Editing Peekskill riots (section)

==Paul Robeson's remarks in Paris, 1949==
[[File:Columbia-Masterworks-Othello-LIFE-Ad-crop.jpg|thumb|right|Robeson {{circa}} 1945]]
Robeson had given three earlier concerts in Peekskill without incident, but in the years leading up to the riots, Robeson had been increasingly vocal against the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and other forces of white supremacy, both domestically and internationally. Robeson specifically made a transformation from someone who was primarily a singer into a political persona who vocally supported what were, at the time, considered "communist" causes, including the [[decolonization of Africa]], anti-[[Jim Crow]] legislation, and peace with the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>Robeson, Susan ''The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson'' Chapter 5, The Politics of Persecution, p. 180</ref> Robeson had also appeared before the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]] to oppose a bill that would require communists to register as foreign agents and, just months before the concerts in 1949, he had appeared at the Soviet-sponsored World Peace Conference in Paris. Referring to the growing tensions between the Americans and the Soviets, he stated:

<blockquote>We in America do not forget that it was the backs of white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong.... We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the People's Republics.<ref>Robeson, Paul The undiscovered Paul Robeson: quest for freedom, 1939–1976, pp. 142–143 2010</ref><ref>"Phillip S Foner, Paul Robeson Speaks, selected speeches and writings, 1978, p. 197"</ref></blockquote>

What came over the wires to news agencies via the AP in the [[United States]] was as follows,

<blockquote>We colonial peoples have contributed to the building of the United States and are determined to share its<!--is this misspelling original? whether or not, it should be correct here, or else followed by [sic]--> wealth. We denounce the policy of the United States government which is similar to Hitler and Goebbels.... It is unthinkable that American Negros would go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union which in one generation has lifted our people to full human dignity.<ref>Robeson, Paul The undiscovered Paul Robeson: quest for freedom, 1939–1976, p. 143 2010]</ref></blockquote>

Later examination of time records showed that the AP dispatched this fabricated version on its wires as Robeson began speaking.<ref>Seton, Marie. ''Paul Robeson'', 1958, p. 179</ref><ref>''Pages From History: Paul Robeson and the Paris Peace Conference of 1949'' http://www.zikkir.com/index/188568 retrieved November 17, 2010: "What's fascinating about that dispatch is that it turns out from my research that the AP had put the dispatch on the wires as dad was stepping up on the rostrum. So, it appeared in American evening papers before he had any idea that he had been quoted like that and it was made up out of whole cloth, not quite out of whole cloth, they used bits and pieces of speeches he'd made elsewhere on this tour, stitched them together in a way that sounded like his style of speaking, added this phrase, Negroes will not fight for the United States in a war against the Soviet Union and put it on the wires. And immediately the State Department and the machinery of government here spread this Robeson has said thus and so, he's a traitor to the country and pressured black leaders to denounce him and pledge loyalty to the United States. Many did, some didn't, but it became issue number one. Paul Robeson, Communist traitor to the US."</ref> The comment was not investigated by the American press for its veracity and there was nationwide condemnation of Robeson. In the early stages of the Cold War and its accompanying wide anti-communist sentiments in the West, this statement was seen by many as very [[anti-American]]. The local paper, the Peekskill ''Evening Star'', condemned the concert and encouraged people to make their position on communism felt, but did not directly espouse violence. The riots were explicitly racist, with the rioters shouting racist terms for African Americans and Jews, burning crosses, and lynching effigies of Robeson both in Peekskill and in other areas of the United States.<ref>Robeson, Susan ''The Whole World in His Hands: A Pictorial Biography of Paul Robeson'' Chapter 5, The Politics of Persecution, p. 182</ref>