Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Being a black cultural icon in the turbulent middle of the 20th century took its toll on Paul Robeson, the world-renowned Shakespearean actor, singer, and All-American athlete. Had he restricted his activities to the entertainment field, he could have been wealthy and 'a credit to his race." Instead, Robeson became a controversial political activist, speaking out against what he maintained was ingrained, systemic oppression of blacks by the U.S. government. While this stand would cause hardly a ripple today (in an era of Louis Farrakhan's diatribes against "white devils"). it triggered cries of anti-American and communist in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, crippling the career of the multi-talented artist.

This video combines the 1979 Academy Award-winning documentary, narrated by actor Sidney Poitier, with a print of the 1933 film version of Eugene O'Neill's "The Emperor Jones." It is perhaps unconscious irony that the documentary stresses Robeson's dignity and pride, while his performance as Brutus Jones is a crude stereotype of the "black brute," typical of the way minorities were depicted in motion pictures of that time. The entire production is full of Steppin Fetchitttype characters and would be unthinkable six decades later in a more politically correct - though not necessarily less prejudiced - age. The contrast between this role and his...