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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The Most Persecuted, the Most Ostracized, the Most Condemned Black Man in America, Then or Ever" I
This is only a small snippet of a wonderful article on Paul Robeson, "The Paul Robeson Riots of '49." This one particular snippet is about Pete Seeger..
Pete Seeger was to perform at the concert, along with several folk singers and musicians, before Robeson appeared. Seeger arrived early, at 11 a.m. The line of 2,500 union members was forming around the field like a human wall...
"It may sound silly now, but we were confident law and order would prevail," said Seeger in an interview. "I had been hit with eggs in North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi, but this was New York State. "We heard about 150 people standing around the gate shout things like 'Go back to Russia! Kikes! Ni**er-lovers!' It was a typical KKK crowd, without bedsheets," Seeger said.
The police confiscated some baseball bats from the concert guards, and prevented a few clashes during the concert, which went on peacefully. Seeger sang folk songs, playing his banjo, and the program ranged through Mozart and Handel before Robeson came on... Seeger left the concert grounds with his wife and children, his wife's father and another couple. One of the concert guards told them to roll up their windows. A policeman in the road waved them south toward Peekskill. Around the corner was a man standing next to an immense pile of baseball-sized rocks. He took aim and hit the Seegers' car.
The stones came faster, and Seeger told everybody to get down. The windows smashed inward. A woman in the car was hit. Danny Seeger, 2, was huddled under the Jeep seat. He was covered with glass... South of Peekskill, the rock-throwing continued through Buchanan, Montrose and Croton along Route 9 as the smashed and dented cars and buses headed back to New York City.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/27/1182605/--The-Most-Persecuted-the-Most-Ostracized-the-Most-Condemned-Black-Man-in-America-Then-or-Ever-I
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)The story of the Peekskill Riots should be a movie. I've read different accounts from several people and the savagery they faced from the mob was like something out of the middle ages.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)truly a Renaissance man ahead of his time. I remember his very deep voice, it was mesmerizing.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Here is a video for DU to enjoy of him singing "Joe Hill":
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)US conscience.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)I posted a bit on DU last year, the link to the longer piece is in the link here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1024618
I agree, Robeson is a man for our times. He would be right there at home in the current issues of our day.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)Arguably one of the single best roles any black man was allowed to play in old pre WWII Hollywood.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)rurallib
(62,431 posts)I knew only a little about Robeson til now.
But beyond that, this led to another article on the rising popularity of the old confederacy in the south:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/white_power_to_the_rescue_20130128/
what an eye opener to start black history month.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)was hours reading all of it. Glad you enjoyed.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)I just wanted to know what the guy was singing "Old Man River" in an old slip of Showboat. No big deal, right?
The more I read the more astonished I became. He is truly one of the Greatest Americans to have ever lived, and certainly one of the greatest most have never heard of.
rug
(82,333 posts)Pete Seeger now lives less than 20 miles from there.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)RZM
(8,556 posts)In fact, one of the remarkable things about his career was that he did manage to achieve so much in the face of racism.
He certainly encountered his fair share of bigotry, but so did the rest of the black population. And he was blacklisted, but so were plenty of other people.
The real most persecuted black in America at the time was probably some nameless person in the south, who was denied schooling and the opportunity to vote, and was eventually lynched for a crime he didn't commit. I'd say that person would qualify over a star of stage and song with an ivy-league law degree, who died of natural causes in old age.
Again, I'm not trying to minimize him or what he went through. I just think it's ridiculous to compare his life to that of millions of African-Americans who couldn't have dreamed of doing what he did. Actually that's probably part of the reason he was so popular - he gave hope to people who didn't have any.
And there is also the issue of his advocacy of Stalin and the USSR. The Kos piece seems to gloss over this, when in fact it was a crucial aspect of his identity, for which he has long been criticized from the left. Here's an example:
http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue25/finger25.htm
Spazito
(50,393 posts)I recognized the name, Paul Robeson, but knew very little about him. Your OP made me want to find out more about him and ....wow, a very, very impressive person. I found this synopsis on the PBS site and found it quite informative:
"Paul Robeson was the epitome of the 20th-century Renaissance man. He was an exceptional athlete, actor, singer, cultural scholar, author, and political activist. His talents made him a revered man of his time, yet his radical political beliefs all but erased him from popular history. Today, more than one hundred years after his birth, Robeson is just beginning to receive the credit he is due.
Born in 1898, Paul Robeson grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. His father had escaped slavery and become a Presbyterian minister, while his mother was from a distinguished Philadelphia family. At seventeen, he was given a scholarship to Rutgers University, where he received an unprecedented twelve major letters in four years and was his class valedictorian. After graduating he went on to Columbia University Law School, and, in the early 1920s, took a job with a New York law firm. Racial strife at the firm ended Robesons career as a lawyer early, but he was soon to find an appreciative home for his talents."
more
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/paul-robeson/about-the-actor/66/
It is long past time Mr. Robeson receive the respect and admiration of his many accomplishments, imo.
Thanks again for this OP, it was an eye opener for me.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)Spazito
(50,393 posts)and I learn something new everyday just reading DU, especially in the area of history which is a passion of mine.
duffyduff
(3,251 posts)Spazito
(50,393 posts)I think there will be others who excel in many fields but, for the time and circumstances in which Mr. Robeson lived, it certainly seems to me he was an extraordinary "Renaissance man" to excel in so many ways despite the to which he was subjected.
duffyduff
(3,251 posts)It's extremely rare to find anybody who is that diversely talented.
For my money, Robeson was just about the greatest singer who ever stepped in front of a microphone.
malaise
(269,087 posts)My father adored him.
Thanks for this.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)malaise
(269,087 posts)hosted a one man Robeson play - it was wonderful - full of his beautiful music.
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)malaise
(269,087 posts)and say Deep Voice
monmouth3
(3,871 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this. ~ Paul Robeson
I learned some about him in high school and read his words, but never heard of this story about him in New York. I learn something everyday here at DU.
malaise
(269,087 posts)and so is Pete Seeger