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==Communism==
==Communism==
Robeson's political statements and activism, including sympathies expressed towards the Soviet Union, [[Lenin]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Josip Broz Tito]] and [[Joseph Stalin]] were the subject of great controversy in the mass media, in particular rumors of membership in the [[Communist Party USA|American Communist Party]].
Robeson's political statements and activism, including sympathies expressed towards the Soviet Union, [[Lenin]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Josip Broz Tito]] and [[Joseph Stalin]] were the subject of great controversy in the mass media, in particular rumors of membership in the [[Communist Party USA|American Communist Party]].
Robeson first visited the Soviet Union in 1934. Upon his return, the official Communist Party organ ''The Daily Worker'' published an interview with him, in which he gushed about the "workers' paradise":<ref>Vern Smith, "[http://revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv4n2/ussrpr.htm 'I Am at Home,' Says Robeson at Reception in Soviet Union]," ''The Daily Worker'', January 15, 1935, quoted in Philip Sheldon Foner, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=V_CJfbpKOLwC Paul Robeson speaks: writings, speeches, interviews, 1918-1974]'' (Citadel Press, 2002) ISBN 0806508159, p. 95</ref>
{{cquote|I was not prepared for the happiness I see on every face in Moscow," said Robeson. "I was aware that there was no starvation here, but I was not prepared for the bounding life; the feeling of safety and abundance and freedom that I find here, wherever I turn. I was not prepared for the endless friendliness, which surrounded me from the moment I crossed the border. I had a technically irregular passport, but all this was brushed aside by the eager helpfulness of the border authorities.}}
Robeson was asked about Stalin's then-ongoing bloody purges:
{{cquote|Commenting on the recent execution after court-martial of a number of counter-revolutionary terrorists, Robeson declared roundly: "From what I have already seen of the workings of the Soviet Government, I can only say that anybody who lifts his hand against it ought to be shot!
"It is the government's duty to put down any opposition to this really free society with a firm hand," he continued, "and I hope they will always do it ... It is obvious that there is no terror here..."}}
According to records released under the [[Freedom of Information Act]], the [[FBI]] believed that Robeson might have joined the Party under the name "John Thomas" but "his Communist Party membership book number is not known."
According to records released under the [[Freedom of Information Act]], the [[FBI]] believed that Robeson might have joined the Party under the name "John Thomas" but "his Communist Party membership book number is not known."