ILWU honorary member Paul Robeson memorialized at Rutgers University

One hundred years ago, a remarkable young man graduated from Rutgers University in the spring of 1919. At the time, Paul Leroy Robeson was only the third African-American allowed to enroll in the New Jersey campus during its 150-year existence. Robeson entered with an academic scholarship and left the university as class valedictorian. He went on to become one of America’s most celebrated and controversial public figures of the 20th Century.

Man of many gifts

Robeson achieved extraordinary success as a scholar. He was fluent in Greek and Latin, and had a command of classic literature. He was a two-time All-American athlete and gifted operatic and popular singer. He graduated from Columbia University Law School while simultaneously playing for the NFL. He astonished audiences with his knowledge of 20 languages and was a gifted Shakespearean actor. A devoted social activist, he was also an honorary lifetime member of the ILWU.

Despite all these and other astounding accomplishments, Robeson died in relative obscurity – due to the color of his skin and his unwavering devotion to unions, the working class and dreams of a more just society – causes that made him a target for vicious attacks during most of his life.

Honors & praise

A century after graduating, Robeson’s accomplishments and struggles were finally honored on April 12, 2019, with the dedication of “Paul Robeson Plaza” at the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick, NJ. The ILWU joined other organizations and individuals who donated funds for the project that features panels of black granite, etched with descriptions of Robeson’s achievements – along with details of the many barriers that he encountered.

“We want a new generation of young people to understand this great man who was unfairly pushed to the margins of history,” said ILWU Local 10 Pensioner Lawrence Thibeaux, the ILWU’s official representative who attended the dedication at the request of International President Willie Adams.

“Paul Robeson is among the greatest of the hundreds of thousands of Rutgers alumni – simply one of the greatest,” said Rutgers President Robert Barchi, who added that the University is now undertaking a painful but necessary examination of the many ways that centuries of racism have impacted New Jersey’s leading public university. Robeson’s granddaughter, Susan, also spoke at the dedication, noting that her grandfather surprised many by becoming more passionate about unions, social justice, and civil rights as he grew more famous, wealthy and accomplished as a singer and actor.

New generation steps-up

Perhaps the most important attendees were Rutgers students from the class of 1971, along with members of the Rutgers African-American Alumni Alliance. The groups pushed hard for the Robeson memorial, overcoming occasional resistance, and raising money for the effort. Former student leader Jim Savage, who Chairs the Class of 1971 Paul Robeson Milestone Project, played a key role, as did former student Claude White, who serves as the 1971 Class President.

“We hope Robeson Plaza will inspire future generations to take a stand against all forms of injustice,” said Savage, who is credited with conceiving the memorial and involving others to join the effort.

The power of Robeson’s legacy to inspire new generations was confirmed earlier this year when Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometi told a Rutgers audience that today’s civil rights movement wouldn’t be possible without Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King Jr. “Robeson is so important because he paved the way for us to have a global perspective on our movements,” she said.

The man and his times

Robeson’s mother, Maria, was blind and died in a house fire when he was six-years-old. His father, William, was born a slave in 1845 and escaped from a plantation as a teenager. Armed with a fierce hunger for knowledge, the father secured two advanced degrees after the Civil War, studied and mastered ancient Greek and Latin, plus classical literature and philosophy – knowledge that he shared with his five children, including Paul, who was born in 1898.

Revolution and repression

When Robeson graduated from Rutgers in 1919, the world had just been turned-upside by the Russian Revolution in 1917 and First World War that ended the following year. The overthrow of an aristocratic regime by a new working class inspired Robeson and many Americans – along with millions around the world – to embrace the promise of a democratic state run by and for workers that would end racism, hunger, and war. The Russian Revolution also fueled a bitter backlash by conservatives and anti-union business leaders who feared something similar could spread to America. They launched a vicious crackdown on unions, civil rights leaders and socialists. The FBI’s J.Edgar Hoover rose quickly through the rank while attacking “the red menace.” During the same time, membership in the Ku Klux Klan exploded, along with lynchings and other horrors that the organization promoted.

Bridges and Robeson

Across the globe in Australia, the Russian Revolution inspired Harry Bridges who was just 16 in 1917. He left home that year to work at sea before entering America in 1920. Both men lived their entire lives believing that the Soviet Union was a beacon of hope for workers – and both paid heavily for their views during the Cold War. Bridges and Robeson were charged separately with being Communists, which was a crime until courts overturned the laws decades later. Bridges overcame three decades of government efforts to jail and deport him. Robeson was “blacklisted” from working on film, radio, television or theaters. His recordings were removed from store shelves and movies weren’t shown. The government revoked his passport and banned him from traveling abroad. When his travel ban was finally lifted, the FBI and State Department orchestrated a smear campaign to ruin his reputation at home and abroad.

Honored by the ILWU

In 1943, Harry Bridges led International Convention delegates and Executive Board members to unanimously grant Robeson a lifetime honorary ILWU membership for his “steadfast devotion and service to the cause of democracy and to the economic and cultural advancement of all peoples.”

Robeson was especially honored for his support of sugar cane workers in Hawaii who were organizing and joining the ILWU to improve conditions. Another ILWU honorary membership was granted at the same time to the famous artist and activist Rockwell Kent, who illustrated the first issue of The Dispatcher, in December 1942, and remained an ILWU supporter his entire life. Like Robeson, Kent was also persecuted by the government for his political views and had his foreign travel rights revoked. Kent later won a 1958 case before the Supreme Court that overturned the travel bans.

Persecution takes a toll

Decades of persecution, beginning before WWII, took a heavy toll on Robeson. In 1961 he attempted suicide by cutting his wrists while traveling abroad. His recovery took several months and was plagued by severe depression that was treated in Europe with heavy drugs and electroconvulsive “shock” therapy. He returned to the U.S. in 1963 where he lived in seclusion. He briefly considered joining the Civil Rights movement but refused because it would have required him to renounce his political support for the Soviet Union. A Carnegie Hall tribute was held on his 75th birthday that he was unable to attend, sending a taped message instead: “I want you to know that I am the same Paul, dedicated as ever to the worldwide causes of humanity for freedom, peace, and brotherhood.” He died in 1976.

“Everyone here knows that Robeson was a ‘renaissance man’ in the truest sense of the word,” said Lawrence Thibeaux. “He is remembered for many things, but we in the ILWU remember him for his elegant outspokenness on the rights of working people. Robeson may have achieved fame on many fronts, but for us, he is most famous for being a Union Brother.”