Kathianne
08-28-2019, 08:40 PM
Just perusing around and came across this: https://www.the-american-interest.com/2019/08/27/the-price-of-self-delusion/
I always liked Paul Robeson, seriously did not know he was that old!
Looking at this with my mind clouded with the 1619 project, it's like 'reality' and 'fantasies.' Here was this brilliant person, who happened to be black in America, just out of one of the top law schools in the country who met only racism. When offered the chance to visit the 'show USSR' he jumped, as did quite a few others. Whether or not he realized he was being played I don't know. I can only pretend to stand in his shoes and think, "Stalin's USSR may not be for everyone, but it certainly is better for me than what I left." That to me is reality. That was the failure of Reconstruction and the world of Jim Crow.
Here's the thing though, Rutgers did recognize his brilliance. They did honor his athletic and academic successes. While law failed because of society at that point in time, he did go on to have a very successful careers in writing, acting, music, etc. Indeed, he was something of a Renaissance man.
I can understand though, why someone with his mind would reject the American system, after living with what he did face. I can understand looking for utopia, especially when that country did everything they could to please him and keep the underside invisible to him.
How can one appreciate a Paul Robeson or a Jackie Robinson or any of those that succeeded in spite of what the country was then throwing in their paths, if we blame 'white people' and the 'slave system' it only diminishes what they accomplished for themselves and those that benefited.
I always liked Paul Robeson, seriously did not know he was that old!
Looking at this with my mind clouded with the 1619 project, it's like 'reality' and 'fantasies.' Here was this brilliant person, who happened to be black in America, just out of one of the top law schools in the country who met only racism. When offered the chance to visit the 'show USSR' he jumped, as did quite a few others. Whether or not he realized he was being played I don't know. I can only pretend to stand in his shoes and think, "Stalin's USSR may not be for everyone, but it certainly is better for me than what I left." That to me is reality. That was the failure of Reconstruction and the world of Jim Crow.
Here's the thing though, Rutgers did recognize his brilliance. They did honor his athletic and academic successes. While law failed because of society at that point in time, he did go on to have a very successful careers in writing, acting, music, etc. Indeed, he was something of a Renaissance man.
I can understand though, why someone with his mind would reject the American system, after living with what he did face. I can understand looking for utopia, especially when that country did everything they could to please him and keep the underside invisible to him.
How can one appreciate a Paul Robeson or a Jackie Robinson or any of those that succeeded in spite of what the country was then throwing in their paths, if we blame 'white people' and the 'slave system' it only diminishes what they accomplished for themselves and those that benefited.