for councilman in theBrooklyn borough of New York City. He received 3,514 votes in the race.[6][7]
DeBerry was the Socialist Workers Party's candidate in the1964 election. He was the party's firstAfrican American candidate as well as the first African American candidate for president of any existing party (he was preceded in 1960 by marginal candidateClennon King). DeBerry's running mate wasEd Shaw, a printer fromIllinois.
In the 1965 city election, DeBerry was the SWP's candidate forMayor of New York.[6]
In1970, he ran forGovernor of New York and polled 5,766 votes.
DeBerry ran again in the1980 United States presidential election as one of three candidates the party had that year, the others beingAndrew Pulley andRichard Congress.Matilde Zimmermann was thevice presidential candidate on all three tickets.
Clifton DeBerry died of heart failure on March 24, 2006 in a hospital near his home ofUnion City, California.[3] He was 82 years old. A memorial meeting was held in his honor by the Socialist Workers Party in New York City on April 29, 2006.
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| Preceded by | Socialist Workers Party nominee for President of the United States 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Socialist Workers Party nominee for President of the United States 1980 | Succeeded by |
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