Comments on: Paul Robeson (Part I)–a mind can be an impossible thing to change

By: Scott Arthur Edwards

Scott Arthur Edwards — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

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By: submandave

submandave — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

"All I ask is that Paul Robeson be judged by all of his deeds."

As commendable as speaking out against lynching and segregation is, to imply that these actions somehow absolve ignoring and abetting the premeditated murder of thousands by their own government is an exercise in moral equivalence I've rarely seen equalled. And as for the legendary McCarthy years, while Joe was largely a grandstander milking it for his personal political gain, KGB documents released after the collapse of the USSR showed he had most of his facts right.

By: Kate Marie

Kate Marie — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Ooops, my question should say did Robeson continue his stance against fascism during the time of the Hitler-Stalin pact?

By: Kate Marie

Kate Marie — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Robeson’s “weakness” for Soviet Russia may have been the “tragedy” of his life, but I’ll go out on a limb and say the even greater tragedy was suffered by the millions of actual victims of Soviet Russia. In my opinion, Robeson’s failure to speak for them, who were slaughtered in the name of the most illiberal ideology and form of government on earth, cannot be counterbalanced by his willingness to champion liberal causes in America. And I’m sure it offered little comfort to the murdered and the terrorized that while Robeson apologized for Stalin, at least he had the courage to speak out against Truman.

I have a side question about Robeson, though, and I really don’t know the answer to this one. Did Robeson stance against fascism continue during the duration of the Hitler-Stalin pact? Most party members and fellow travelers became “pacifists” during those years; did Robeson buck the trend?

By: Loyal Achates

Loyal Achates — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Robeson's weakness for Stalinist Russia was the great tragedy of his life. But let me ask you; if Robeson was the great dupe, the poster child of leftist authoritarianism, why was it that it was only people like Robeson who were standing up for democracy in America for so many years? It was Robeson who fought against fascism in Europe when the business community and and the American and British upper classes were hailing it as a godsend; Robeson who defended freedom of conscience in America during the Mcarthy years; when President Truman was too weak to demand anti-lynching and anti-segregation laws, it was Robeson who demanded them and wouldn't settle for anything less. The examples are countless.

Any person who binds themselves to an ideology is bound to commit crimes against truth and reason. All I ask is that Paul Robeson be judged by all of his deeds.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Have you read “Commies” by Ronald Radosh? That book is an eye opener even for a former member of the New Left (me) .

By: shro

shro — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Stalin planned to extradite the jews from Moscow, and perhaps from the European part of the Soviet union, to the far east. You should read “Stalin’s last crime” by Jonathan Brent and Vladimir Naumov.
Did Robeson know about it? He should have if he was indeed “a great mind”. He was a great artist but I suspect he was deeply insecure and a coward.

By: David Thomson

David Thomson — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the real world. I am not even slightly surprised that true believing utopian ideologues are indifferent toward human suffering. This is really ho-hum for the course. They fervently believe that a few eggs must be broken to make an omelet. It matters little that a few innocent individuals are sacrificed for the greater good.

By: PatCA

PatCA — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

“This story literally made the hair on my arms stand up.”

Ditto.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 07:00:00 +0000

There are two basic possibilities:

1. Robeson trusted Stalin and decided that Feffer had somehow betrayed the communist cause.

2. Robeson realized Feffer was telling the truth but decided that the cause of international communism was too important to be held back by the mere "truth".