The Cold War and Domestic Anti-Communism 2. Paul Robeson

1. The Cold War and Domestic Anti-Communism2. Paul Robeson History 203 May 3, 2012

2. Announcements • Potential midterm essay questions and instructions are now online at http://www.uoregon.edu/~dapope/203midtermessays--sp12.htm. The exam itself is Tuesday, May 8. • Instructions for the paper on Stoll, US Environment since 1945 will be posted soon.

3. Some Websites on Anti-Communism and on Paul Robeson • Large “Literature and Culture of the American 1950s” site • The James Dean Gallery • “Joseph McCarthy: A Modern Tragedy” • Paul Robeson on the Web • Paul Robeson centennial website • Paul Robeson High School in New York city: Students last month call for a walkout on May 1, 2012.

4. Cold War Politics and Culture • Living with the Bomb • See an interesting comparison of disaster fears in the 1950s and post-September 11 • Cold War and the New Politics of Family Life • A “feminine mystique”? • A male “flight from commitment” • “Togetherness”? Juvenile Delinquency, the “Comic Book Menace” and a Generation Gap?

5. Fallout Shelter FadLife Magazine, 1962

6. Juvenile Delinquency Even though teenage crime rates were pretty stable in the 1950s, there was a widespread fear of juvenile delinquency. This 1955 hit movie expressed these anxieties. Blackboard Jungle trailer—3 minutes.

7. . • James Dean starred in only three movies and died in an auto accident at 24. He personified angry, alienated youth of the 1950s

8. The Comic Book Menace Fredric Wertham’s 1954 book attacked comic books as psychologically and socially destructive. To defend themselves, comic book publishers adopted a code of good behavior.

9. The Attack on Comic Books • From a 1940 essay: "Badly drawn, badly written, and badly printed - a strain on the young eyes and young nervous systems - the effects of these pulp-paper nightmares is that of a violent stimulant. Their crude blacks and reds spoils a child's natural sense of colour; their hypodermic injection of sex and murder make the child impatient with better, though quieter, stories. Unless we want a coming generation even more ferocious than the present one, parents and teachers throughout America must band together to break the `comic' magazine.“ • “According to Wertham, comic books were giving kids wrong ideas about the laws of physics, because Superman could fly! He also charged that comic books were implementing and re-enforcing homosexual thoughts because Robin was drawn with bare legs, that were often wide open, and that Robin seemed devoted and attached to only Batman. Dr. Wertham also stated that Wonder Woman was giving little girls the "wrong ideas" about a woman's place in society.”

10. “Comic books are definitely harmful to impressionable people, and most young people are impressionable…. I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic book industry…. “The time has come to legislate these books off the newsstands and out of the candy stores.”—Frederic Wertham

11. The Anti-Communist Crusade • “McCarthyism” before McCarthy • Some examples: Anti-Communist oaths for labor union leaders; Alger Hiss case; Truman’s loyalty review for federal workers; House Un-American Activities Committee and Hollywood • Anti-Communism removes radical influence from American life.

12. Alger Hiss, State Department Official, Charged with Espionage

13. The “Hollywood Ten”: Charged with Contempt of Congress

14. Senator Joe McCarthy • “Tail Gunner Joe” • The “Senator from Pepsi-Cola” • McCarthy discovers the Communist Menace, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1950.

15. McCarthyism: The Rise and Fall • McCarthy’s targets expand • Eisenhower: A Republican President deals with McCarthy • The Army-McCarthy Hearings

16. "I had to sell out my own girl--so would you! I was under the toughest orders a guy could get! I stood by and watched my brother slugged...I started a riot that ran red with terror...I learned every dirty rule in their book--and had to use them--because I was a communist--but I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI." Four million copies of this comic book were distributed.

17. The Anti-Communist Crusade: Interpretations • Home Front in the Cold War: Response to Espionage and Disloyalty • Traditional Conservatism with a New Twist • A Populist Crusade against Elitism • Liberals vs. radicals in the Cold War era

18. Paul Robeson: A Forgotten Hero 1898-1976

19. Paul Robeson’s Many Roles • All-American Football Player at Rutgers • Valedictorian and Phi Beta Kappa • Columbia Law School • Actor on Broadway and London, International Film Star • Baritone with Repertoire from Gospel to Opera • Cosmopolitan linguist—Robeson spoke perhaps a dozen languages.

20. An Artist as Political Activist • Opposition to racial discrimination • Support for workers in the U.S. and around the world • Growing admiration for the Soviet Union. • Robeson was probably never a member of the Communist Party but he was a committed radical who rarely if ever criticized the USSR. • Robeson as a leader in mainstream African American politics and culture in 1930s and World War II years • Robeson sings the labor song “The Ballad of Joe Hill” on YouTube. • Robeson sings “The House I Live In,” a popular song urging unity against racism and anti-Semitism. • Robeson sings the Soviet Union’s national anthem (English language version) in 1945.

21. Robeson and the Cold War • Communism as a dividing issue in the late 1940s • Robeson and African American patriotism • Jackie Robinson’s reply • YouTube clip (4 min. 37 sec.) of Robeson’s son discussing the conflict between Robeson and Robinson. • Peekskill Riots 1949: Radicals isolated • Robeson persecuted: Passport revoked

23. Paul Robeson Concert Attacked: Peekskill, NY 1949 A brief video clip of the Peekskill riot