Paul Robeson - Hero Before His TIme

Born in 1890, the son of a minister, Paul Robeson achieved distinction in the white man's world at a time when few blacks were even allowed to enter it. At Rutgers University he was an All American football player, a chamption debater, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and class valedictorian. A few years later he graduated from the prestigious Columbia University School of Law. But it was as an actor and singer that Robeson became famous. He won wide acclaim for his roles in such plays as Show Boat, Emperor Jones, and Othello. As a solo concert performer he sang to packed houses in America and Europe in the 20s and 30s. Songs for which he became famous include `Ol Man River and Ballad for Americans. Even as his successes multiplied, Robeson never lost his sense of outrage at the injustices blacks in America suffered. He became active in many of the struggles of the early civil rights and labour movements. His disgust at American racism led him to the view that the Soviet Union was in many ways a fairer and gentler nation than our own. Robeson's pro-Soviet sympathies made him an easy target when anti-communist sentiment, enflamed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, swept across America in the late 40s. Although he denied being a Communist, Robeson saw his career as a performer ruined by numerous accusations that he was anti-American. He spent much of his later life in the Soviet Union...