For average Americans during the early postwar era, the shadow of the Soviet Union and communism loomed as a threat to their way of life, causing paranoia over the threat of communist infiltration, which gave rise to the “Red Scare”. This mass hysteria led Americans to become fearful of communist agents attempting to infiltrate their society, and to undermine it from within. Studies of this era of US culture tend to focus on McCarthyism, the term used to describe the mass communist “witch hunt” within the government, and its impact on certain individuals and politics, rather than focusing on its effects for movements such as civil rights for African-Americans. Analysis of events such as Paul Robeson’s involvement in the Peekskill Riots of 1949,
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Prior to the American Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, American segregationists, particularly in the South, feared that foreign influences might incite violence amongst the African-American community. This fear was so widespread that even the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, believed that radical abolitionists could easily provoke a large-scale rebellion amongst the African-American community and its sympathizers. His fears would prove to be warranted when in 1859, John Brown, a white abolitionist, lead an assault consisting of both freemen and slaves on the army base in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. The intention was to seize weapons with the ultimate goal of using them in a slave uprising. While some celebrated Brown as a hero, many Southerners demonized him as one of the many who wanted to destroy their way of life. The segregation imposed within the United States following the end of the Civil War was a direct attempt by white nationalists to prevent the further integration of those they deemed lesser into society, and to limit any challenges to the traditional white American …show more content…
When news of this event reached the community, local leaders and media fervently condemned Robeson’s efforts, with local headlines reading "Robeson Concert Here Aids 'Subversive ' Unit," as well as a highly controversial article titled "The Discordant Note." Within the editorial, the author wrote that "The time for tolerant silence that signifies approval is running out. No matter how masterful the decor, nor how sweet the music, Americans will not be tricked into embracing communism within their communities.” On the day of the concert, the Peekskill Evening Star shifted the focus of their criticism to also include racially charged claims. One editor wrote that “the minorities that are the most vehement in demand of their own rights are the most intolerant in granting similar privileges to the majority." In other words, the newspaper was deliberately playing to the traditional fear of many white Americans and alleging that the Black community wanted to change American society to the detriment of white
Prior to the American Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, American segregationists, particularly in the South, feared that foreign influences might incite violence amongst the African-American community. This fear was so widespread that even the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler, believed that radical abolitionists could easily provoke a large-scale rebellion amongst the African-American community and its sympathizers. His fears would prove to be warranted when in 1859, John Brown, a white abolitionist, lead an assault consisting of both freemen and slaves on the army base in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. The intention was to seize weapons with the ultimate goal of using them in a slave uprising. While some celebrated Brown as a hero, many Southerners demonized him as one of the many who wanted to destroy their way of life. The segregation imposed within the United States following the end of the Civil War was a direct attempt by white nationalists to prevent the further integration of those they deemed lesser into society, and to limit any challenges to the traditional white American …show more content…
When news of this event reached the community, local leaders and media fervently condemned Robeson’s efforts, with local headlines reading "Robeson Concert Here Aids 'Subversive ' Unit," as well as a highly controversial article titled "The Discordant Note." Within the editorial, the author wrote that "The time for tolerant silence that signifies approval is running out. No matter how masterful the decor, nor how sweet the music, Americans will not be tricked into embracing communism within their communities.” On the day of the concert, the Peekskill Evening Star shifted the focus of their criticism to also include racially charged claims. One editor wrote that “the minorities that are the most vehement in demand of their own rights are the most intolerant in granting similar privileges to the majority." In other words, the newspaper was deliberately playing to the traditional fear of many white Americans and alleging that the Black community wanted to change American society to the detriment of white