Insiders and Outsiders: Civil Rights, Paul Robeson, Walter White, and the way American Politics Work

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Insiders and OutsidersCivil Rights,Paul
Robeson, Walter White, and the way American
Politics Work.
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Civil Rights Great Depression and World War II

• Changing governmental roles
• Massive demographic change
• War mobilization and Black Veterans
• International ideological underpinnings of
  conflict

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Ideology and Change

• Looking at two men, not because they are the
  whole story
• They serve as a metaphor for the ideological
  struggle facing Black America in the Great
  Depression and World War II
• An example of American political discourse

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Two Contemporaries, Two Stories

• The Outsider Paul Robeson and protest against
  American institutions
• The Insider Walter White and working the system

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Paul Robeson (1898-1976)
American Masters Link
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Robesons Ol Man River
Original Lyrics Tote dat barge! Lif dat
bale! Git a little drunk An you land in jail Ah
gits weary An sick of tryin Ahm tired of
livin An skeered of dyin But Ol Man River He
jest keep rollin along
Robeson Lyrics Tote that barge and Lift that
bale Show a little grit And you lands in jail But
I keeps laffin Instead of cryin I must keep
fightin Until I dyin And Ol Man River He just
keeps rollin' along
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The CPUSA and Black America

• Rhetoric of equality and economic message
  appealing
• Gains credibility with Scottsboro Boys
• Question of motive Price of friendship

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Robeson and Racial Activism
Robeson was not afraid to cross racial
barriers. Promotional photo with Peggy Ashcroft
for 1930 London production of Othello
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Walter White (1893-1955)

• Anti-Lynching crusader
• NAACP organization man 1931 Exec. Sec. NAACP
• Key in forging FDRs New Deal coalition
• Focus on Law and Politics

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Whites NAACPs and black activism

• Legalistic approach
• Targeted efforts and test cases
• Legal victories, but little change for average
  black Americans
• Criticized for being over-eager to compromise in
  order to maintain political ties

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World War II and Change

• The war changed the lives of millions of Black
  Americans
• It would also change the lives of Robeson and
  White

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Black Skepticism on the Eve of War

• The World War I experience
• Jim Crow military
• Colonialism and war aims
• A white mans fight?

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Poster of Navy Cross recipient Dorie Miller
featured on a recruiting poster targeting
African-Americans.
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Robeson became a supporter of the war against
Fascism, but primarily because of his fondness
for the Soviets Favorite Songs of the Red Army
and Navy (1942)
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Robeson leading shipyard employees in singing
The Star Spangled Banner, in Oakland, 1942
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Robeson and Patriotism

• How different were the goals Robeson supported
  from those espoused by the American government?

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Walter Whites NAACP and Wartime Aims

• Harnessing the political ties of the 1930s
• Loyalty with conditions Double V
• Harnessing the power of the wars ideological
  basis
• Earning recognition for vital contribution of
  Black America

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War and Racial Tension

• Discrimination in the Armed Forces and war
  production creating discontent
• Walter White, A. Philip Randolph, and the
  threatened march on Washington

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Dividends of Loyalty
A. Phillip Randolph and Eleanor Roosevelt
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Federal Government as Ally

• Quintessential NAACP Bargain instead of March
• Limited wartime concessions by FDR administration
  a turning point between White House and Black
  America.

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American Law, International Stage

• NAACP the White Primary
• Smith v. Allwright (1944)
• Felix Frankfurter Not new facts, but a new
  political viewpoint.
• New relationship between Federal Law and Black
  America

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Post-War Robeson

• Remains committed to Stalins Soviet Union,
  despite misgivings
• Derides Allies support of colonialism
• Protests US Cold War attitude, wins Stalin Peace
  Prize, 1952
• Was he merely a tool of Stalin?

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Stern Cold War Realities

• Robesons actions destroyed him personally and
  professionally.
• Loses passport rights 1950, banned from
  television, radio
• His recordings disappear from stores
• Retains supporters, but his moment has passed

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Post-War White

• Applauds some Communist platitudes in 1945, but
  remains committed to American international aims
• Keeps American racism in international eye
  through the U.N.
• Key in committing the NAACP to anticommunism.
• Was he a tool of American foreign policy?

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Walter Whites imprint

• Harnesses the war to create a working
  relationship with the Federal Government
• Links the goals of American Civil Rights with the
  democratic platitudes of anticommunism
• Places focus of Civil Rights upon rights of
  citizenship instead of economics

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Legacy of Robeson and White

• Ironically, Robeson and White contributed to
  similar ends
• The radicalism of Robeson made the leadership of
  Whites NAACP seem like a viable mainstream
  alternative
• Policy shaped by vocal critics as well as
  political allies.