Editing Paul Robeson (section)

=== 1939–1945: World War II, and the Broadway ''Othello'' ===
[[File:"Paul Robeson, world famous Negro baritone, leading Moore Shipyard (Oakland, CA) workers in singing the Star Spangled Ba - NARA - 535874.tif|thumb|Robeson leading Moore Shipyard ([[Oakland, California]]) workers in singing the "[[Star Spangled Banner]]", September 1942]]
[[File:Robeson Hagen Othello.jpg|thumb|right|Robeson with [[Uta Hagen]] in the [[Theatre Guild]] production of ''[[Othello]]'' (1943–44)]]

Robeson's last British film was ''[[The Proud Valley]]'' (1940), set in a Welsh coal-mining town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://edinburghfilmguild.org.uk/programme_notes/the_proud_Valley.pdf|title=The Proud Valley|last=Bourne|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Bourne (writer)|author2=Dr. Hywel Francis|publisher=Edinburgh Film Guide|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203160114/http://edinburghfilmguild.org.uk/programme_notes/the_proud_Valley.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2012|access-date=November 29, 2011}}</ref> The film was still being shot when Hitler's invasion of Poland led to England's declaration of war at the beginning of September 1939; several weeks later, just after the completion of filming, Robeson and his family returned to the United States, arriving in New York in October 1939.<ref>{{harvnb|Swindall|2015|pp=89–90}}.</ref> They lived at first in the [[Sugar Hill, Manhattan|Sugar Hill]] neighborhood of Harlem, and in 1941 settled in [[Enfield, Connecticut]].<ref>{{harvnb|Swindall|2015|pp=90, 96}}.</ref>

After his well-received performance of ''[[Ballad for Americans]]'' on a live CBS radio broadcast on November 5, with a repeat performance on New Year's Day 1940, the song became a popular seller.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=236–238}}<ref>{{harvnb|Swindall|2015|pp=91–92}}.</ref> In 1940, the magazine ''[[Collier's]]'' named Robeson America's "no. 1 entertainer".<ref>Furst, Randy (October 7, 2015). "Singer Paul Robeson was banned at the University of Minnesota during the Cold War." ''[[Star Tribune]]''. Retrieved April 14, 2024.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Price|2007|pages=8–9}}</ref> Nevertheless, during a tour in 1940, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel was the only major Los Angeles hotel willing to accommodate him due to his race, at an exorbitant rate and registered under an assumed name, and he therefore dedicated two hours every afternoon to sitting in the lobby, where he was widely recognised, "to ensure that the next time Black{{bracket|s}} come through, they'll have a place to stay." Los Angeles hotels lifted their restrictions on black guests soon afterwards.<ref>Earl Robinson with Eric A. Gordon, ''Ballad of an American: The Autobiography of Earl Robinson'' (Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Md., 1998), p. 99.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/long-overdue-paul-robeson-revival-talented-person-20th-century/ |title=We Are Long Overdue for a Paul Robeson Revival |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=May 8, 2014 |author=Peter Dreier |access-date=August 3, 2019 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302212135/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/long-overdue-paul-robeson-revival-talented-person-20th-century/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Robeson narrated the 1942 documentary ''[[Native Land]]'' which was labeled by the FBI as communist propaganda.<ref>FBI record, "Paul Robeson". FBI 100-25857, New York, December 8, 1942.<!--cf.Nollen: 137?--></ref> After an appearance in ''[[Tales of Manhattan]]'' (1942), a production which he felt was "very offensive to my people" due to the [[Tales of Manhattan#Controversy surrounding fifth tale upon 1942 release|way the segment was handled in stereotypes]], he announced that he would no longer act in films because of the demeaning roles available to blacks.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=259–261}}

According to [[Democratic socialism|democratic socialist]] writer Barry Finger's critical appraisal of Robeson, while the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|Hitler-Stalin pact]] was still in effect, Robeson counseled American blacks that they had no stake in the rivalry of [[Great power|European powers]]. Once Russia was attacked, he urged blacks to support the war effort, now warning that an Allied defeat would "make slaves of us all."<ref name="finger">Barry Finger, [http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue25/finger25.htm "Paul Robeson: A Flawed Martyr"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112204045/http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue25/finger25.htm |date=January 12, 2012}}, in: ''[[New Politics (magazine)|New Politics]]'', vol. 7, no. 1 (Summer 1998).</ref> Robeson participated in benefit concerts on behalf of the war effort and at a concert at the [[Polo Grounds]], he met two emissaries from the [[Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee]], [[Solomon Mikhoels]] and [[Itzik Feffer]].{{sfn|Lustiger|2003|pp=125–127}} Subsequently, Robeson reprised the role of Othello at the [[Shubert Theatre (Broadway)|Shubert Theatre]] in 1943,<ref>{{IBDB title|1345|Othello|description=(1943)}}</ref> and became the first African American to play the role with a white supporting cast on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. The production was a success, running for 296 performances on Broadway (a record for a Shakespeare production on Broadway that still stands),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/418759-longest-running-shakespeare-play-broadway|title=Longest-running Shakespeare play (Broadway)|publisher=[[Guinness World Records]]|access-date=October 21, 2023|archive-date=October 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231021080028/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/418759-longest-running-shakespeare-play-broadway|url-status=live}}</ref> and winning for Robeson the first [[Donaldson Awards|Donaldson Award]] for Best Actor in a Play. During the same period, he addressed a meeting with [[Commissioner of Baseball|Commissioner]] [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] and team owners in a failed attempt to convince them to admit black players to [[Major League Baseball]].{{sfn|Dorinson|Pencak|2004|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=Otiz7Mi-iUYC|page=1}} 1]}} He toured North America with ''Othello'' until 1945,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=295}} and subsequently, his political efforts with the Council on African Affairs to get colonial powers to discontinue their exploitation of Africa were short-circuited by the United Nations.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=296–97}}

During this period, Robeson also developed a sympathy for the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]'s side in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. In 1940, the Chinese progressive activist, [[Liu Liangmo]] taught Robeson the patriotic song "''Chee Lai!"'' ("Arise!"), known as the [[March of the Volunteers]].<ref name=llm>{{Cite book|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eMvaMuZkwvcC|page=207}}|title=Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present|editor-last=Yung|editor-first=Judy|editor-last2=Chang|editor-first2=Gordon H.|editor-last3=Lai|editor-first3=H. Mark|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520243095|language=en|last=Liu |first=Liangmo Translated by Ellen Yeung. |chapter=Paul Robeson: The People's Singer (1950)}}</ref> Robeson premiered the song at a concert in New York City's [[Lewisohn Stadium]]<ref name=llm/> and recorded it in both English and Chinese for [[Keynote Records]] in early 1941.<ref name=chichi>{{Cite book|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-daxO76KmV8C|page=217}}|title=Re-envisioning the Chinese Revolution: The Politics and Poetics of Collective Memories in Reform China|editor-last=Lee|editor-first=Ching Kwan|date=2007|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804758536|language=en|last=Chi |first=Robert|chapter=The March of the Volunteers': From Movie Theme Song to National Anthem}}</ref><ref name=avant/> Robeson gave further performances at benefit concerts for the [[China Aid Council]] and [[United China Relief]] at Washington's [[Uline Arena]] on April 24, 1941.<ref name=blow>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=vYZPIE7UKggC|page=136}}|title=Death Blow to Jim Crow: The National Negro Congress and the Rise of Militant Civil Rights|last=Gellman|first=Erik S.|date=2012|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0807869932|language=en}}</ref> The [[China Aid Council|Washington Committee for Aid to China]]'s booking of [[Constitution Hall]] had been blocked by the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] owing to Robeson's race.<ref name=":Gao">{{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Yunxiang |title=Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century |date=2021 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=9781469664606 |location=Chapel Hill}}</ref>{{Rp|page=71}} The indignation was so great that [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] and [[Hu Shih]], the Chinese ambassador, became sponsors. However, when the organizers offered tickets on generous terms to the [[National Negro Congress]] to help fill the larger venue, both sponsors withdrew, objecting to the NNC's Communist ties.<ref>{{Cite book|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=MzFhJ5v0TL0C|page=25}}|page=25|title=The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939–1976|last=Robeson|first=Paul Jr.|date= 2009|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0470569689|language=en}}</ref>

Robeson opposed the U.S. support for [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and the [[Kuomintang]] in China, and denounced U.S. support for Chiang at political events over the course of 1945–1946, including the World Peace Conference and the National Peace Commission.<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|pages=84–85}} In Robeson's view, the Kuomintang's [[Anti-communism in China|anti-communist]] focus and blockade of the [[Chinese Red Army|Communist guerrilla army]] meant that China was fighting Japan "with one hand tied behind its back".<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=84}}

March of the Volunteers (''Chee lai!'') became newly founded [[China|People's Republic of China]]'s National Anthem after 1949. Its Chinese lyricist, [[Tian Han]], died in a Beijing prison in 1968, but Robeson continued to send royalties to his family.<ref name=avant>Liang Luo.<!--sic--> [https://www.academia.edu/1493511/International_Avant-Garde_and_the_Chinese_National_Anthem "International Avant-garde<!--sic--> and the Chinese National Anthem: Tian Han, Joris Ivens, and Paul Robeson" in ''The Ivens Magazine'', No.&nbsp;16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306150508/https://www.academia.edu/1493511/International_Avant-Garde_and_the_Chinese_National_Anthem |date=March 6, 2019 }}. European Foundation Joris Ivens<!--sic--> (Nijmegen), October 2010. Retrieved 2015-01-22.</ref>