Edith S. Sampson - International Politics

International Politics

In 1949, Sampson was part of the Round-the-World Town Meeting, a program that sent twenty-six prominent Americans on a world tour, meeting leaders of foreign countries and participating in public political debates and radio broadcasts. In these meetings, Sampson sought to counter Cold War Soviet propaganda regarding civil rights struggles in the U.S. During one meeting in India, she said:

The question is, quite bluntly, 'Do Negroes have equal rights in America?' My answer is no, we do not have equal rights in all parts of the United States. But let's remember that 85 years ago Negroes in America were slaves and were 100 per cent illiterate. And the record shows that the Negro has advanced further in this period than any similar group in the entire world. You here get considerable misinformation about American Negroes and hear little or nothing that is constructive.

She also stated that "I would rather be a Negro in America than a citizen in any other land." Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas said that her actions "created more good will and understanding in India than any other single act by any American". Sampson was generally praised by US media. However, coverage of Sampson's comments provoked the Baltimore Afro-American to remark: "With all of the talk about democracy abroad, we hope that in the not too distant future, examples of democracy at home will be more commonplace and, consequently, attract less attention".

Sampson also attacked Soviet communism directly by comparing it to slavery and accusing, in particular, the Soviet Union of enslaving prisoners of war from World War II. In a report circulated by the American government, Sampson reportedly told Soviet Ambassador Yakov Malik: "We Negroes aren't interested in Communism... We were slaves too long for that. Nobody is happy with second-class citizenship, but our best chances are in the framework of American democracy."