Paul Robeson (1898-1976)

An extraordinary man, from an extraordinary background

by Marsha Prescod

Paul Leroy Bustill Robeson was a giant figure of the 20th century. He was the son of a slave in the United States of America - William Drew Robeson - who escaped from bondage at 15 and went on to become a college graduate and a minister. Paul Robeson took that legacy to the next level.

He won a scholarship to a top US university, (and was the only black student during his time there) and distinguished himself both academically and in football, baseball, basketball and track at national level. He graduated in 1919.Then he went to law school, (paying for it by working as an athlete and performer) qualified as a lawyer, and joined an all white firm.

This was at a time when segregation was at its height, the Klu Klux Klan were in their pomp, lynching was a fact of life in the southern states, and black people in many parts of the US were without the vote. The chances for African-Americans to become professionals were few.

If he had accomplished no more than that, Paul Robeson would have been extraordinary.

But in addition, he had a special gift. A baritone voice of such beauty and depth that he became internationally famous in theatre, records and films because of it. He appeared on stage in the 1920s,having joined a theatre company which had the legendary playwright Eugene O’Neill as an associate director.

His career as an actor was so successful he appeared on Broadway, and the London stage, doing Shakespeare and other roles- his Othello first appeared on the English stage in 1930 (American theatres couldn’t countenance a black man in the role until a decade later). He went into films in the 30s and 40s and became the first international black male film star, despite the extremely limited (and usually demeaning) roles for black actors. The musical, Show Boat in which he appeared in both theatre and film versions, became a classic, his singing Ol’ Man River in it the highlight.

He became a recording star in the 1930s, made recordings of Negro spirituals that are still selling and being broadcast today. And he had a social conscience and interest in the rights of not just his own people but of the poor and oppressed. He could have rested secure in the niche he had carved out for himself, and not challenged the status quo.

Robeson became a lifelong political activist, campaigning to end lynching, for workers rights, against colonialism in places such as India, Africa and the Caribbean and for socialist causes. He spoke at rallies, conferences etc and gave performances in support of and to raise money for a wide range of causes- including striking miners in Wales.

He lived in Britain during the 1930s, and again for a while in the 1950s, meeting many African students here who were later to become leaders of their countries. His visits to and campaigning for Wales is still remembered and as recently as 2001 an exhibition about him was mounted in Cardiff, and in 2003 the National Library of Wales did a special exhibition on him.

He visited the Soviet Union in 1949 and was impressed by what seemed to him to be a lack of racism compared to the US. His socialism and support for the Soviet Union meant that after World War ll -despite his support for the Allies during the war, and an award from the US government-that same US government viewed him as subversive. A long period of persecution began.

He had been under FBI surveillance since 1941, but after his criticism of America’s approach to the USSR during a peace conference in 1949 his civil rights advocacy and left wing views made him a target. His passport was confiscated by the government to prevent him travelling abroad. He tried to give a concert in Canada-where US citizens didn’t need a passport to travel-and was prevented. He had to stand in the back of a truck on the US/Canadian border whilst 20,000 Canadians on the other side listened to him sing.

Those attending his concerts in the US could be physically attacked - in one incident some ended up in hospital - and local law officers would deliberately fail to protect them. Leading figures in the growing civil rights movement of the 1950s made sure to distance it from him. He was under investigation as to whether he was a communist.

He was summoned before the much feared House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), an organisation which destroyed the careers of those in the entertainment industry who were communists or communist sympathisers. Bravely, he refused to comply with their demands and denounced America’s system of racial injustice. This pitted him against the American government. Russia/the Soviet Union was no longer seen as an ally like during the war, but a threat to western civilization, as the ‘Cold War’ came to dominate international relations for the next four decades.

Robeson was an advocate for the Soviet Union and there is controversy surrounding that, as his support coincided with the period when Joseph Stalin was in charge, and years later revealed to have imprisoned, executed and persecuted millions. Some critics of Robeson still see him as an apologist for a brutal regime. Others say most socialists outside Russia supported it, unaware of the atrocities being committed, and Robeson was no different.

It has been pointed out that Robeson believed in the ideas that fuelled the Russian revolution, and its very real achievements, and that was greater than the actions of one man and his government.

Robeson’s politics and his insistence on being a proud, articulate black advocate of liberty for people of colour and working peoples, destroyed his career. Broadway, Hollywood, radio and record companies no longer welcomed Robeson, and he was unable to do commercial concerts until the late 1950s. The US government made it clear in officials’ meetings with him, that he was banned from travelling so he couldn’t speak up abroad about the treatment of black people in the US.

For years he was effectively silenced at home and abroad.There were campaigns in various countries in support of Robeson, such as the Let Paul Robeson Sing! Campaign in Wales. It took a Supreme Court decision in 1958 for him to get his passport back, where after he was able to tour in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, England and parts of Europe.

Years of government harassment took their toll on this gifted man-who could speak 20 languages, and who in a less racist era would have been a diplomat, or world leader. He was considered as a US Vice Presidential candidate by a political party in 1948. Yet by 1961 he had a nervous breakdown, which his son was later to insist was triggered by a CIA operative drugging his drink. He attempted suicide.

For the rest of his life he battled against depression, had more than one further breakdown and his public appearances limited. He remained isolated from the growing black political movements the US of the 1950s and 60s, which should have seen him as an honoured forerunner of their struggle, because of his socialist views.

Only the SNCC (Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee) acknowledged him, declaring themselves his spiritual children at a gala held in his honour on his 67th birthday. It is fitting that his last public appearance was at a benefit dinner for them in 1966.

Paul Robeson died at age 77. Since his death he has ironically been honoured by diverse countries and institutions. Both in the US - he has received a Grammy Award, been indicted into a football hall of fame, been placed on postage stamps, had schools, community centres, university buildings and theatres named after him. And internationally. The UN amongst other institutions, honoured him in 1978.

In Britain last month, 20th September, a memorial was unveiled in London at the university’s School of Oriental and African studies (where Robeson studied for a while) in his memory by a group headed by the former government minister Tony Benn, to whom Robeson remains an inspiration and a personal hero. Benn was a member of the British campaign supporting Robeson in the 1950s, and met him at the Houses of Parliament when he was eventually able to travel. As Benn told the BBC:

"He was one of the greatest figures of the past century. He stood for everything I believed in"

Paul Robeson Photos and History at Bay Area Paul Robeson Centennial Committee
All photos on this page courtesy of the above.