Editing Paul Robeson (section)

===1950–1955: Blacklisted===
In its review of Christy Walsh's massive 1949 reference, ''College Football and All America Review'', the ''Los Angeles Times'' praised it as "the most complete source of past gridiron scores, players, coaches, etc., yet published",<ref>{{cite news |date=6 January 1950 |page=49 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |title=Sports News |url=https://latimes.newspapers.com/search/results/?date=1950-01&keyword=%22the+most+complete+source+of+past+gridiron+scores%22 }}</ref> but it failed to list Robeson as ever having played on the Rutgers team{{sfn|Walsh|1949|p=689}} or ever having been an All-American.<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=162}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|1978b|p=4}} Walsh only listed a ten-man All-American team in 1917 and he listed no team the following year due to World War I. {{harvnb|Walsh|1949|pp=16–18, 32}}. The information in the book was compiled from information supplied by the colleges, "..&nbsp;but many deserving names are missing entirely from the pages of [the] book because&nbsp;... their alma mater was unable to provide them. –&nbsp;[[Glenn Scobey Warner|Glenn S. Warner]]" {{harvnb|Walsh|1949|p=6}}. The Rutgers University list was presented to Walsh by Gordon A. McCoy, Director of Publicity for Rutgers, and although it says that Rutgers had two All-Americans as of 1949, Christy's book only lists the other All-American and not Robeson. {{harvnb|Walsh|1949|p= 684}}</ref> Months later, NBC canceled Robeson's appearance on [[Eleanor Roosevelt]]'s television program, which furthered his erasure from public view.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. Roosevelt Sees a 'Misunderstanding' |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 16, 1950 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/16/archives/mrs-roosevelt-sees-a-misunderstanding.html |access-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516091056/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/16/archives/mrs-roosevelt-sees-a-misunderstanding.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Robeson opposed U.S. involvement in the [[Korean War]] and condemned America's nuclear threats against China.<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=88}} In Robeson's opinion, the U.S. had manipulated the United Nations for [[American imperialism|imperialist]] purposes, and China's intervention in the Korean War was necessary to defend the security of millions of people in Asia.<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=88}} Robeson credited "American peace sentiment" as a crucial factor in President Truman not using nuclear weapons and in recalling General [[Douglas MacArthur]].<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=88}}

A month after Robeson began criticizing his country's role in the Korean War, the [[United States Department of State|Department of State]] demanded that he return his passport.<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=97}} Robeson refused.<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=97}} At the FBI's request, the State Department voided Robeson's passport and instructed customs officials to prevent any attempt by him to leave the country.<ref name=":Gao" />{{Rp|page=97}} Confining him inside the U.S. afforded him less freedom to express{{sfn|Wright|1975|p=97}} what some saw as his "extreme advocacy on behalf of the independence of the colonial peoples of Africa".{{sfn|Von Eschen|2014|pp=181–185}} It's estimated that the revocation of Robeson's travel privileges, and the resulting inability to earn fees overseas, caused his yearly income to drop from $150,000 to less than $3,000.<ref name=Danielle_Butler_article/> When Robeson met with State Department officials and asked why he was denied a passport, he was told that "his frequent criticism of the treatment of blacks in the United States should not be aired in foreign countries".{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=388–389}}

In 1950, Robeson co-founded, with [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], a monthly newspaper, [[Freedom (American newspaper)|''Freedom'']], showcasing his views and those of his circle. Most issues had a column by Robeson, on the front page. In the final issue, July–August 1955, an unsigned column on the front page of the newspaper described the struggle for the restoration of his passport. It called for support from the leading African-American organizations, and asserted that "Negroes, [and] all Americans who have breathed a sigh of relief at the easing of international tensions... have a stake in the Paul Robeson passport case". An article by Robeson appeared on the second page continuing the passport issue under the headline: "If Enough People Write Washington I'll Get My Passport in a Hurry."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robeson |first1=Paul |title=If Enough People Write Washington I'll Get My Passport in a Hurry |work=Freedom |volume=V |issue=6 |publisher=Freedom Associates |date=July–August 1955 |hdl=2333.1/vhhmgvws |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In 1951, an article titled "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd" was published in ''[[The Crisis]]'' and attributed to Robert Alan,<ref>"Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd". ''The Crisis'', November 1951, pp. 569–573.</ref> although Paul Jr. suspected it was written by ''[[New York Amsterdam News|Amsterdam News]]'' columnist Earl Brown.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=396}} [[J. Edgar Hoover]] and the U.S. State Department arranged for the article to be printed and distributed in Africa<!--unable to verify-->{{sfn|Foner|2001|pp=112–115}}<!--unable to verify--> in order to damage Robeson's reputation and reduce his popularity, and Communism's popularity, in colonial countries.{{sfn|Von Eschen|2014|p=127}} Another article by [[Roy Wilkins]] (now thought to have been the real author of "Paul Robeson – the Lost Shepherd") denounced Robeson as well as the CPUSA in terms consistent with the FBI's anti-Communist propaganda of the era.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=396}}; cf. <!--unable to verify-->{{harvnb|Foner|2001|pp=112–115}}<!--unable to verify--><!-- , Stalin's Greatest Defeat, The Crisis, Wilkins, Roy--></ref>

In December 1951, Robeson, in New York City, and [[William L. Patterson]], in Paris, presented the United Nations with a [[Civil Rights Congress]] petition titled [[We Charge Genocide]].{{sfn|Duberman|1989|pp=397–398}}<ref>{{cite news | first = Douglas B. | last = Cornell | title = UN Asked to Act Against Genocide in United States | date = December 29, 1951 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113%2C3191483 | work = The Afro American | page = 19 | access-date = September 5, 2021 | archive-date = September 5, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210905231528/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mdQmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kgIGAAAAIBAJ&dq=we-charge-genocide&pg=2113,3191483 | url-status = live }}</ref> The document asserted that the United States federal government, by its failure to act against [[lynching in the United States]], was guilty of [[genocide]] under Article II of the [[Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide|UN Genocide Convention]]. The petition was not officially acknowledged by the UN, and, though receiving some favorable reception in Europe and in America's [[Black press]], was largely either ignored or criticized for its association with Communism in America's mainstream press.<ref name="Docker">{{cite journal |last=Docker |first=John |editor-last=Curthoys |editor-first=Ned |journal=Humanities Research |volume=XVI |number=2 |year=2010 |pages=49–74 |title=Raphaël Lemkin, creator of the concept of genocide: a world history perspective |doi=10.22459/HR.XVI.02.2010.03 |doi-access=free |url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p24011/pdf/raphael.pdf |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422025329/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p24011/pdf/raphael.pdf}}</ref>

In 1952, Robeson was awarded the [[Lenin Peace Prize|International Stalin Prize]] by the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Paul Robeson receives Stalin Peace Prize |date=October 1953 |url=https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/pageturn/mums312-b140-i428/#page/1/mode/1up |journal=New World Review |via=W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries }}</ref> Unable to travel to Moscow, he accepted the award in New York.<ref>{{cite news|title=Paul Robeson Gets Stalin Peace Prize|date=September 25, 1953|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5FtTAAAAIBAJ&dq=stalin%20peace%20prize%20robeson&pg=7155%2C6420665|work=[[The Victoria Advocate]]|page=5|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044552/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5FtTAAAAIBAJ&dq=stalin+peace+prize+robeson&pg=7155%2C6420665|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 1953, shortly after Stalin's death, Robeson penned "To You My Beloved Comrade", praising Stalin as dedicated to peace and a guide to the world: "Through his deep humanity, by his wise understanding, he leaves us a rich and monumental heritage."{{sfn|Robeson|1978a|pp=347–349}} Robeson's opinions about the Soviet Union kept his passport out of reach and stopped his return to the entertainment industry and the civil rights movement.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p=354}} In his opinion, the Soviet Union was the guarantor of political balance in the world.{{sfn|Robeson|1978a|pp=236–241}}

In a symbolic act of defiance against the travel ban, in May 1952, labor unions in the United States and Canada organized a concert at the International [[Peace Arch]] on the border between Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia.{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p= 400}} Robeson returned to perform a second concert at the Peace Arch in 1953,{{sfn|Duberman|1989|p= 411}} and over the next two years, two further concerts took place. In this period, with the encouragement of his friend the Welsh politician [[Aneurin Bevan]], Robeson recorded a number of radio concerts for supporters in Wales.