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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA page from history: Paul Robeson appears before HUAC
kpete has posted on GD an informative thread about Ronald Reagan's role as a "friendly witness" before the HUAC, proving once again just how much of a sniveling scumbag St. Ronnie really was. Now let's remember a man who stood up to HUAC...
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6440
You Are the Un-Americans, and You Ought to be Ashamed of Yourselves: Paul Robeson Appears Before HUAC
Testimony of Paul Robeson before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 12, 1956
Intro:
Many African-American witnesses subpoenaed to testify at the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings in the 1950s were asked to denounce Paul Robeson (18881976) in order to obtain future employment. Robeson, an All-American football player and recipient of a Phi Beta Kappa key at Rutgers, received a law degree at Columbia. He became an internationally acclaimed concert performer and actor as well as a persuasive political speaker. In 1949, Robeson was the subject of controversy after newspapers reports of public statements that African Americans would not fight in an imperialist war. In 1950, his passport was revoked. Several years later, Robeson refused to sign an affidavit stating that he was not a Communist and initiated an unsuccessful lawsuit. In the following testimony to a HUAC hearing, ostensibly convened to gain information regarding his passport suit, Robeson refused to answer questions concerning his political activities and lectured bigoted Committee members Gordon H. Scherer and Chairman Francis E.Walter about African-American history and civil rights. In 1958, the Supreme Court ruled that a citizens right to travel could not be taken away without due process and Robeson passport was returned.
I am going to include here one passage from the transcript:
Mr. ROBESON: Could I say that the reason that I am here today, you know, from the mouth of the State Department itself, is: I should not be allowed to travel because I have struggled for years for the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa. For many years I have so labored and I can say modestly that my name is very much honored all over Africa, in my struggles for their independence. That is the kind of independence like Sukarno got in Indonesia. Unless we are double-talking, then these efforts in the interest of Africa would be in the same context. The other reason that I am here today, again from the State Department and from the court record of the court of appeals, is that when I am abroad I speak out against the injustices against the Negro people of this land. I sent a message to the Bandung Conference and so forth. That is why I am here. This is the basis, and I am not being tried for whether I am a Communist, I am being tried for fighting for the rights of my people, who are still second-class citizens in this United States of America. My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washingtons troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave. I stand here struggling for the rights of my people to be full citizens in this country. And they are not. They are not in Mississippi. And they are not in Montgomery, Alabama. And they are not in Washington. They are nowhere, and that is why I am here today. You want to shut up every Negro who has the courage to stand up and fight for the rights of his people, for the rights of workers, and I have been on many a picket line for the steelworkers too. And that is why I am here today. . . .
So here we are in 2013, still fighting so that all may have an equal opportunity to vote, and for the rights of workers to demand a fair wage.
merrily
(45,251 posts)I cannot image why that would have appealed to an African American man born in 1898, especially one who aspired to succeed in American show business.
Paul Leroy Robeson (/ˈroʊbsən/ ROHB-sən April 9, 1898 January 23, 1976) was an African-American singer and actor who became involved with the Civil Rights Movement. At university, he was an outstanding American football player, then had an international career in singing, as well as acting in theater and cinema. He became politically involved in response to the Spanish Civil War, Fascism, and social injustices. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with Communism, and his criticism of the US government caused him to be blacklisted during McCarthyism. Ill health forced him into retirement from his career. To the end he remained unapologetic for the unpopular political stances he took.
Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers University, where he became a football All-American and the class valedictorian. He received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School, while playing in the National Football League (NFL). At Columbia, he sang and acted in off-campus productions and, after graduating, he became a participant in the Harlem Renaissance with performances in The Emperor Jones and All God's Chillun Got Wings. Robeson initiated his international artistic résumé with a theatrical role in Great Britain, settling in London for the next several years with his wife Essie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson
Can't imagine what the hell he should have been apologetic about. The country should have apologized to him.
It's amazing that he ever got into Rutgers and Columbia Law back in the days of quotas for women, Jews, African Americans, etc., let alone being valedictorian at Rutgers. Wish I could have heard him speak.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)fan of opera as a musical genre, so I'm only relaying second-hand reports.
merrily
(45,251 posts)Good opera singers are great, but people who beat the odds and speak out against injustice to their own personal disadvantage are much rarer. He was a great singer, but I wish I could have heard him speak.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)his career and achievements.
BOG PERSON
(2,916 posts)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Party_USA_and_African_Americans
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)nt
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)A couple of weeks ago or so DUer Taverner had posted an interesting thread about the Hollywood Ten.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023418512
In reading the responses I came to realize how many folks were not familiar with that particular period in our history and was reminded of that again when kpete posted the current thread about Ronald Reagan having been an FBI informer. (I also recommend for anyone interested in this sorry chapter in our history to read Lillian Hellman's Scoundrel Time)
So I thought it might be a good idea to post some threads about certain important chapters in our history, ones you rarely read about or see via the mainstream media productions. Again, a recent thread by bvar22 regarding the omission of labor movement history from our textbooks underscores the need to make sure such topics are revisited.
Re: Paul Robeson. Yes, I wondered how many would recognize the name of this towering figure whose name and story seem to have faded from history. Deliberately erased, I suspect. I certainly hope this thread will encourage people to find out more about this remarkable man.
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)I bought his biography at that point. I had never heard of him before then. The great purge and history rewrite has been fairly successful.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)The name of Paul Robeson has been effectively expunged from the history books. Even today it would seem the telling of his story is taboo, the frightening and shameful spectre of HUAC still hanging over Hollywood. Think about it -- one of the most compelling chapters in American history involving scores of famous personages, even an American President, yet how many movies have been made about that dark time? There have been references to it in film, usually cloaked, as in The Manchurian Candidate.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)Reagan testified before McCarthy and did not bother to correct the technical error, since I sympathized with the sentiment of the person posting.)
HUAC was the House Un-American Activities Committee. Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. Senator. Different bodies and different hearings.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)That whole period of anti-communist hysteria tends to morph into one unpalatable dose of nasty in my mind. So yes, you're very right to point out that HUAC and the McCarthy hearings were different animals. Apologies on my part.
BTW, I have since edited my own post to that very worthy thread.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)intended whatsoever. (My wife tells me I'm way too anal-retentive when it comes to historical trivia
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)We're all trying to revisit some important chapters in our history that have been ignored or erased so it's important that we tell the stories correctly. I appreciated your post.
merrily
(45,251 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)malaise
(268,949 posts)I grew up listening to Robeson - my father adored him. My great aunt knew him. He was a great man.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)What a voice, what a mind, what a man.
malaise
(268,949 posts)on Robeson - with all the lovely music to boot. It was fabulous. I can never get enough of that voice.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)It's going to take some truly brave souls to lead us out of this dark tunnel.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)that at least nominally eschewed the very notion of hierarchical leaders. Those OLA folks put my generation (ultra-late Baby Boomer, born in 1959) to shame. My generation rightly earned Tom Wolfe's sobriquet "The Me Generation" -- been trying to live that down ever since.
malthaussen
(17,190 posts)... but since he never generated a "movement" behind him, he has largely been confined to the dustbin of history.
-- Mal
greiner3
(5,214 posts)Au contrair, movie buffs, those not watching the current, and mostly crap, movies check out Paul's movies.
You will change your opinion that he is of that 'dustbin' of history as so many of these buffs have discovered.
Just sayin'.
malthaussen
(17,190 posts)... but whatever movie or music buffs may think about him, I doubt one person in ten randomly-chosen knows his name.
-- Mal
malaise
(268,949 posts)comes up with our farewell song. At the last one we began our sing-along and I don't know what led me to Vera Lyn's We'll Meet Again. Well surprise surprise one of my under 30 year old nephews knew all the words.
adieu
(1,009 posts)of Paul Robeson. One of the best singers I've ever heard. Great technique as well as incredible passion, and sometimes pathos, in the voice.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)Last edited Sun Aug 18, 2013, 04:55 PM - Edit history (1)
member of the Communist Party-USA and introduced us to Robeson, someone whose name I had never heard mentioned before.
As long as communism (Marxism) survivies as a movement, Robeson will stay outside the dustbin of history. Long after Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have been relegated there. At least that's my hope.
Brickbat
(19,339 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Love Paul Robeson.
An essay I wrote about him: http://rosicrucian1970.blogspot.com/2012/01/paul-robeson-socialist-society.html?m=1
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)I hope everyone here will make it a point to read it. In fact, there are so many great quotes within it I'm going to change my sig line.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for this great OP!
malthaussen
(17,190 posts)... but note that the attribution should be to Wendell Phillips: Robeson is quoting him in the book.
Unfortunately, the blog cites him as Wendell Potter, who is an altogether different gentleman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Phillips
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Potter
-- Mal
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)I shall edit forthwith.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)It's a quote from the book, not my attribution.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)loudsue
(14,087 posts)fought a very unjust system here at home.
Thanks!
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)No matter how hard those in power try to erase their memories and struggles from our history.
HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)appreciation of your sentiment and mention William Lewis Moore, never to have achieved Robeson's deserved international stature and repute, but a 'courageous person' nonetheless:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lewis_Moore
I tear up every time i think about Moore. Maybe someone can explain why it's almost always the Commies and the mentally ill who point us the way forward.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)That was truly inspiring!
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)That was very moving and I'm glad you brought Moore's story to our attention. I hope you will share more stories of this type with us, should you feel so inspired. I would like to see such threads become a regular part of GD.
kskiska
(27,045 posts)Robeson tried to buy a house in my home town in Connecticut in the 50s, but the neighbors got together and bought it instead. I always thought it odd because the neighborhood was what was known as a leftist enclave. Maybe he was too much of a hot potato at the time, when he and Arthur Miller were targeted by the HUAC.
MelungeonWoman
(502 posts)Thanks so much for adding a wonderful story to the name, it's nice to know who Paul Robeson was. I'll think of him when I grow them.