From the 1920s to the 1940s, Paul Robeson made himself into a world renowned actor and singer. He was one of the primary stars of the Harlem Renaissance era. Around the mid-1940s, Robeson started getting involved in political activism. He started believing trade unionism was crucial to civil rights. Robeson became an outspoken advocate for African American rights in the still segregated United States. Robeson also became a proponent of union activist and Communist Party USA member Revels Cayton.
This affiliation brought Robeson on the U.S. government’s radar. Robeson was summoned before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. They questioned him about his affiliation with the Communist Party, to which he refused to answer. In 1949, they forced Robeson to do more concerts overseas because his U. S performances kept being canceled at the behest of the F.B.I. While Robeson was in Europe, he spoke at the World Peace Council. The speech was reported as equating America with a fascist state. This speech made Robeson an enemy of America, in the eyes of the American public.
On June 20, 1949, Robeson spoke at the Paris Peace Congress. He stated, “We in America do not forget that it was on the backs of the white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of Blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong. We shall not make war on anyone. We shall not make war on the Soviet Union. We oppose those who wish to build up imperialist Germany and to establish fascism in Greece. We wish peace with Franco’s Spain despite his fascism. We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the people’s Republics.” For this speech, they blacklisted Robeson in the mainstream U.S. press. Many Black papers also blacklisted him as well.
A riot ensued in Peekskill when anti-Robeson protests shut down a planned Robeson concert. Thirteen concert goers were seriously injured, Robeson was lynched in effigy and they set ablaze a cross during the riot. Klan membership rose in the area by 748 after the riot. NBC canceled Robeson’s appearance on Eleanor Roosevelt’s tv show.
Robeson had a meeting with the U.S. State Department. At the meeting, they denied his passport renewal and issued a “stop notice” at all ports. Robeson inquired why his passport was not being renewed and was told that, “his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries.” His international travels, which included all his theatre and singing tours of Europe, all came to a halt. They removed all of Robeson recordings and films from public distribution in the United States.
During the 1950s, Robeson was essentially silenced and banished to stay in the United States. Robeson made a lot of friends during his travels and they would return that friendship during his exilement. In 1955, the British Trades Union Congress sent a personal letter to President letter to President Eisenhower requesting he intervene and grant Robeson a passport. Eisenhower didn’t move on the matter.
In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Kent v. Dulles, that the denial of a passport without due process amounted to a violation of constitutionally protected liberty under the 5th Amendment. Robeson was free to travel and work again, but the years of harassment and intimidation by the F.B.I., State Department and press left their effects on Robeson. Feeling the effects of paranoia, Robeson attempted suicide in 1961. In the same year, he collapsed from a panic attack. From 1963 to his death in 1976, Robeson remained mostly in seclusion.
Robeson helped bring Negro spirituals into the American mainstream. He was also among the first artists to refuse to play in front of segregated audiences.
Mistakes were made:
During the 1950s, the Red Scare era of U.S. politics entrapped a lot of popular artists like Orson Welles, Arthur Miller and Charlie Chaplin. It made them outcasts and pariahs to the American public. Anyone who was considered a communist or a communist sympathizer felt the wrath of the U.S. government. Paul Robeson had the double misfortune of being a communist sympathizer but also an advocate for equal rights, laws, and treatment for African Americans. These beliefs made him Public Enemy number 1 to the powers that be in the U.S., and they took away his livelihood and ruined his name.
When people say they want to get back to the good old days of America, they are usually referring to the 1950s era. Though that era made the U.S. a world power and saw a lot of economic growth, it also was an era where segregation was still legal. In this era, one could simply have their passport revoked and be travel banned for simply agreeing with an ideology, the U.S. was opposed too. We lost the last years of an American treasure because of the aftereffects of years of monitoring and manipulation by the U.S. Government.
Robeson simply spoke the truth about what was going on in the U.S. regarding African Americans and was punished for speaking up. Today, many people don’t want these same truths being taught in the American school system to our children. When we withdraw Constitutional rights because of disagreements on ideology and truth telling, we all end up failing.
