Editing Paul Robeson (section)

===1946–1949: Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations===
After the [[Moore's Ford lynchings]] of four African Americans in Georgia on July 25, 1946, Robeson met with [[Harry S. Truman|President Truman]] and admonished Truman by stating that if he did not enact legislation to end [[lynching]],{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=307}} "the Negroes will defend themselves".{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=307}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Group Confers with Truman on Lynching|date=September 24, 1946|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kiojAAAAIBAJ&dq=paul%20robeson&pg=3729%2C2347331|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|page=2|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044630/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kiojAAAAIBAJ&dq=paul+robeson&pg=3729%2C2347331|url-status=live}}</ref> Truman immediately terminated the meeting and declared that the time was not right to propose anti-lynching legislation.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=307}} Subsequently, Robeson publicly called upon all Americans to demand that Congress pass civil rights legislation.{{sfn|Nollen|2010|pages=157–156}} Robeson founded the [[American Crusade Against Lynching]] organization in 1946. This organization was thought to be a threat to the [[NAACP]] antiviolence movement. Robeson received support from [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] on this matter and launched the organization on the anniversary of the signing of the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], September 23.{{sfn|Lewis|2000|p=522}}

About this time, Robeson's belief that [[trade unionism]] was crucial to civil rights became a mainstay of his political beliefs as he became a proponent of the union activist and [[Communist Party USA]] member [[Revels Cayton]].{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=249–250}} Robeson was later called before the [[Jack Tenney (politician)#Tenney Committee|Tenney Committee]] where he responded to questions about his affiliation with the Communist Party USA by testifying that he was not a member of the party.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=241}} Nevertheless, two organizations with which Robeson was intimately involved, the [[Civil Rights Congress]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brady Siff|first=Sarah|date=May 2016|title=Policing the Policy: A Civil Rights Story|url=http://origins.osu.edu/article/policing-police-civil-rights-story|journal=Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective|volume=9|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-date=September 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922024520/http://origins.osu.edu/article/policing-police-civil-rights-story|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Council on African Affairs,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=296}} were placed on the [[Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Douglas B.|last=Cornell|title=Thomas Says Clark's List 'Farcical'|date=December 5, 1947|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=otQKAAAAIBAJ&dq=Douglas+B.+Cornell+1947+Civil+Rights+Congress&pg=PA1&article_id=5590,3959441
|newspaper=Prescott Evening Courier}}; cf. {{harvnb|Goldstein|2008|pp=62, 66, 88}}</ref> Subsequently, he was summoned before the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]], and when questioned about his affiliation with the Communist Party, he refused to answer, stating: "Some of the most brilliant and distinguished Americans are about to go to jail for the failure to answer that question, and I am going to join them, if necessary."<ref name="Chronology5">Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee, ''[http://bayarearobeson.org/Chronology_5.htm Paul Robeson Chronology (Part 5)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525230149/http://www.bayarearobeson.org/Chronology_5.htm |date=May 25, 2011 }}''.</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=6y-xfqP6FOE|title=Paul Robeson Speaks! 1948 Senate Testimony}}</ref>

In 1948, Robeson was prominent in [[Henry A. Wallace]]'s bid for the Presidency of the United States,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=324}} during which Robeson traveled to the [[Deep South]], at risk to his own life, to campaign for him.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=326–327}} In the ensuing year, Robeson was forced to go overseas to work because his concert performances were canceled at the FBI's behest.{{sfn|Robeson|2001|p=137}} While on tour, he spoke at the [[World Peace Council]].{{sfn|Robeson|1978a|pp= 197–198}} The [[Associated Press]] published a false transcript of his speech which gave the impression that Robeson had equated America with a Fascist state.<ref>{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=142–43}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=342–345, 687}}</ref> In an interview, Robeson said the "danger of Fascism [in the US] has averted".<ref>{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=142–1143}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1978a|pp=197–198}}, {{harvnb|Seton|1958|p=179}}, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson1.html Interview with Paul Robeson, Jnr.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130214551/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-6/robeson1.html |date=January 30, 2012 }}</ref> Nevertheless, the speech publicly attributed to him was a catalyst for his being seen as an enemy of mainstream America.<ref>"Studs Terkel, Paul Robeson – Speak of Me As I Am, BBC, 1998".</ref> Robeson refused to bow to public criticism when he advocated in favor of twelve defendants, including his long-time friend, [[Benjamin J. Davis Jr.]], charged during the [[Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders]].<ref name="nyplprc">{{cite web|url=http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20649|title=Paul Robeson collection: 1925–1956 [bulk 1943–1956]|work=Paul Robeson collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library|publisher=The New York Public Library, Archives & Manuscripts|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801033902/http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20649|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Paul Robeson - Negro Songs - Soviet Ministry of Culture.JPG|thumb|Label of a record by Robeson published by the Soviet Ministry of Culture]]
Robeson traveled to Moscow in June 1949, and tried to find [[Itzik Feffer]] whom he had met during World War II. He let Soviet authorities know that he wanted to see him.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=352–353}} Reluctant to lose Robeson as a propagandist for the Soviet Union,{{sfn|Lustiger|2003|pages=210–211}} the Soviets brought Feffer from prison to him. Feffer told him that Mikhoels had been murdered, and predicted that he would be executed.{{sfn|McConnell|2010|p=348}} To protect the Soviet Union's reputation,{{sfn|Seton|1958|pages=210–211}} and to keep the right wing of the United States from gaining the moral high ground, Robeson denied that any persecution existed in the Soviet Union,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pages=353–354}} and kept the meeting secret for the rest of his life, except from his son.{{sfn|Seton|1958|pages=210–211}} On June 20, 1949, Robeson spoke at the {{ill|Paris Peace Congress|fr|Congrès mondial des partisans de la paix}} saying that "We in America do not forget that it was on the backs of the 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 not make war on anyone. We shall not make [[Cold War|war on the Soviet Union]]. We oppose those who wish to build up [[West Germany|imperialist Germany]] and to [[Greek civil war|establish fascism in Greece]]. We wish peace with [[Francoist Spain|Franco's Spain]] despite her fascism. We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the [[people's Republic]]s." He was blacklisted for saying this in the mainstream press within the United States, including in many periodicals of the Negro press such as ''The Crisis''.<ref>{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=142–143}}</ref>

In order to isolate Robeson politically,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] subpoenaed [[Jackie Robinson]]<ref name="ReferenceB">{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=358–360}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robinson|1978|pp=94–98}}</ref> to comment on Robeson's Paris speech.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> Robinson testified that Robeson's statements, "'if accurately reported', were silly'".<ref name="ReferenceA">{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=361–362}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robinson|1978|pp=94–98}}</ref> Former first lady [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] noted, "Mr. Robeson does his people great harm in trying to line them up on the Communist side of [the] political picture. Jackie Robinson helps them greatly by his forthright statements."<ref name=Danielle_Butler_article>{{cite web |last=Butler |first=Danielle |title=Unpopular Black History Opinion: Jackie Robinson May Have Been an Opp |website=The Root |date=February 28, 2018 |url=https://www.theroot.com/unpopular-black-history-opinion-jackie-robinson-might-1823251643}}</ref> Days later, the announcement of a concert headlined by Robeson in New York City provoked the local press to decry the use of their community to support "subversives".<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=364}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1981|p=181}}</ref> The [[Peekskill riots]] ensued in which violent anti-Robeson protests shut down a Robeson concert on August 27, 1949,<ref>{{cite book |title=Paul Robeson: The Great Forerunner |last=Wright |first=Charles H. |chapter=Paul Robeson at Peekskill |pages=134–136 |publisher=International Publishers |year=1998 |orig-date=1978 |editor1=Freedomways |isbn=071780724X}}</ref> and marred the aftermath of the replacement concert held eight days later.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=364–370}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1981|p=181}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Roger M. |title=A Rough Sunday at Peekskill |journal=American Heritage Magazine |date=April 1976 |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/rough-sunday-peekskill#3 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901224719/https://www.americanheritage.com/rough-sunday-peekskill#3 |url-status=live }}</ref>