"We're All Still Being Kept Down on the Farm"

"After what was then the longest trial in California history, eight of the defendants were convicted on a lesser charge of conspiracy to commit criminal syndicalism. But the particulars of the case counted for much less than the stirring spectacle of bona fide labor-agitating Communists being led in shackles to serve years-long prison terms. District Attorney Neil McAllister—a 'principal tool' of the agribusiness establishment—brought out an actual American flag as a prop during his closing argument and implored the jury to return a conviction 'for the good old U.S.A, for My Country 'Tis of Thee, for the Star-Spangled Banner, for my Own United States, and God will bless you.' He crowed at a post-verdict press conference that the outrageous verdict was 'a step forward for America and all that America stands for.'
"These labor struggles have cast a long shadow on our national politics, particularly when a Californian—who made a point of eating grapes in defiance of the United Farm Workers boycott—launched the conservative revolution proper in the 1980 presidential election."

Chris Lehmann in In These Times explains the story depicted in Kathryn Olmstead's new book, Right Out of California: The 1930s and the Big Business Roots of Modern Conservatism.

And Elias Isquith interviews Olmstead in Salon.