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→Statement to The House Committee on Un-American Activities
===Statement to The House Committee on Un-American Activities===
===Statement to The House Committee on Un-American Activities===
In 1949, [[Jackie Robinson]] struggled with his decision to testify before The House Committee on Un-American Activities regarding the widely misquoted declaration made by the famous entertainer [[Paul Robeson]] that African Americans would not support the United States in a war with the Soviet Union due to their continued second-class citizen status under law following World War II. Technically, Robinson was not required to testify, but he knew there would be repercussions if he did not.
In 1949, Jackie Robinson struggled with his decision to testify before The House Committee on Un-American Activities regarding the widely misquoted declaration made by the famous entertainer [[Paul Robeson]] that African Americans would not support the United States in a war with the Soviet Union due to their continued second-class citizen status under law following World War II. Technically, Robinson was not required to testify, but he knew there would be repercussions if he did not.
In July 1949, Robinson eventually agreed to testify before HUAC, fearing that declining to do so might negatively and permanently damage his career.<ref name="Duberman 361-62">[[#Duberman|Duberman]], pp. 361–62.</ref> His testimony was a major media event, with Robinson's carefully-worded statement appearing on the front page of ''[[The New York Times]]'' the following day. In the statement – prepared with the help of [[Branch Rickey]], who in order to facilitate the testimony, released Robinson from a prior agreement not to make any political statements during his baseball career<ref name=Whitfield>{{cite book |title=The Culture of the Cold War (2d. ed.) |isbn=9780801851957 |last=Whitfield |first=Stephen J. |year=1996 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=irSQLb4xiJ8C&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=Robinson+testimoy+HUAC&source=bl&ots=NvdP0fxoTr&sig=DjDZP_BZqUgv00r38lqmrNJZ3YE&hl=en&ei=PZ_fSZqkI-HslQeFrLHgDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA194,M1 |page=194}}</ref> – Robinson said that Robeson “has a right to his personal views, and if he wants to sound silly when he expresses them in public, that is his business and not mine . . . . He’s still a famous ex-athlete and a great singer and actor.”<ref name="Duberman 361-62"/> Robinson also stated that "the fact that it is a Communist who denounces injustice in the courts, police brutality, and lynching when it happens doesn't change the truth of his charges," and that racial discrimination is not "a creation of Communist imagination."<ref name=Duberman361>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 361.</ref><ref name=Whitfield/> Robinson left the capital immediately after his testimony to avoid, as the black newspaper ''New Age'', pointed out, "being Jim Crowed by Washington's infamous lily-white hotels."<ref>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 360.</ref>
In July 1949, Robinson eventually agreed to testify before HUAC, fearing that declining to do so might negatively and permanently damage his career.<ref name="Duberman 361-62">[[#Duberman|Duberman]], pp. 361–62.</ref> His testimony was a major media event, with Robinson's carefully-worded statement appearing on the front page of ''[[The New York Times]]'' the following day. In the statement – prepared with the help of [[Branch Rickey]], who in order to facilitate the testimony, released Robinson from a prior agreement not to make any political statements during his baseball career<ref name=Whitfield>{{cite book |title=The Culture of the Cold War (2d. ed.) |isbn=9780801851957 |last=Whitfield |first=Stephen J. |year=1996 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=irSQLb4xiJ8C&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=Robinson+testimoy+HUAC&source=bl&ots=NvdP0fxoTr&sig=DjDZP_BZqUgv00r38lqmrNJZ3YE&hl=en&ei=PZ_fSZqkI-HslQeFrLHgDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA194,M1 |page=194}}</ref> – Robinson said that Robeson “has a right to his personal views, and if he wants to sound silly when he expresses them in public, that is his business and not mine . . . . He’s still a famous ex-athlete and a great singer and actor.”<ref name="Duberman 361-62"/> Robinson also stated that "the fact that it is a Communist who denounces injustice in the courts, police brutality, and lynching when it happens doesn't change the truth of his charges," and that racial discrimination is not "a creation of Communist imagination."<ref name=Duberman361>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 361.</ref><ref name=Whitfield/> Robinson left the capital immediately after his testimony to avoid, as the black newspaper ''New Age'', pointed out, "being Jim Crowed by Washington's infamous lily-white hotels."<ref>[[#Duberman|Duberman]], p. 360.</ref>