Perspective: In an era of rising anti-Semitism, should Jewish Americans tack left or right?
A man takes part in a vigil outside Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh to honor the victims of an attack on a synagogue in California on April 27, 2019. By Andrew Paul Andrew Paul is an adjunct assistant professor of humanities at the University of North Carolina Asheville. May 1 at 6:00 AM On Saturday, April 27, a gunman attacked worshipers in a synagogue in Poway, Calif., killing one person and injuring three.
In the summer of 1949, the Civil Rights Congress , a radical organization dedicated to racial and economic justice, planned a fundraiser in Peekskill, N.Y., for American communists who had been arrested for their political beliefs. To headline the outdoor concert, they hired Paul Robeson, a Hollywood star, celebrated folk singer and perhaps the most famous black performer of the era.
To show they would not give in, the CRC and Robeson rescheduled the event for Sept. 4, adding folk music legends Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie to the lineup. As many as 20,000 Jews, African Americans, radicals, labor supporters and music lovers showed up. Blacks and Jews worked together to provide protection for Robeson, keeping a tight circle around him as he traversed the grounds.
Liberals were torn over how to respond to the Peekskill riots. On one hand, they wanted to express concern about the violence at Peekskill. On the other, they hoped to keep their distance from Robeson and his radical working-class politics. The NAACP initially released a strong statement, calling for the prosecution of whoever led the riots. For Robeson, it wasn’t strong enough.
The NAACP, too, moved to silence the left wing of the organization, despite the initial statement of support. Thus the Peekskill riots pitted interest groups against one another: liberal Jews and middle-class African Americans vs. workers and progressives of diverse identities. The result? A decidedly undemocratic atmosphere in which accusations of being “un-American” undermined the progressive agenda and nationalist rhetoric undercut internationalist solidarity.
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