1951 December 17

“We Charge Genocide:” Paul Robeson Presents Anti-lynching Petition to U. N.

 

The noted African-American singer and civil rights activists Paul Robeson, on behalf of the Civil Rights Congress, presented a petition to the United Nations, charging that the U.S. violated Article II of the U.N. Genocide Convention by failing to prevent the lynching of African-Americans.

The Genocide Convention was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 9, 1948, and became effective in January 1951. The United States, however, did not ratify it until November 4, 1988.

The NAACP, meanwhile, had submitted a petition, “An Appeal to the World,” to the UN on October 23, 1947, accusing the United States of systematic racial discrimination. (The NAACP was upset over Paul Robeson’s left-wing views and associations, and wanted to submit a petition to the UN from a moderate and politically “respectable” organization.

Robeson was an extraordinary individual who excelled in several different fields over the course of his life. At Rutgers College he starred in football and was twice name an All-American. After graduating from Rutgers as his Class Valedictorian, he attended and graduated from Columbia University Law School. His greatest success and national fame came as a singer and actor. He had a magnificent voice and eventually recorded 276 songs. As an actor, he won acclaim by starring in both stage and film versions of Show Boat. In the 1930s he became more active in leftist politics and supported the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War. After World War II he led an appeal to the United Nations over racial discrimination in America. Although his political views became increasingly aligned with the Soviet Union, he never officially joined the Communist Party. He was investigated by the House Un-American activities, denied a passport because of his political views, and blacklisted as a performer.

Both Robeson and the Civil Rights Congress came under heavy attack during the Cold War because of their left-wing political views. The CRC disbanded in 1956. Robeson’s singing career was virtually destroyed because he was blacklisted in the U.S. and also unable to sing overseas — the U.S. government denied him a passport because of his political views (August 4, 1950). Unable to travel overseas, on May 26, 1957, he gave a concert in London by telephone from the U.S.

“We Charge Genocide” (excerpt): “We maintain, therefore, that the oppressed Negro citizens of the United States, segregated, discriminated against and long the target of violence, suffer from genocide as the result of the consistent, conscious, unified policies of every branch of government.”

We maintain, therefore, that the oppressed Negro citizens of the United States, segregated, discriminated against and long the target of violence, suffer from genocide as the result of the consistent, conscious, unified policies of every branch of government – See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/we-charge-genocide-historic-petition-united-nations-relief-crime-united-states-government-against#sthash.WVKDu528.dpuf
We maintain, therefore, that the oppressed Negro citizens of the United States, segregated, discriminated against and long the target of violence, suffer from genocide as the result of the consistent, conscious, unified policies of every branch of government. – See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/we-charge-genocide-historic-petition-united-nations-relief-crime-united-states-government-against#sthash.WVKDu528.dpuf
We maintain, therefore, that the oppressed Negro citizens of the United States, segregated, discriminated against and long the target of violence, suffer from genocide as the result of the consistent, conscious, unified policies of every branch of government. – See more at: http://www.blackpast.org/we-charge-genocide-historic-petition-united-nations-relief-crime-united-states-government-against#sthash.WVKDu528.dpuf

Read the We Charge Genocide Petition here

Read the UN Genocide Convention: http://www.oas.org/dil/1948_Convention_on_the_Prevention_and_Punishment_of_the_Crime_of_Genocide.pdf

Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here

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