Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey on April 9, 1898. When he was only six years old, his mother died in a fire. Soon after, he moved with his father, who had been a slave, and his four siblings to Somerville. Robeson was very studious, and at 17 years old, he became the third African American to earn a scholarship to attend Rutgers University. He continued to excel academically in college and also participated in sports there, despite discrimination. He then continued his studies in law school at Columbia University, where he met his wife Eslanda Goode.
Eslanda eventually became her husband’s manager when he began to pursue a career as a performer, after a great deal of racism at the law firm he worked at caused him to leave in 1923. Paul Robeson would become a world-famous performer and would also make a name for himself an activist.
Robeson, along with his wife and their son, Paul Robeson Jr., moved to Europe in the late 1920s, and he would become very popular there as a singer and film actor. He acted in multiple British films and gained many fans in Europe and back in the United States. After coming back to the United States, he first was praised by many for his work, such as his role in the Broadway production of Othello in 1943. He continued to gain popularity until McCarthyism took over and turned him into an enemy to many Americans who were paranoid about the spread of communism and were constantly searching for more people to accuse.
Having constantly faced racism himself throughout his life, Robeson used his platform to speak out against racial injustice and advocate for civil rights. In addition, he openly expressed his political views, even when it would cause an extreme backlash. He challenged the idea that Americans’ rights could be taken away during the time pervaded by McCarthyism. Many celebrities were accused of supporting communism, and Robeson was one of them who refused to lie in order to maintain a reputation that would please the many anticommunist crusaders. He famously stated, “Whether I am or not a communist is irrelevant. The question is whether American citizens, regardless of their political beliefs or sympathies, may enjoy their constitutional rights.”
Because of his stance on communism, Robeson’s reputation suffered greatly. He was blacklisted, and not only was his career harmed but also his life, as he would face depression and other troubles with his health. Americans did not want to be labeled communists, and that was what they would be risking by supporting Robeson. Thus, he lost much of his popularity and was restrained from continuing in many aspects of his career, as concert venues in the United States banned him, and film studios and record labels wanted nothing to do with him. Eventually, Robeson was able to continue performing again outside of the United States, but he still was forced to face consequences because his beliefs had opposed those of many Americans.
Robeson died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in early 1976. His story is a clear illustration of how easily people’s careers and reputations could be destroyed and lives drastically changed for the worse during the era of McCarthyism. Fear and paranoia were omnipresent in the United States. At a time when many people chose to conceal their beliefs and opinions, point fingers at people close to them, and do anything they could to save their reputations, Paul Robeson showed great courage by speaking out, even when he knew it would mean facing severe consequences.
It is quite a shame that Paul Robeson's career and reputation were destroyed by Cold War hysteria. Which do you think contributed more: the fact that Robeson complimented Communism and the fact that he was black? This was a time in US history when civil rights were gaining more attention, so conservative white Americans who wanted things to go back to the way they were probably would have scapegoated any successful black man as anti-American. But then again, his own beliefs did nothing to show that he was anti-Communist, so intensely anti-Communist Americans would have disliked him whether he were black or not. The combination of those two things made him hugely unpopular in Cold War America.
ReplyDeleteBrynna, thank you for the insightful post. I really thought that the analysis you did on both the Cold War sentiments at the time coupled with the increased hatred towards racial de-segregation was done quite effectively. To me, it is really sad that Robeson faced the brunt of society's hatred. Although he was not even outright communist, I find it sad that his race caused people to be more prejudiced towards him. I was reading more about Robeson, and found that at just 17 years old, he got a scholarship to go to Rutgers University. Only the 3rd Black American to do so, he was one of their best students. Not only did he receive a plethora of varsity letters, but also was the valedictorian of his class. I thought that this information was interesting, and showed how McCarthyism really had no mercy. Regardless of how good of a person you were- one statement that would say that one was a "commie" would result, uniortuatlet, of a lifetime of living on the blacklist. Looking at Robeson's past credentials, successes, and basically him going against dozens of social norms- it is sad to see how America's fear and hatred was strong enough to bring down such a successful and motivated individual.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.biography.com/people/paul-robeson-9460451