Political Views of Paul Robeson - Later Views of Communism (1960s)

Later Views of Communism (1960s)

During the early days of his retirement and even after his death, rumors about his health and its connections to his supposed disillusionment with the USSR continued to persist. There were even false claims that he was living in "self imposed exile in the Soviet Union" by The New York Times who called him "The disillusioned native son."

At no time during his retirement (or his life) is Paul Robeson on record of mentioning any unhappiness or regrets about his beliefs in socialism or the Soviet Union nor did he ever express any disappointment in its leaders including Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. Moreover, only a few sources out of hundreds interviewed and researched by two of his biographers Martin Duberman and Lloyd Brown agreed with the claims made in the mainstream media of Robeson's supposed embitterment over the USSR.

Anna Louise Strong, the radical travel journalist, remarked in 1965 that she had always felt "... Paul's trouble had a deep psychosomatic cause in the shock and trauma he suffered from the Sino-Soviet split... Paul had a very deep love and devotion to both the USSR and for China's revolution and... consequently the split must have been especially hard for him, since his devotions have always been through passionate allegiance rather than through theory."