In 1936, Rustin joined the Young Communist League, the youth wing of the Communist Party USA. “They seemed the only people who had civil-rights at heart,” he later explained. “The Party played a very active role in most civil-rights cases, like the [[Scottsboro case]].”<ref>Thomas R. Brooks, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zsljcCM9k1cC Till Noon]'' (Xlibris Corporation, 2009) ISBN 1477167110, p. 207</ref> Despite his claim that he was attracted to the Communists by their concern for civil rights, Rustin remained a party member throughout Stalin's bloody purges. | In 1936, Rustin joined the Young Communist League, the youth wing of the Communist Party USA. “They seemed the only people who had civil-rights at heart,” he later explained. “The Party played a very active role in most civil-rights cases, like the [[Scottsboro case]].”<ref>Thomas R. Brooks, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=zsljcCM9k1cC Till Noon]'' (Xlibris Corporation, 2009) ISBN 1477167110, p. 207</ref> Despite his claim that he was attracted to the Communists by their concern for civil rights, Rustin remained a party member throughout Stalin's bloody purges. |