Peekskill Riots - Paul Robeson's Remarks in Paris, 1949

Paul Robeson's Remarks in Paris, 1949

Previously three concerts had been performed by Paul Robeson in Peekskill without incident, but in recent years Robeson had been increasingly vocal against the Ku Klux Klan and other forces of white supremacy, both domestically and internationally. Robeson specifically made a transformation from someone who was primarily a singer into a political persona with a vocal support for what was at the time considered "Communist" causes including the decolonization of Africa, anti-Jim Crow legislation and peace with the USSR. Robeson had also appeared before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to oppose a bill that would require Communists to register as foreign agents, and, just months before the concerts in 1949, he had appeared at the Soviet-sponsored World Peace Conference in Paris. Referring to the growing tensions between the USA and the USSR, he stated:

We in America do not forget that it was the backs of white workers from Europe and on the backs of millions of Blacks that the wealth of America was built. And we are resolved to share it equally. We reject any hysterical raving that urges us to make war on anyone. Our will to fight for peace is strong...We shall support peace and friendship among all nations, with Soviet Russia and the People's Republics.

What came over the wires to news agencies via the AP in the United States was as follows,

We colonial peoples have contributed to the building of the United States and are determined to share it's wealth. We denounce the policy of the United States government which is similar to Hitler and Goebbels.... It is unthinkable that American Negros would go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations against the Soviet Union which in one generation has lifted our people to full human dignity.

Research by historians would later show through time records that the AP had put the dispatch on the wires as Robeson was starting his speech.The comment was not investigated by the US press for its veracity and there was nationwide condemnation of Robeson. In the early stages of the Cold War and Communist expansion in Europe, and its accompanying wide anti-Communist sentiments in the West, was seen by many as very anti-American. The local paper, The Peekskill Evening Star, condemned the concert and encouraged people to make their position on Communism felt, but did not directly espouse violence. There was a racial element to the riots, including burning crosses and lynching in effigy of Robeson both in Peekskill and in other areas of the United States.