Changes

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>

Robeson's [[Stalinism]] extended to denying civil rights to Trotskyites, whom [[Stalin]] had labeled "objectively fascist." In 1949, President [[Harry Truman|Truman]], seeking to distract attention from the [[Whittaker Chambers|Chambers|Elizabeth Bentley|Bentley]] revelations of widespread [[Communist]] penetration of the Federal government, arrested 11 leaders of the [[Communist Party]] under the [[Smith Act]]. [[Soviet]] agents such as Congressman [[Samuel Dickstein]] (D-N.Y.) (the Soviet agent code-named "Crook"), the architect of what would become [[HUAC]], had used the act in 1941 to convict 19 leaders of the Trotskyite Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Now that the [[CPUSA]] found itself attacked by the same law, some called for pardons for the Trotskyites. Robeson led the opposition:

{{cquote|In speaking for denial of civil liberties to the Socialist Workers Party, Mr. Robeson asked the conference, "Would you give civil rights to the Ku Klux Klan?"

"These men are the allies of fascism who want to destroy the new democracies of the world," the singer shouted. "Let's not get confused. They are the enemies of the working class."<ref>"[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50815F9395B167B93CAA8178CD85F4D8485F9 Rights Group Bars Socialist Pardon; Robeson Heads Fight on Plea For Restoring Liberties to Workers Party Members]," ''The New York Times'', July 18, 1949. Cf. [http://ia341028.us.archive.org/3/items/investigationofu0304unit/investigationofu0304unit_bw.pdf Investigation of the Unauthorized Use of United States Passports&mdash;Part 3], Committee on Un-American Activities, United States House of Representatives, 84th Cong., 2d sess. June 12-13, 1956 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1956), p. 4676</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>

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>