SkipCaptcha, Automoderated users, edit
7,178
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 46:
Line 46: − In 1949, addressing the Communist-led World Congress of Partisans in Paris, Robeson said, "It is unthinkable that American Negroes could go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union, which in one generation has raised our people to full human dignity."<ref>Freedomways, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=L8pcRKhKjdoC Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner]'' (International Publishers, 1998) ISBN 071780724X, p. 320</ref> In the official organ of the Communist Party, he reiterated: "At the Paris Conference I said it was unthinkable that the Negro people of America or elsewhere in the world could be drawn into war with the Soviet Union."<ref>Paul Robeson, “I Am Looking for Full Freedom,” ''The Worker'', July 3, 1949</ref>+ + +
→The Soviet Union and communist advocacy: added 49 CRC
Following Paul Robeson's first trip to Russia in late 1934, he became an ardent lover of not just the [[Soviet Union]] and its peoples, but Russian culture and history.<ref>Duberman, Martin. ''Paul Robeson'', 1989, pg 190.</ref> Robeson became fluent in Russian, studied Russian history in depth, learned about the many national minorities (eg: Yakuts, Uzbeks, Tartars) and wrote numerous essays and articles demonstrating his deeply held beliefs that the US should seek peace and understanding with Soviet Russia.
Following Paul Robeson's first trip to Russia in late 1934, he became an ardent lover of not just the [[Soviet Union]] and its peoples, but Russian culture and history.<ref>Duberman, Martin. ''Paul Robeson'', 1989, pg 190.</ref> Robeson became fluent in Russian, studied Russian history in depth, learned about the many national minorities (eg: Yakuts, Uzbeks, Tartars) and wrote numerous essays and articles demonstrating his deeply held beliefs that the US should seek peace and understanding with Soviet Russia.
Robeson's [[Stalinism]] extended to denying civil rights to [[Trotskyites]], whom [[Stalin]] had labeled "objectively fascist." At a 1949 convention of the Civil Rights Conference in New York City, a resolution was introduced calling for the freeing of 19 Trotskyites convicted in 1941 under the provisions of the [[Smith Act]], which Communists such as Congressman [[Samuel Dickstein]] (D-N.Y.) (the Soviet agent code-named "Crook") of [[HUAC]] were then using to persecute enemies. Robeson gave a speech saying that the imprisoned Socialist Workers Party members were “the allies of Fascism who want to destroy the new democracies of the world. Let’s not get confused, they are the enemies of the working class. Would you give civil rights to the Ku Klux Klan?"<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=WNIJAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA4676 Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, United States Congress, Hearings (US Government Printing Office, 1956)]</ref>
Also in 1949, addressing the Communist-led World Congress of Partisans in Paris, Robeson said, "It is unthinkable that American Negroes could go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union, which in one generation has raised our people to full human dignity."<ref>Freedomways, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=L8pcRKhKjdoC Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner]'' (International Publishers, 1998) ISBN 071780724X, p. 320</ref> In the official organ of the Communist Party, he reiterated: "At the Paris Conference I said it was unthinkable that the Negro people of America or elsewhere in the world could be drawn into war with the Soviet Union."<ref>Paul Robeson, “I Am Looking for Full Freedom,” ''The Worker'', July 3, 1949</ref>
This pronouncement drew public rebukes from African-American labor leader A. Philip Randolph, international president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the largest black labor union;<ref>"[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00F11FD355F177B93C5A9178AD95F4D8485F9 Robeson Criticized by Negro Union Head]," ''The New York Times'', November 7, 1949, p. 23</ref> by the National Urban League, which issued a resolution condemning exploitation of the race issue by "totalitarian forces of whatever persuasion";<ref>Doris Greenberg, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00612F73C5F177B93CBA91782D85F4D8485F9 Urban League Set to Chide Robeson; Leaders Draft Statement for Approval Today Condemning Exploiting of Race Issue]," ''The New York Times'', September 9, 1949, p. 15</ref> and by Sugar Ray Robinson, frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, who told a reporter that if he ever crossed paths with Robeson he would "punch him in the mouth."<ref>Michael C. Moynihan, "[http://reason.com/archives/2008/10/23/socialist-is-not-a-racist-smea 'Socialist' Is Not A Racist Smear]," ''Reason'', October 23, 2008</ref>
This pronouncement drew public rebukes from African-American labor leader A. Philip Randolph, international president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the largest black labor union;<ref>"[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00F11FD355F177B93C5A9178AD95F4D8485F9 Robeson Criticized by Negro Union Head]," ''The New York Times'', November 7, 1949, p. 23</ref> by the National Urban League, which issued a resolution condemning exploitation of the race issue by "totalitarian forces of whatever persuasion";<ref>Doris Greenberg, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00612F73C5F177B93CBA91782D85F4D8485F9 Urban League Set to Chide Robeson; Leaders Draft Statement for Approval Today Condemning Exploiting of Race Issue]," ''The New York Times'', September 9, 1949, p. 15</ref> and by Sugar Ray Robinson, frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, who told a reporter that if he ever crossed paths with Robeson he would "punch him in the mouth."<ref>Michael C. Moynihan, "[http://reason.com/archives/2008/10/23/socialist-is-not-a-racist-smea 'Socialist' Is Not A Racist Smear]," ''Reason'', October 23, 2008</ref>