CSPAN2 — McCarthyism and the 1950s Red Scare
20260816 023500 UTC
1737 transcript segments
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[00:00:41] GOOD EVENING. EVENING.
[00:00:43] MY NAME IS WINNIE AND I'M THE DEAN OF THIS GREAT CATHEDRAL.
[00:00:47] AND IT IS MY HONOR TO WELCOME
[00:00:50] YOU ON THE BEHALF OF. THE COMMUNITY OF SAINT JOHN, THE
[00:00:53] DIVINE I WANT TO THANK OUR PROGRAM TEAM EVENTS TEAM.
[00:00:56] YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN THEM AROUND. I THINK LAURA'S HERE.
[00:00:59] AND EMMA HERE AND MIKE IS HERE AND OTHERS THAT HAVE HELPED TO
[00:01:02] PUT THIS EVENING TOGETHER.
[00:01:04] AND I'VE DONE A WONDERFUL JOB AND I SEE AND HOPE THAT YOU'VE
[00:01:08] HAD A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE SO FAR. THERE'S A LOT OF FOOD. SO PLEASE EAT IT.
[00:01:11] THERE'S LOTS TO DRINK PLEASE DO CONSUME.
[00:01:14] WE ARE SO HONORED AT THE CATHEDRAL TO HOST THIS
[00:01:18] PARTICULAR EVENT AND VERY GRATEFUL TO HORTON FOR BRINGING IT TO US.
[00:01:21] I WAS JUST HEARING AND HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST ABOUT THE
[00:01:24] GREAT HEROISM IN THIS CATHEDRAL
[00:01:26] BY ITS LEADERSHIP, BY ITS BISHOP
[00:01:28] AND DEAN AND CONGREGATION CLERGY DURING THE MCCARTHY ERA.
[00:01:32] IT WAS A BRAVE PLACE AND WE SEEK TO BE A BRAVE PLACE AGAIN.
[00:01:35] AND IT HAS BEEN A BRAVE PLACE THROUGH MANY TIMES IN HISTORY
[00:01:38] AND UNFORTUNATELY, AND THIS IS TRUE MOST TIMES, THESE ARE TIMES
[00:01:41] THAT REQUIRE COURAGE. SO I AM SO GRATEFUL THAT YOU
[00:01:45] WERE HERE AND THAT WE GET TO HEAR THIS CONVERSATION.
[00:01:49] AND THEN I'M GOING TO CLAIM AND THORNTON, AS A MEMBER OF OUR
[00:01:53] CONGREGATION. SO HIS EVENT HAS ANYONE HERE FOR
[00:01:56] ANYONE HERE IS THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME AT THE CATHEDRAL.
[00:01:58] WILL YOU CLAP YOUR HANDS.
[00:02:01] IF YOU'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, WILL
[00:02:04] YOU CLAP YOUR HANDS HANDS.
[00:02:09] THAT'S NOT WHAT USUALLY WHAT USUALLY AT EVENTS AT OUR
[00:02:12] CATHEDRAL, THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE.
[00:02:14] SO THIS IS SOMETHING TO ME ABOUT WHAT OUR VALUES ARE AND WHAT OUR COMMUNITY IS.
[00:02:18] SO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE WITH US FOR THIS IMPORTANT CONVERSATION.
[00:02:22] AND IF YOU'RE NEW, WHOEVER YOU ARE AND WHATEVER YOUR LIFE HAS
[00:02:25] BEEN, KNOW THAT YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE. WELCOME TO THE CATHEDRAL
[00:02:31] CATHEDRAL. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
[00:02:33] DEAN VARGHESE, FOR YOUR WELCOME
[00:02:36] AND YOUR WITNESS GOOD EVENING.
[00:02:40] I'M ANNE THORNTON, VICE PROVOST AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN AT,
[00:02:44] COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. AND ON OF THE LEHMAN CENTER FOR
[00:02:48] AMERICAN HISTORY, A COLLABORATION BETWEEN LIBRARIES
[00:02:50] AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY.
[00:02:52] I'M HONORED TO WELCOME YOU TO CONFRONTING MCCARTHYISM,
[00:02:58] GENERATIONAL LESSONS FROM FAMILIES WHO RESISTED RED SCARE.
[00:03:01] WE ARE SO TO BE HOSTED TONIGHT
[00:03:05] BY CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE AS, A CO-SPONSOR OF THIS EVENT.
[00:03:08] AND I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND MY GRATITUDE TO THE STAFF HERE FOR
[00:03:12] THEIR WORK ON TONIGHT'S PROGRAM.
[00:03:18] WE ARE ALSO PLEASED TO BE
[00:03:21] PARTNERING WITH C-SPAN'S AMERICA AND HISTORY TV, WHICH WILL BE
[00:03:25] AIRING SPECIAL EVENT AT A LATER DATE.
[00:03:29] MCCARTHY ISM REPRESENTS A CHALLENGING, CONSEQUENTIAL
[00:03:32] CHAPTER IN PUBLIC LIFE CAREERS
[00:03:36] WERE DISRUPTED. FAMILIES CAME UNDER AND PUBLIC
[00:03:40] DEBATE ACROSS GOVERNMENT, THE
[00:03:42] ARTS AND UNIVERSITIES.
[00:03:45] THE TERM ITSELF ASSOCIATED WITH JOSEPH MCCARTHY HAS COME TO
[00:03:49] DESCRIBE THE PERIOD WHEN CONCERNS ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY
[00:03:52] PLACED SIGNIFIED CONSTRAIN ON
[00:03:54] CIVIL LIBERTIES. IT REMAINS AN IMPORTANT
[00:03:58] REFERENCE POINT AS WE REFLECT ON
[00:04:02] ENDURING QUESTIONS ABOUT FREEDOM
[00:04:03] OF EXPRESSION POLITICAL FEAR AND
[00:04:06] DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE.
[00:04:09] WHAT MAKES TONIGHT A ESPECIALLY REMARKABLE IS THAT NO ONE HAS
[00:04:13] BROUGHT THESE INDIVIDUAL
[00:04:15] TOGETHER AS A GROUP TO REFLECT COLLECTIVELY ON THEIR FAMILY'S
[00:04:19] EXPERIENCE, SAYS THE CONVERSATION COULD NOT BE MORE
[00:04:23] TIMELY IN THE COURSE OF ORGANIZING THIS PROGRAM, WE
[00:04:26] BECAME INCREASINGLY EAGER BRING TOGETHER THESE REMARKABLE PEOPLE
[00:04:30] FROM A HERETOFORE UNRECOGNIZED COMMUNITY.
[00:04:32] THEY ARE AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR THINKING ABOUT THE LONG THAT
[00:04:36] INFORM OUR CURRENT AND ABOUT HOW
[00:04:40] FEAR AND COURAGE SPAN
[00:04:44] GENERATIONS COLUMBIA'S LIBRARIES ARE COMMITTED TO PRESERVING THE
[00:04:47] RECORDS OF THIS ERA SO THAT HISTORIANS CAN CONTINUE TO
[00:04:51] INTERPRET THEM. THOSE RECORDS INCLUDE,
[00:04:54] DOCUMENTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ORAL
[00:04:57] HISTORIES, AND CULTURAL WORKS
[00:04:59] THAT ALLOW US TO RECORD HONESTLY WITH THE PAST.
[00:05:03] TONIGHT'S CONVERSATION ANIMATES
[00:05:04] THAT ARCHIVAL WITH LIVED MEMORY
[00:05:08] ON THE BACK OF YOUR PROGRAM'S. YOU'LL FIND A SPACE TO WRITE A
[00:05:12] QUESTION FOR TONIGHT'S PANELISTS.
[00:05:14] IF YOU WISH AND IF YOU'LL HOLD
[00:05:17] THOSE UP WHEN YOU HAVE QUESTION READY. ONE OF OUR STAFF WILL COME BY
[00:05:21] AND COLLECT.
[00:05:22] WE'LL BE GATHERING AND WE'LL
[00:05:25] SHARE THEM WITH THE MODERATOR FOR THE Q&A PORTION OF THE PROGRAM.
[00:05:29] WE THANK FOR BEING HERE AND FOR
[00:05:32] JOINING US IN THIS DIALOG. NOW, I'M THRILLED TO INTRODUCE
[00:05:36] EVENING'S PANELISTS.
[00:05:38] MICHAEL MEEROPOL IS AN
[00:05:41] ECONOMIST, AUTHOR, ACTIVIST.
[00:05:43] HE TAUGHT ECONOMIC ARCS FOR 38
[00:05:46] YEARS AT THE WESTERN ENGLAND COLLEGE. NOW UNIVERSITY.
[00:05:49] MEEROPOL HAS WITH HIS BROTHER ROBERT TO MAKE PUBLIC ALL
[00:05:55] RECORDS TO THE PROSECUTION AND EXECUTION OF THEIR PARENTS,
[00:05:58] JULIUS AND ROSENBERG, MOLLY
[00:06:03] JONG-FAST IS A CONTRIBUTING WRITER AT, THE NEW YORK TIMES
[00:06:06] AND MSNBC'S POLITICAL ANALYST,
[00:06:09] HOST OF THE FAST POLITICS PODCAST AND AUTHOR OF THE NEW
[00:06:12] YORK TIMES BESTSELLER HOW TO LOSE YOUR MOTHER.
[00:06:18] DR. LOUISE PATTERSON IS A SOCIAL
[00:06:20] JUSTICE ACTIVIST AND RETIRED PEDIATRICIAN.
[00:06:23] HER PARENTS, LOUISE AND WILLIAM
[00:06:25] PATTERSON, WERE COMMUNISTS LEADERS WHO ORGANIZED FOR CIVIL
[00:06:29] RIGHTS AND PIONEERED THE BLACK FREEDOM MOVEMENT.
[00:06:33] IN 1951, HER FATHER, ALONG WITH
[00:06:35] PAUL ROBESON, PRESENTED A
[00:06:37] PETITION TO THE UNITED NATIONS
[00:06:40] ENTITLED WE CHARGED GENOCIDE GOD, WHICH ACCUSED THE U.S.
[00:06:44] GOVERNMENT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST ITS BLACK CITIZENS.
[00:06:49] BEVERLY GAGE IS THE JOHN LEWIS GADDIS OF HISTORY AT YALE
[00:06:54] UNIVERSITY CITY. HER BOOK, G-MAN ON J.
[00:06:56] EDGAR HOOVER AND THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN CENTURY, A
[00:07:00] BIOGRAPHY OF FORMER FBI J.
[00:07:03] EDGAR HOOVER RECEIVED THE 2023
[00:07:06] PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY THE
[00:07:08] BANCROFT PRIZE IN AMERICAN AND
[00:07:12] NUMEROUS OTHER ACCOLADES.
[00:07:14] OUR FIRST PANELIST IS MICHAEL MICHAEL MEEROPOL.
[00:07:17] PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING HIM.
[00:07:25] HELLO.
[00:07:27] THIS IS HELLO?
[00:07:31] CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT WORK? OKAY, GOOD. I PUSHED RIGHT BUTTON.
[00:07:35] I. FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK
[00:07:37] COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE FOR HOSTING THIS
[00:07:41] EVENT, CO-SPONSORING IT AND I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO TY
[00:07:45] JONES, WHOSE MADE THIS POSSIBLE.
[00:07:51] YES, YOU WERE VERY WORTHY.
[00:07:55] NOW, I AM A RETIRED COLLEGE WITH
[00:07:57] A GREAT INTEREST IN RECENT AMERICAN HISTORY.
[00:08:00] AT THE SAME TO BEING A STUDENT
[00:08:03] OF HISTORY, I'M SOMEONE WHO HAS
[00:08:05] LIVED A LOT OF THAT HISTORY. AT THE TENDER AGE OF SEVEN, I
[00:08:09] DROPPED INTO THE MAELSTROM OF AMERICAN HISTORY WHEN MY FATHER
[00:08:14] ARRESTED IN JULY 1950. AS SOME OF YOU KNOW, HE WAS
[00:08:17] CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT ESPIONAGE.
[00:08:20] BUT IN THE MIND, THE JUDGE AND
[00:08:21] THE PUBLIC AND HE WAS A TRAITOR
[00:08:25] WHO STOLE THE SECRET OF THE ATOM BOMB AND PLACED OUR NATION'S
[00:08:29] SURVIVAL IN JEOPARDY.
[00:08:33] AS BROTHER SAYS IN A MOVIE, MY MADE ABOUT THE CASE.
[00:08:36] IT'S BECAUSE OF THE SECRET OF THE ATOM BOMB.
[00:08:39] IT'S BECAUSE OF THE DOUBLE DEATH PENALTY THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
[00:08:42] THE CASE MANY LATER. AND I WANT TO PUT THE FAMILY'S
[00:08:46] STORY IN CONTEXT. IN THE LATE 1940S AND EARLY
[00:08:50] FIFTIES, THE UNITED STATES EXPERIENCED WHAT COULD ONLY BE
[00:08:53] CALLED A PAROXYSM OF
[00:08:57] ANTI-COMMUNISM, AN IMPORTANT POLITICAL BACKDROP UP TO MY PARENTS TRIAL.
[00:09:01] THE FIGHTS OF MR. WILLIAM PATTERSON, THE STRUGGLES OF THE
[00:09:04] WRITER HOWARD.
[00:09:06] HERE'S A PERSONAL EXAMPLE.
[00:09:08] IT WAS THE FALL OF 1951, I WAS
[00:09:11] LIVING WITH MY GRANDMOTHER UP NEAR 184 STREET OVERLOOKING THE
[00:09:16] HARLEM RIVER, AND IN THE FALL OF 51.
[00:09:20] SIX MONTHS AFTER THE TRIAL, A SERIES OF ARTICLES APPEARED IN A
[00:09:24] SMALL LEFT WING NEWSPAPER CALLED THE NATIONAL GUARDIAN.
[00:09:26] AND I WAS ECSTATIC BECAUSE IT SAID THAT MY PARENTS CASE WAS
[00:09:31] NOT OPEN AND SHUT CASE THAT MAYBE THEY WERE INNOCENT.
[00:09:34] CERTAINLY THE DEATH SENTENCE DID NOT APPROPRIATE.
[00:09:36] I WAS SO EXCITED I STARTED TELLING MY FRIENDS ON THE BLOCK
[00:09:40] REMEMBER, I'M EIGHT YEARS OLD. I TELL MY FRIEND PHIL, I TELL MY
[00:09:44] FRIEND PHIL'S MOTHER, I MENTIONED THE NEWSPAPER SHE'S
[00:09:46] VERY NICE TO ME AND I THINK THIS IS GREAT.
[00:09:49] BUT PHIL WARNS ME, HE SAID, DON'T TELL LAURENCE. HE'LL BLAB IT AROUND THE
[00:09:53] NEIGHBORHOOD. AND NOW YOU GOT TO MARVEL AT THE
[00:09:57] NAIVETY OF THAT EIGHT YEAR OLD, WHICH WAS ME. I SAID GREAT.
[00:09:59] IF LAURENCE BLABS IT AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD, EVERYBODY WILL READ.
[00:10:03] THAT NEWSPAPER. YEAH, RIGHT.
[00:10:05] AND THEY'LL SUPPORT MY PARENTS AND THEY'LL COME HOME.
[00:10:08] SO WE TELL LAURENCE. TWO DAYS LATER, I'M IN HIS APARTMENT. MY.
[00:10:12] HIS MOTHER ASKS ME MY NAME. I TELL MY NAME AND I START TO GET EXCITED, TELLING HER ABOUT
[00:10:16] THE NEWSPAPER SHE DOESN'T WANT HEAR IT. SHE THROWS ME OUT OF HER HOUSE.
[00:10:20] SHE SAYS TO LAURENCE, THAT'S THE
[00:10:22] LAST OF YOUR COMMUNIST FRIEND.
[00:10:24] AND THEN SHE URGES TO NEVER HANG AROUND LAURENCE.
[00:10:28] WELL, I WENT HOME CRYING, NEEDLESS TO SAY, AND I WAS TRAUMATIZED.
[00:10:32] NOW, WOMAN COULD HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY NICE, BUT SHE WAS
[00:10:36] TERRIFIED THAT I, AN EIGHT YEAR OLD, WOULD CONTAMINATE HER SON.
[00:10:42] THAT'S 1950S AMERICA. NOW, LET ME MOVE TO THE MORE
[00:10:46] BROAD HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
[00:10:49] AFTER WORLD WAR TWO, THE UNITED HAD A CHOICE.
[00:10:53] CONTINUE ON THE PATH TOWARDS SOCIAL DEMOCRACY THAT BEGAN WITH
[00:10:56] THE NEW DEAL AND ACCEPTANCE OF
[00:10:58] THE SOVIET UNION AS A PARTNER IN
[00:11:00] THE WORLD OR REVERT TO THE
[00:11:04] POST-WORLD WAR ONE ANTI
[00:11:06] BOLSHEVISM AND RED SCARE. WE ALL KNOW THE WARTIME ALLIANCE
[00:11:10] WITH. THE SOVIET UNION WAS A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE. NEITHER SIDE TRUSTED THE OTHER,
[00:11:14] ALTHOUGH IT IS TRUE THAT FDR THOUGHT HE COULD WITH STALIN.
[00:11:17] BUT AFTER FDR, IT'S PRETTY
[00:11:20] OBVIOUS THE COLD WAR WAS INEVITABLE. AND IF THE COLD WAR WAS
[00:11:24] INEVITABLE, IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT THE LEADERSHIP, THE UNITED
[00:11:27] STATES, FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE GROUP THAT WAS GOING TO OPPOSE
[00:11:30] THE COLD, THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST AND THEIR ALLIES.
[00:11:34] AND THEY DID.
[00:11:35] THEIR GOAL WAS TO AND WEAKEN AND
[00:11:39] MAKE THE COMMUNIST PARTY POLITICALLY IRRELEVANT.
[00:11:42] AND THAT GOAL WAS DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND REPUBLIC PARTY.
[00:11:47] OKAY. WHAT ABOUT THE SPECIFICS OF THE
[00:11:50] CASE BETWEEN 1941 AND 45, MY FATHER ATTEMPTED, FIRST AND
[00:11:55] FOREMOST, TO HELP THE SOVIET UNION BEAT THE NAZIS.
[00:11:57] HE WAS OUT OF THE ESPIONAGE LOOP TILL 47 AND THEN BACK IN FOR A
[00:12:01] FEW YEARS. HE WAS ARRESTED.
[00:12:05] HERE'S THE POLITICAL EMPHASIS THE GOVERNMENT CREATED.
[00:12:09] WHEN FATHER WAS ARRESTED BETWEEN
[00:12:11] END OF WORLD WAR TWO AND 1950,
[00:12:13] THE US GOVERNMENT, IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO TURN MY FATHER'S,
[00:12:17] ALBEIT ILLEGAL WORK TO HELP AN
[00:12:20] ALLY INTO.
[00:12:25] I QUOTE FROM THE JUDGE'S SENTENCING SPEECH. THE ISSUE OF PUNISHMENT.
[00:12:28] THIS CASE IS PRESENTED IN A UNIQUE FRAMEWORK OF HISTORY.
[00:12:31] IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO MAKE
[00:12:33] PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THIS COUNTRY IS ENGAGED IN A LIFE AND DEATH
[00:12:37] STRUGGLE WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
[00:12:39] I BELIEVE NEVER AT ANY TIME IN
[00:12:42] OUR HISTORY WHERE WE CONFRONTED WITH SUCH A CHALLENGE TO OUR
[00:12:46] VERY EXISTENCE. I CONSIDER YOUR CRIME WORSE THAN MURDER.
[00:12:49] I BELIEVE YOUR CONDUCT PUTTING THE HANDS OF THE RUSSIANS.
[00:12:52] THE A-BOMB HAS CAUSED, IN MY OPINION, THE COMMUNIST
[00:12:56] AGGRESSION IN KOREA. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT MEANS MORE
[00:13:02] INNOCENT PEOPLE WILL PAY THE
[00:13:04] PRICE OF YOUR TREASON AND NOTE
[00:13:07] THE WORD TREASON.
[00:13:09] WHEN EISENHOWER DENIED CLEMENCY
[00:13:11] TWO YEARS LATER, HE BLAMED MY
[00:13:13] PARENTS FOR ANY FUTURE NUCLEAR WAR.
[00:13:17] AND IF ANYBODY WANTS DETAILS ABOUT THE CASE, THERE'S A QR
[00:13:20] CODE YOU CAN ACCESS SOMEHOW OR OTHER.
[00:13:24] SO MY FATHER WAS AS CHARGED.
[00:13:26] HE CONSPIRED TO COMMIT ESPIONAGE
[00:13:30] WITH SCIENCE ORIENTED FRIENDS. MANY OF WHOM HE WENT TO SCHOOL
[00:13:32] WITH AND RELATIVES. DAVID AND RUTH GREENGLASS, MY
[00:13:36] MOTHER'S BROTHER AND SISTER IN
[00:13:38] LAW, DAVID GREENGLASS, HAD BEEN
[00:13:40] A MACHINIST AT THE LOS ALAMOS OF
[00:13:43] THE MANHATTAN PROJECT.
[00:13:45] NOW, HOW DID THE GOVERNMENT USE THESE FACTS?
[00:13:48] WELL, OF ALL THEY NEEDED TO GET MY TO TALK.
[00:13:51] SO THEY DECIDED THAT A DEATH
[00:13:54] PENALTY ESSENTIAL TO MAKE A DEATH PENALTY ESSENTIAL THEY HAD
[00:13:58] TO PROMOTE MY FATHER TO A MASTER
[00:14:01] ATOMIC SPY, WHICH, BY THE WAY, WE KNOW IS NOT TRUE.
[00:14:06] THEN TO FURTHER PRESSURE MY
[00:14:08] FATHER, THEY ARRESTED MY MOTHER
[00:14:10] WHEN THEY KNEW SHE WASN'T A SPY.
[00:14:13] I PUT THAT LAST PICTURE.
[00:14:19] WHAT YOU'RE SEEING NOW IS PICTURE OF MY BROTHER AND ME IN
[00:14:22] FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE IN DECEMBER
[00:14:25] OF 2016, TRYING TO GET PRESIDENT
[00:14:27] OBAMA TO DECLARE A THAT OUR
[00:14:29] MOTHER WAS A SPY.
[00:14:32] WE HAVE EVIDENCE UP DOWN AND
[00:14:34] SIDEWAYS THAT PROVES THE
[00:14:36] GOVERNMENT KNEW THIS AND. THAT'S AVAILABLE.
[00:14:39] ALSO FOLLOWING THE QR CODE TO
[00:14:42] MAKE DEATH PENALTY PALATABLE TO MAJORITY OF THE PUBLIC.
[00:14:46] MY PARENTS HAD TO BE DEMONIZED,
[00:14:48] AND THAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY. MAKING THE MOTIVE IN THE TRIAL.
[00:14:52] COMMUNISM AND MAKE MY PARENTS
[00:14:58] UNACCEPTABLE TO THE JURY. THEY KEPT ASKING THEM IF THEY WERE COMMUNISTS.
[00:15:01] MY PARENTS TOOK THE FIFTH AMENDMENT AND IN A KIND OF CATCH
[00:15:05] 22, THE JURY SET A HALF. THEY MUST BE HIDING SOMETHING.
[00:15:08] AND LET'S NOT FORGET, THIS
[00:15:10] SUMMER, MY PARENTS WERE ARRESTED.
[00:15:13] THE KOREAN WAR STARTED. THE TRIAL OCCURRED IN APRIL 51.
[00:15:16] THE KOREAN WAR WAS RAGING, THE KOREAN ARMISTICE WAS NOT SIGNED
[00:15:20] TILL AFTER THEY KILLED.
[00:15:24] NOW THERE'S A PICTURE. THE NEXT PICTURE THAI IS FROM
[00:15:28] THE SUMMER OF 1953. THAT'S ROBBY AND AS KIDS IN
[00:15:31] FRONT OF THE WHITE ATTEMPTING TO
[00:15:34] GET EISENHOWER TO ACHIEVE CLEMENCY.
[00:15:37] MY PARENTS RESPONDED BY PLEADING
[00:15:39] NOT GUILTY TO EVERYTHING. AND THAT WAS THEIR WAY OF
[00:15:44] FIGHTING BACK. ON TOP OF THAT, VERY AND I MEAN
[00:15:48] VERY SMALL GROUP OF MAVERICKS CREATED THE COMMITTEE TO SECURE
[00:15:51] JUSTICE IN ROSENBERG CASE. STARTING VERY SMALL.
[00:15:55] AFTER THE TRIAL, THEY ACHIEVED
[00:15:59] NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPACT WHICH CAME IN MY OPINION
[00:16:02] IN THE OPINION OF MANY THAT CLOSE TO CONVINCING EISENHOWER
[00:16:06] TO GRANT AS A WAY OF PROTECTING
[00:16:10] AMERICA'S GOOD NAME IN THE WORLD.
[00:16:13] SINCE MY MOTHER WAS FRAMED. SHE WASN'T A SPY AND HALF THE
[00:16:18] CASE MY FATHER WAS A LIE. I WOULD ARGUE MY PARENT'S
[00:16:22] APPROACH THE BEST DEFENSE AND IN THE COURSE OF THE CLEMENCY
[00:16:26] CAMPAIGN. LOTS OF PEOPLE JOINED WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE GUILTY.
[00:16:30] IMPACT OF THE CASE.
[00:16:32] ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT IS
[00:16:34] IT FRIGHTENED THE HELL OF MANY LEFTISTS.
[00:16:38] WILLIAM LATER TO BECOME CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES WAS
[00:16:41] A LAW CLERK 1953 AND HE WROTE A
[00:16:43] MEMO SAYING THE DEATH PENALTY WAS CLEARLY A WARNING TO
[00:16:47] COMMUNISTS. IT WAS SO PROMINENT I WOULD
[00:16:51] ARGUE THAT IT HAD THE EFFECT
[00:16:53] AMERICAN LEFTISTS, THAT LYNCHING
[00:16:56] HAD IN THE GRIMSHAW'S SOUTH A WARNING TO THE LOCAL BLACK
[00:17:00] COMMUNITY. THEY BETTER STAY IN LINE.
[00:17:02] THEY BETTER KNOW THEIR PLACE.
[00:17:04] AND BECAUSE THE CASE INVOLVED
[00:17:06] AND A PART OF THE PROSECUTION WITNESSES AND A FRAUD ABOUT THE
[00:17:10] SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ALLEGED SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STOLEN,
[00:17:14] MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE MY PARENTS WERE TOTALLY INNOCENT. AND MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE
[00:17:18] BELIEVED FULL BLOODED FASCISM
[00:17:20] JUST AROUND THE CORNER. AND MY PARENTS AGREED.
[00:17:24] THEY PUBLICLY CLAIMED TO BE THE FIRST VICTIMS OF AMERICAN
[00:17:28] FASCISM, BUT IN MY OPINION, WITH
[00:17:30] MY HISTORIAN'S HAT ON. THANKFULLY, THAT WASN'T THE CASE.
[00:17:34] I THINK THE RESISTANCE OF HOWARD
[00:17:36] FAST AND WILLIAM PATTERSON AND
[00:17:39] OTHERS, INCLUDING THIS MAN FOR A GROUP OF PEOPLE, THE NATIONAL
[00:17:43] COMMITTEE SECURE JUSTICE IN THE ROSENBERG CASE PLAYED A ROLE.
[00:17:47] DESPITE THE FEAR OF LEFTISTS IN
[00:17:49] THE END THERE WAS NO MOVE
[00:17:51] TOWARDS NATIONAL FASCISM.
[00:17:53] MCCARTHY HIMSELF WAS DESCRIBED AIDED AND CENSURED AND DIED IN
[00:17:57] DISGRACE. PAUL ROBESON AND W.E.B. GOT
[00:18:00] THEIR PASSPORTS.
[00:18:02] THERE WAS A BETTER ATMOSPHERE FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE EARLY 1960S.
[00:18:07] THEN A DECADE EARLIER.
[00:18:10] BUT IN FACT, MY PARENTS EMPHASIS ON BEING THE FIRST VICTIMS OF
[00:18:13] AMERICAN FASCISM IGNORED OF
[00:18:17] REGIONAL AMERICAN FASCISM, I WOULD ARGUE FROM THE 1890S
[00:18:20] THROUGH MOST OF THE 1950S. BLACK AMERICANS IN THE SOUTH HAD
[00:18:24] LIVED UNDER REGIONAL VERSION OF FASCISM.
[00:18:28] IN 1946, A RECENTLY BLACK
[00:18:31] SOLDIER, SERGEANT ISAAC WOODARD,
[00:18:33] JR, WAS BRUTALLY BEATEN.
[00:18:35] A SOUTH CAROLINA COP AND FOR LIFE.
[00:18:38] THE COP WAS ACQUITTED BY AN ALL WHITE JURY.
[00:18:42] THE JIM CROW SOUTH HAD BEEN A
[00:18:44] MODEL FOR HITLER'S LAWS AGAINST THE --.
[00:18:48] MARY LOU PATTERSON'S FATHER, WILLIAM PATTERSON, WAS HEAD OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS CONGRESS.
[00:18:52] HE WITH FAMILIES AS THEIR CHILD
[00:18:54] WAS MURDERED BY THE SOUTHERN SYSTEM.
[00:18:58] BUT PEOPLE LIKE MY PARENTS LIVING IN THE NORTH DIDN'T SEE IT THAT WAY.
[00:19:02] WE WITH 20TH CENTURY HINDSIGHT,
[00:19:05] CERTAINLY CAN.
[00:19:06] BEFORE I FINISH MY PRESENTATION
[00:19:09] AND I WANT TO MAKE A QUICK FORAY
[00:19:11] INTO TODAY'S WORLD OF POLITICS.
[00:19:15] A WEEKS AGO, I WAS RIVETED WATCHING TESTIMONY FROM
[00:19:18] SURVIVORS OF, ICE VIOLENCE IN
[00:19:20] MINNEAPOLIS AND ELSEWHERE
[00:19:22] DELIVERED BEFORE A GROUP CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS.
[00:19:25] AS I LISTENED TO THE CHILLING TESTIMONY OF PEOPLE SHOT AT WHO
[00:19:30] SURVIVED, I THOUGHT AGAIN OF ISAAC WOODARD AND ALL THE BLACK
[00:19:32] FOLKS LYNCHED IN LATE 1890S AND INTO THE 20TH CENTURY.
[00:19:37] AND THOUGHT ABOUT THE FEARS OF
[00:19:40] IN THE 1950S THAT FASCISM WAS AROUND THE CORNER.
[00:19:43] AND I THOUGHT, NOTWITHSTANDING
[00:19:47] THE HORROR OF MY PARENTS EXECUTION, THAT PERIOD WAS
[00:19:51] QUALITY NATIVELY DIFFERENT THAN THE VIOLENCE, THE JIM CROW SOUTH
[00:19:54] AND THE VIOLENCE OF TRUMPS ICE NAZIS.
[00:19:58] TODAY. THAT VIOLENCE, THE FEARS OF
[00:20:02] FASCISM IN THE 1950S INAPPROPRIATE PERSPECTIVE. AND PLEASE NOT TAKE THIS AS
[00:20:06] HYPERBOLE. I THINGS ARE MUCH WORSE NOW THAN
[00:20:11] THEY IN THE 1950S. AND THE REASON I THINK IS
[00:20:17] PARADOXICALLY, TODAY'S COUNTRY'S MORE EVENLY SPLIT.
[00:20:20] THE AMERICAN LEFT WAS MUCH WEAKER IN THE FIFTIES.
[00:20:22] TODAY, THE OPPOSITION TO TRUMP
[00:20:25] IS, THE MAJORITY AND FORTUNATELY
[00:20:28] WITH NOT ENOUGH GRASP OF THE
[00:20:32] LEVERS POWER IN ORDER TO INTRODUCE THE VARIOUS CHANGES
[00:20:36] DESIRED, THE AUTHORITARIAN FASCIST VOTER ROLLS WILL NEED TO
[00:20:39] BE PURGED. WHAT IS TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS WILL
[00:20:42] NEED TO BE CENSORED. THE MEDIA WILL HAVE TO BE BROUGHT TO HEEL.
[00:20:45] DEMONSTRATORS WILL NEED TO BE ATTACKED, EVEN KILLED.
[00:20:49] AND BECAUSE THE OPPOSITION IS
[00:20:52] LARGE AND STRONG, IT WILL TAKE STRONG REPRESSION TO BEAT THEM
[00:20:56] DOWN. BUT WE ARE, THE MAJORITY, THE
[00:20:58] PEOPLE OF, MINNEAPOLIS AND ELSEWHERE, HAVE SHOWN US THE WAY
[00:21:02] TO FIGHT BACK. IF THAT TINY GROUP OF MAVERICKS
[00:21:06] COULD THAT CLOSE TO SAVING MY PARENTS.
[00:21:09] IF HOWARD FAST COULD CONTINUE
[00:21:11] BOOKS, IF WILLIAM PATTERSON COULD CONTINUE HIS ACTIVISM, WE
[00:21:15] CAN FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE
[00:21:19] AMERICAN VERSION OF TV CENTURY
[00:21:23] FASCISM. AND WE MUST.
[00:21:26] THANK YOU.
[00:21:53] SOMETIMES PEOPLE DON'T JUST READ. HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR THIS, MIKE?
[00:21:57] I WILL JUST TRADE MY DOCTOR.
[00:22:00] MARY LOUISE PATTERSON.
[00:22:05] THANK. THANKS, MIKE. THANKS, MIKE. YES.
[00:22:11] OKAY. TY, CAN YOU PUT THE SLIDES UP,
[00:22:16] PLEASE.
[00:22:24] GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE.
[00:22:24] ACTUALLY, IT'S TRAVIS.
[00:22:29] GOOD AFTERNOON.
[00:22:31] GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE AND THANK
[00:22:34] YOU FOR COMING IN THIS WEATHER,
[00:22:38] IT ALWAYS FEELS GOOD.
[00:22:40] IS IT ECHOING OR IS THAT ME HEARING IT?
[00:22:44] NO IT'S. IT'S GOING THROUGH THE MIKE. OH, IT ALWAYS FEELS GOOD TO BE
[00:22:48] IN THE COMPANY OF ONE'S FRIENDS AND TO BE EXCITED AND DELIGHTED
[00:22:52] BY SEEING NEW FACES, WHICH MEANS WHERE WIDENING OUR CIRCLE MORE
[00:22:56] CRITICAL NOW THAN EVER BEFORE BECAUSE ALL HANDS ARE NEEDED ON
[00:23:00] IF WE'RE GOING TO TURN THIS SHIP AROUND BEFORE IT CAREENS OVER
[00:23:02] THE WATERFALL.
[00:23:04] I WANT TO THANK THE ORGANIZERS, SR'S PROFESSOR TY JONES AND HIS
[00:23:09] ASSOCIATES IN THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
[00:23:11] AND THE LIBRARY FOR CONCEIVING AND ORGANIZING THIS EVENT.
[00:23:15] AND REVEREND BACH IS AND SAINT
[00:23:17] JOHN THE DIVINE FOR HOSTING IT.
[00:23:21] THE OLD LEVEE'S PAST CAN BE ILLUMINATING EVEN INSTRUCTIVE
[00:23:25] AND. INSPIRING. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING IT TO A NEW AUDIENCE.
[00:23:29] IT'S A REAL HONOR TO SHARE THIS STAGE WITH SUCH A DISTINGUISHED PANEL.
[00:23:33] I'M ALSO HONORED TO BE REPRESENTING NOT ONLY MY PARENTS
[00:23:36] AND THEIR COMRADES AND OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE 1950S, BUT TO
[00:23:40] BE STANDING IN FOR SUSAN
[00:23:42] ROBESON, THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE GREAT PAUL ROBESON, WHO WAS
[00:23:47] ALSO A CHERISHED FRIEND AND
[00:23:49] COMRADE IN ARMS OF MY PARENTS
[00:23:52] WORLD WAR TWO, WAS A WORLDWIDE BATTLE AGAINST THE RISE AND
[00:23:55] ATTEMPTED TAKEOVER BY FASCISTS. AS WE ALL KNOW
[00:23:58] AFRICAN-AMERICANS, VALIANTLY FOUGHT IN THAT WAR.
[00:24:01] AND THEIR SLOGAN DOUBLE V FOR VICTORY.
[00:24:05] VICTORY OVER FASCISM IN EUROPE
[00:24:07] AND VICTORY OVER RACISM AND. JIM CROW HERE AT HOME.
[00:24:11] OUR FORM OF FASCISM, AMERICANA.
[00:24:15] AND WHEN THEY LIBERATED SOME OF THE CONCENTRATION, THEY WERE
[00:24:19] HORRIFIED BY. WHAT THEY SAW, THE U.S.
[00:24:23] GOVERNMENT UNDER PRESSURE. FINALLY HAD TO ALLOW BLACK
[00:24:25] SOLDIERS TO PICK UP A GUN ON EUROPEAN SOIL TO HELP DEFEAT FASCISM.
[00:24:31] THERE. BUT IT WOULD BE -- IF IT WOULD
[00:24:33] ALLOW BLACK PEOPLE TO PICK UP
[00:24:35] GUN HERE IN SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST
[00:24:38] RACIST VIOLENCE IMMEDIATELY. POST-WORLD WAR TWO.
[00:24:43] MCCARTHY COLD WAR, ANTI-COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY POLICIES
[00:24:46] AND WAR AND LAWS WERE PUT IN
[00:24:49] PLACE SINCE U.S. GOVERNMENT
[00:24:52] WASN'T ABOUT TO LIBERATE THE 20 MILLION AFRICAN-AMERICANS LIVING
[00:24:56] UNDER FASCISM RULE IN THE SOUTH AND QUASI FASCIST IN THE
[00:25:00] SO-CALLED URBAN GHETTOS.
[00:25:02] NOT TO MENTION LIBERATING THE INDIGENOUS NATIVE AMERICANS, THE
[00:25:06] FIRST TO CONFRONT GENOCIDE AND
[00:25:08] NOW FORCED TO LIVE IN CONCENTRÉ NATION CAMPS.
[00:25:11] ANYONE WHO DARED TRY WAS AN
[00:25:13] INTERNAL ENEMY AND THAT ENEMY
[00:25:15] HAD A NAME COMMUNIST.
[00:25:19] THUS BEGAN IN DEADLY FOR THE
[00:25:22] SECOND TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY, A MANUFACTURED ATMOSPHERE OF,
[00:25:26] FEAR OF THE OTHER, THE ALIEN WAS
[00:25:28] CAST LIKE A HEAVY BLANKET OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.
[00:25:31] AND WE ENTERED AN ERA WHEN. ANYONE WHO CHALLENGED THE STATUS
[00:25:36] QUO OR USE A TERM LIKE WHITE SUPREMACY OR INSTITUTIONALIZED
[00:25:40] RACISM OR SAID CHINA INSTEAD OF
[00:25:42] SAYING RED CHINA WAS AUTOMATICALLY LABELED A
[00:25:46] COMMUNIST AS LUDICROUS AS THIS SOUND NOW, ALTHOUGH NOT
[00:25:51] UNFAMILIAR TO REMEMBER THE PEDOPHILE RING IN THE CLINTON
[00:25:54] WHITE HOUSE BASEMENT AND PIZZAGATE THAT CUTE Q AND ON
[00:25:58] PLUS OTHERS WAR EXISTED. WELL BACK THEN.
[00:26:03] COMMUNISM CALLED SATANIC AND COMMUNISTS WERE LENIN'S SPAWN.
[00:26:08] THE ANTICHRIST WHO REALLY HAD
[00:26:10] AND TAILS AND CLUB AND FEED, BUT ONLY DISPLAYED THEM WHEN
[00:26:14] PRIVATELY GATHERED IN THEIR DARK CELLS.
[00:26:16] OF COURSE, THUS DEPICTED THEY
[00:26:18] HAD TO BE OUT AND STAMPED OUT BEFORE THEY CONTAMINATED AND
[00:26:24] DESTROYED THE EXALTED AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE.
[00:26:26] THE GOVERNMENT SAID IT ITS DUTY
[00:26:28] TO PROTECT AND DEFEND AMERICA
[00:26:31] AND AMERICANS AT COSTS, EVEN IF
[00:26:34] THAT MEANT AT THE COST OF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS CIVIL LIBERTIES AND
[00:26:37] THE ABRIDGMENT THE CONSTITUTIONAL RULE OF LAW.
[00:26:42] UNFORTUNATELY, TOO MANY SWALLOWED THAT LIE.
[00:26:45] SO USURPING THE USE GOVERNMENT
[00:26:47] MACHINERY COUPLED COUPLED WITH
[00:26:49] THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE
[00:26:51] MIRACULOUS NEW MEDIA INVENTION
[00:26:53] TELEVISION THAT COULD REACH
[00:26:57] MILLIONS INSTANTANEOUSLY AND
[00:27:01] SPONTANEOUSLY A THE REACTION
[00:27:05] ORNERY RIGHT WING FORCES IN GOVERNMENT. J.
[00:27:07] EDGAR HOOVER AND HIS FBI, THE NSA AND THE IRS LAUNCHED A HOT,
[00:27:12] HEAVY AND UGLY HUNT FOR
[00:27:15] REPRESSION OF COMMUNISTS.
[00:27:17] NO AMOUNT OR MANNER OF
[00:27:19] HARASSMENT, SURVEILLANCE, LYING
[00:27:22] JOB FIRINGS AND LOYALTY OATH,
[00:27:24] BLACKLISTING, IMPRISONMENT, EVEN
[00:27:26] EXECUTION WAS TOO EXCESSIVE,
[00:27:28] EVEN IF OSTENSIBLY USED TO WIPE
[00:27:30] COMMUNISTS AND THE EVIL COMMUNAL AS A MENACE.
[00:27:33] BUT THAT WAS MOSTLY PRETEXT. THEY REALLY WANTED PARALYZE OR
[00:27:37] HOPEFULLY REVERSE THE LIBERATION MOVEMENT OF BLACK AND WORKERS
[00:27:43] EXPLOITATION AND MOVEMENT AND THE ANTI EXPLOITER MOVEMENT.
[00:27:46] SO MY FAMILY HAD TWO STRIKES AGAINST IT.
[00:27:49] IT WAS BLACK AND RED.
[00:27:52] BLACK PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART, WERE FORCED TO LIVE IN
[00:27:55] SEGREGATED COMMUNITY, WHICH IRONICALLY DID PROVIDE SOME
[00:28:00] PROTECTION, ALBEIT SUPERFICIAL, FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT ALTHOUGH THERE EXISTED A
[00:28:05] SKEPTICISM, COMMUNISM IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY, GREATER WAS THE
[00:28:07] HATRED OF RACISM AND RACISTS AND
[00:28:11] A IN THE NOBLE HISTORY OF FIGHTING AGAINST IT AND
[00:28:14] ASSISTING THOSE WHO DID WHICH
[00:28:16] INCLUDED BLACK COMMUNISTS.
[00:28:18] PEOPLE OFTEN HOW MY FAMILY
[00:28:21] SURVIVED THAT HORRIFIC PERIOD INTACT.
[00:28:24] THE SHORT ANSWER IS MY PARENTS BECAME PART OF A NUCLEUS.
[00:28:28] EXCUSE ME, OF A COBBLED TOGETHER
[00:28:32] THAT PROTECTED AND SHELTERED THE CHILDREN WHILE MAKING IT
[00:28:36] POSSIBLE FOR THE ADULTS TO FIGHT ON WHICH THEY NOT ONLY DID, BUT
[00:28:39] IN SEVERAL SALIENT INSTANCES. AT THE RISK OF THEIR FAMILIES
[00:28:43] AND THEMSELVES THEY EVEN INTENSIFIED THEIR WORK BY TAKING
[00:28:47] BOLD AND PUBLIC MOMENTOUS, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
[00:28:51] ACTIONS THAT REVERBERATE TODAY.
[00:28:53] ACTIONS THAT NOT ONLY DEFIED THE
[00:28:55] FEAR AND HYSTERIA AND ANTI FRENZY, BUT FURTHERED THE CAUSE
[00:29:00] OF LIBERATION FOR WHICH THEY HUNGERED SO THEY BELIEVED IN THE
[00:29:05] TRUISM THAT UNITY THAT IN UNITY.
[00:29:11] AND THERE IS STRENGTH.
[00:29:13] AND IT WAS THEIR UNITY IN THEIR
[00:29:16] NUMBERS AND THEIR COURAGE THAT
[00:29:18] MADE OUR SURVIVAL INTACT POSSIBLE.
[00:29:20] IT ALSO MADE FOR OUR THEIR
[00:29:24] CHILDREN, FOR OUR LOVE AND PROFOUND AND, ENDLESS
[00:29:26] APPRECIATION OF THEM AND THEIR
[00:29:28] CHOICES POSSIBLE TODAY.
[00:29:30] IT MADE MY LIFE AS A DOCTOR
[00:29:32] POSSIBLE AND MY DESIRE TO PICK
[00:29:34] UP IN MY WAY WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
[00:29:38] POSSIBLE IN THE MID 1950S AT THE
[00:29:41] HEIGHT OF THE MCCARTHY PERIOD.
[00:29:43] MY PARENTS MOVED TO BROOKLYN, WHERE THREE OTHER RED AND
[00:29:47] AFRICAN-AMERICA FAMILIES ALREADY LIVED.
[00:29:49] JIM AND ESTHER, JACKSON, LEWIS,
[00:29:51] DOROTHY BURNHAM AND AUGUSTA AND
[00:29:57] HEADSTRONG. THEY HAD ALREADY FORMED THE NUCLEUS, THE NUCLEUS OF THE COMMUNITY.
[00:30:00] I MENTIONED AND READILY PULLED ME AND MY PARENTS RIGHT INTO IT.
[00:30:04] THEY ALL CHILDREN. THE BURNHAM'S CHILDREN WERE
[00:30:10] CLAUDIA, LINDA AND CHARLES. THE JACKSONS DAUGHTERS WERE
[00:30:13] HARRIET. CATHY. THE STRONG'S DAUGHTERS.
[00:30:16] PHYLLIS, DENISE AND ALLISON. I BECAME BEST FRIENDS WITH, THE
[00:30:20] ELDEST ONES. WE WERE ALL THE SAME. BORN WITHIN MONTHS OF EACH
[00:30:24] OTHER. WE WERE IN AND OUT OF EACH HOMES
[00:30:26] ALL THE TIME WITH LIMITED FINANCIAL RESOURCES.
[00:30:30] REVOLUTION. REVOLUTION. YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT.
[00:30:35] REVOLUTION AREAS ARE ALWAYS POOR. OUR MOTHERS WHERE THE
[00:30:37] BREADWINNERS ARE PARENTS WHO WERE ALL WARM, LOVING,
[00:30:41] WELL-EDUCATED, WERE ABLE TO
[00:30:43] CREATE AN INVENTIVE, SAFE SPACE US TO GROW UP IN.
[00:30:48] DURING SUMMER, THERE WERE SUMMER CAMPS RUN BY LEFTISTS, UNIONS
[00:30:50] AND INDIVIDUALS. WE COULD GO TO.
[00:30:54] I WENT TO HIGLEY HILL IN VERMONT.
[00:30:56] OUR PARENTS COVERED FOR EACH
[00:31:00] OTHER BY SHARING THE CHILD, WHICH MEANT HOSTING, COOKING AND
[00:31:04] SHARING MEALS, TEACHING US HISTORY AND CULTURE, AND
[00:31:08] INSTILLING IN US A GENUINE FOR
[00:31:11] BOTH AND AN INVOLVEMENT IN BOTH.
[00:31:13] WE KNEW ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE THE MISINFORMATION AND LIES IN OUR
[00:31:17] HISTORY TEXTBOOKS, WHICH SOMETIMES GOT US IN TROUBLE WITH OUR TEACHERS.
[00:31:21] I LEARNED THE BASICS OF PLAYING
[00:31:26] THE FLUTE AT THE BURNHAM'S HOUSE.
[00:31:30] INCIDENTALLY THE HUSBANDS FULLY PARTICIPATED IN ALL OF THAT.
[00:31:34] THEY FEMINISTS BEFORE THE WORD WAS COINED.
[00:31:36] ARTWORK AND CRAFTS BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTISTS AND
[00:31:40] AFRICAN ARTISTS DECORATED THE WALLS AND COUNTERTOPS IN ALL OF
[00:31:43] OUR HOMES. MANY OF THOSE ARTISTS WERE
[00:31:47] FRIENDS. OUR BOOKSHELVES WERE FILLED WITH BOOKS.
[00:31:51] THEY WERE ALWAYS READING. AND SO WERE WE.
[00:31:53] WE HAD RECORDINGS BY PAUL ROBESON.
[00:31:57] JOSH WHITE, LEADBELLY, ODETTA, EARL ROBINSON AND EXCUSE ME,
[00:32:02] EARL ROBINSON AND OTHERS THAT WERE FAVORITE OF FAVORITES OF
[00:32:05] OUR PARENTS. OF COURSE, ROBESON HELD, A
[00:32:09] SPECIAL PLACE IN OUR IN OUR HEARTS.
[00:32:11] MY MOTHER ALSO LOVED MAHALIA JACKSON. I, TOO.
[00:32:16] WE GO SEE HER SING WHENEVER SHE CAME TO CONCORD CHURCH IN BROOKLYN.
[00:32:21] THEY TOOK US CHILDREN TO SEE ALL OF THEM.
[00:32:24] AND WHEN THEY WOULD, THEY TOOK US CHILDREN TO SEE ALL OF THEM.
[00:32:28] WHEN THEY WERE PERFORMING IN NEW YORK.
[00:32:30] OUR PARENTS KNEW THAT CULTURE
[00:32:32] WAS AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL WEAPON
[00:32:34] AND CULTURAL LITERACY WAS KEY.
[00:32:36] ADDITIONALLY, AS COMMUNISTS, THEY WERE A PART OF AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT AND WORLD
[00:32:42] THAT WORLD AND ITS CULTURE WAS ALSO TO US.
[00:32:44] AND WE SHOULD NOT ONLY KNOW IT,
[00:32:46] BUT BE IN SOLIDARY ALREADY WITH IT.
[00:32:49] THEY SHOWED THE EXQUISITE BEAUTY
[00:32:52] POWER AND LOVE IN OUR OWN
[00:32:54] CULTURE AND UPON US THE
[00:32:56] IMPERATIVE OF EMBRACING AND
[00:32:59] SUPPORTING IT AND ITS.
[00:33:01] SO ALTHOUGH NONE OF US HAD ANY
[00:33:04] MONEY, WE WERE VERY RICH, FULL.
[00:33:07] WE HAD VERY RICH.
[00:33:09] FULL AND REWARDING UPBRINGING
[00:33:13] ACHIEVING OF THAT WAS FAR FROM EASY. IT CERTAINLY WASN'T IDYLLIC.
[00:33:17] IT WAS HARD AND INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS.
[00:33:20] AS THE YEARS WENT BY, THEY MADE MISTAKES.
[00:33:23] THEY SUFFERED DEFEATS AND, AN AGONIZING LOSS.
[00:33:27] THEY HELD FAST AND STAYED.
[00:33:29] THEY DIDN'T RELINQUISH.
[00:33:31] THE DREAM OR THEIR ANALYSIS, NOR THEIR PASSION TO TASTE.
[00:33:35] AT THE SAME TIME THAT OUR
[00:33:37] PARENTS CREATED THIS MICRO IN WHICH WE FELT SAFE, THEY MADE US
[00:33:41] AWARE OF THE DANGERS OUTSIDE AND WHEN POSSIBLE.
[00:33:45] THEY TOOK US INTO THEIR WORLD OF MEETINGS.
[00:33:47] DEMONSTRATION DEMONSTRATE MISSIONS, MADE MARCHES AND TO
[00:33:51] THE CP COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICE ON
[00:33:54] 26TH STREET, OFF A FIFTH AVENUE.
[00:33:56] WE KNEW NOT TALK TO STRANGERS,
[00:33:58] NOT BECAUSE THEY'D KIDNAP US, BUT BECAUSE THEY MIGHT BE FBI AGENTS.
[00:34:04] ONE OF THE FBI'S NEFARIOUS
[00:34:06] TACTICS WAS TO INVEIGLE ITSELF INTO A FRIENDSHIP WITH THE
[00:34:10] CHILDREN OF COMMUNISTS, THEN TEASE INFORMATION OUT OF THEM.
[00:34:13] BUT I DON'T WANT YOU TO THINK IT WAS ALL STRUGGLE SACRIFICE AND
[00:34:17] HARD WORK. OUR PARENTS HAD LOTS OF FUN,
[00:34:21] LOTS OF FUN GATHERINGS AND PARTIES.
[00:34:23] BOTH MY PARENTS LOVED TO COOK. AND COULD THEY COOK?
[00:34:27] THEY LOVED HAVING FRIENDS OVER. MANY OF THEIR SPECIAL EVENTS
[00:34:31] WERE INTEGRATED BECAUSE AT THAT TIME LEFT ESPECIALLY THE
[00:34:35] COMMUNIST WAS THE ONLY SPACE. BLACKS AND WHITES SOCIALIZE,
[00:34:40] SOCIALIZE. SO WE, THE CHILDREN WEREN'T
[00:34:43] OBLIVIOUS TO THE SURVEILLANCE
[00:34:45] HOUNDING AND UNJUST WIELDING OF STATE POWER.
[00:34:48] WE KNEW OUR PARENTS WERE ENEMIES OF THE STATE, WHICH MADE US
[00:34:53] LITTLE. HARRIET HARRIET JACKSON'S FATHER
[00:34:56] WAS CONVICTED THE SMITH ACT. INSTEAD OF GOING TO JAIL, HE
[00:35:00] DISAPPEARED, ALLUDING AUTHORITIES FOR FOUR YEARS, AS I
[00:35:05] RECALL, THOSE YEARS WERE VERY HARD ON HIS FAMILY.
[00:35:07] MY FATHER, CONVICTED OF CONTEMPT
[00:35:10] OF CONGRESS AND WENT TO JAIL FOR
[00:35:12] THREE MONTHS FOR. FBI MEN USED TO SIT IN AN
[00:35:16] UNMARKED DARK FORD ACROSS THE
[00:35:18] STREET, OUR HOME ALL THE TIME HOPING TO FRIGHTEN OUR
[00:35:23] NEIGHBORS, DISTINCT, DISTANCING THEMSELVES FROM US OR INTO
[00:35:25] BECOMING INFORMANTS OR WHO KNOWS, MAYBE BOTH.
[00:35:29] ONCE, WHILE TRYING TO SERVE DAD
[00:35:31] MY DAD WITH A SUMMONS, THEY MISTAKENLY PRESENTED IT TO
[00:35:35] LANDLORD'S SON. LAUGH OUT LOUD.
[00:35:37] COULD IT BE TRUE WHITE PEOPLE
[00:35:40] COULDN'T DISTINGUISH BLACK BECAUSE ALL BLACK PEOPLE REALLY
[00:35:42] LOOKED ALIKE.
[00:35:44] THEIR SON COULDN'T.
[00:35:48] OUR LANDLORD'S SON COULDN'T
[00:35:50] UNTIL DAD CAME HOME FROM WORK TO TELL HIM THAT THE FBI WAS FOR
[00:35:54] HIM. I WILL END ON TWO INSTANCES.
[00:35:58] I ALLUDED TO EARLIER THAT SERVED TO ILLUSTRATE THE CAL, THE
[00:36:02] CALIBER AND CHARACTER CONTENT OF THESE PEOPLE. I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
[00:36:06] MY FATHER WILLIAM PATTERSON AND
[00:36:09] PAUL ON BEHALF OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS CONGRESS IN 1951,
[00:36:14] PRESENTED A PETITION TO THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK AND
[00:36:16] IN PARIS CHARGING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT WITH GENOCIDE.
[00:36:20] ITS TITLE IS WE CHARGE GENOCIDE.
[00:36:25] THE CRIME OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE -- PEOPLE. THEY HAD FOUR YEARS OF
[00:36:30] SCRUPULOUS DOCUMENTATION TO BACK
[00:36:31] THE CHARGE UP AND 100 100 VERY
[00:36:35] COURAGEOUS BLACK WHITE AMERICANS SIGNED IT FOR DARING TO EXPOSE
[00:36:39] THE HYPOCRISY AND LIES AND
[00:36:42] VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY THE
[00:36:44] GOVERNMENT ON THE INTERNAL STAGE.
[00:36:46] THE U.N., THEY PAID DEARLY. THEIR PASSPORTS WERE REWORKED,
[00:36:52] REVOKED. THEY WERE HAULED INTO COURT. AND BEFORE THE U.N. COMMITTEE,
[00:36:55] THE HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE, IMPRISONED OR
[00:36:58] THREATENED WITH IMPRISONMENT. AND I BELIEVE IN THE END IT
[00:37:02] CALLED IT CAUSED PAUL ROBESON
[00:37:04] HIS LIFE.
[00:37:06] THE CHARGE OF GENOCIDE HAS BEEN
[00:37:09] RECENTLY RAISED AGAIN, AND IT
[00:37:11] SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT IT WAS THE CRC PETITION, THE CIVIL
[00:37:15] RIGHTS CONGRESS, THEIR PETITION
[00:37:18] AND, THEIR BRAVE ACT THAT LAID
[00:37:21] BASIS FOR THIS. THE OTHER IS THE FORMATION, A
[00:37:25] VERY SHORT LIVED ORGANIZATION THAT DIRECTLY INFLUENCED THE USE
[00:37:29] OF THE TERM INTERSECTIONALITY
[00:37:32] AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE TRIPLE
[00:37:33] OF BLACK WOMEN THAT IS THE
[00:37:36] ORGANIZED ORGANIZATION CALLED SOJOURNERS FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE
[00:37:40] THAT WAS CONCEIVED BY MY MOTHER,
[00:37:41] LOUISE, AND HER VERY DEAR FRIEND
[00:37:44] AND ACTRESS B.J. RICHARDS AND
[00:37:46] ORGANIZATION BY FOUR AND LED BY
[00:37:50] RADICAL, MILITANT AND DETERMINED BLACK WOMEN.
[00:37:53] THE YEAR WAS ALSO 51, AND THEY
[00:37:55] MARCHED ON THE HOUSE, CONGRESS
[00:37:58] AND THE PENTAGON IN DEFENSE OF
[00:38:00] DR. W.E.B. DUBOIS.
[00:38:02] ROBESON AND MY FATHER IN DEFENSE
[00:38:05] OF BLACK WOMEN IN GENERAL, AND OF ROSALIE AND HER TWO SONS IN
[00:38:11] PARTICULAR WHO WERE FACING THE ELECTRIC CHAIR, THEIR
[00:38:13] SELF-DEFENSE DEATH OF, A WHITE
[00:38:15] MAN ALSO FOR THE END TO
[00:38:17] MILITARISM, THE KOREAN WAR WAS
[00:38:19] WAS ON AT THAT TIME AND FOR THE
[00:38:22] END, TOO, JIM CROW, THE
[00:38:24] GOVERNMENT IMMEDIATELY ATTACKED
[00:38:26] IT AND KILLED IT. WE'VE WITNESSED EBBS AND FLOWS
[00:38:30] OF RADICAL MOVEMENTS.
[00:38:35] AND IDEAS, BUT THEY'VE ALWAYS
[00:38:38] REMAINED IN THE BACKGROUND TO BE
[00:38:40] REDISCOVERED AND REFORMULATED TO MEET NEW CRISES SUCH AS THE ONE
[00:38:44] WE'RE IN NOW. A TAKE ON SOCIALISM IS HAPPENING
[00:38:48] NOW.
[00:38:48] FOR INSTANCE, OUR NEW MAYOR A WE
[00:38:53] NEW LOOK AT THE WORK AND LASTING IMPACT COMMUNISTS HAD ON THE
[00:38:56] VICTORIES ACHIEVED IS ALSO NOW
[00:38:59] AND EXPLORATION DISCUSSION OF
[00:39:01] THEIR DIRECT AND INDIRECT ROLE
[00:39:04] AND CONTRIBUTIONS IS SURFACING
[00:39:06] IN PROGRAMS JUST LIKE THIS.
[00:39:08] I MUST BEG YOUR INDULGENCE FOR A
[00:39:11] SECOND AS I AS I WANT TO MENTION A SITUATION THAT WAS BROUGHT TO
[00:39:14] MY ATTENTION YESTERDAY.
[00:39:17] YES WE'RE IN A THIRD RED SCARE
[00:39:19] MOMENT RIGHT NOW IN THIS VERY
[00:39:21] BOTH AT COLUMBIA WHICH WE ALL
[00:39:24] KNOW ABOUT, BUT ALSO AT CUNY
[00:39:26] WHERE LAST YEAR THERE WAS A MCCARTHYITE PURGE AND FOUR
[00:39:30] ADJUNCT PROFESSORS WERE FIRED
[00:39:32] FOR THEIR OPEN SOLIDARITY PALESTINE. THREE WERE REHIRED.
[00:39:36] BUT THE FOURTH WAS BANNED USING.
[00:39:40] THE SAME BOGUS JUSTIFICATION USED BACK IN THE 1950S CONDUCT
[00:39:45] UNBECOMING TO BAN HER FROM BEING REHIRED AT ANY CUNY.
[00:39:49] PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT OF BROOKLYN COLLEGE
[00:39:52] AND CUNY'S BOARD CHAIR DEMANDING
[00:39:54] HER RETIRE BE REHIRED AND.
[00:39:58] INCIDENTALLY, WE CAN'T USE HER NAME, BUT SHE'S CALLED THE
[00:40:02] FOURTH FIRE AT AND THERE MAY BE
[00:40:04] SOME FLIERS THE BACK ON THIS.
[00:40:07] SO I'LL END WITH MY PARENTS AND THEIR COMRADES REJECTED THE
[00:40:12] CONSTANT NIGHTLY LOOPING MANTRA, DRUMMED INTO DRUMMED INTO OUR
[00:40:16] EARS THAT THIS SYSTEM THAT WE LIVE IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS.
[00:40:20] WITH MAYBE A FEW LITTLE COSMETIC
[00:40:23] TWEAKS HERE AND THERE AS. THE CYNICAL LIE THAT IT IS, THEY
[00:40:27] KNEW IT COULD GET BETTER FOR WITNESSED THE FIRST ATTEMPT AS
[00:40:30] FLAWED AS IT WAS, AND THEY KNEW
[00:40:32] NEW GENERATION WOULD CONTINUE TO
[00:40:34] STRIVE TO MAKE IT BETTER.
[00:40:36] THAT'S OUR TASK NOW AS, MICHAEL SAID.
[00:40:39] NO MATTER THE COLOSSAL ODDS TO COALESCE AND TOGETHER KEEP
[00:40:45] FIGHTING TO MAKE IT SO, TO MAKE IT BETTER.
[00:40:47] THANK YOU.
[00:40:58] CAN YOU HEAR ME? DOES THIS ONE WORK? I'M GOING TO KEEP THIS ONE. OKAY.
[00:41:02] THANK YOU.
[00:41:02] HI, I'M MOLLY JONG-FAST, AND I.
[00:41:06] I'M JUST GOING TO EXPLAIN MY.
[00:41:08] MY QUALIFIER BECAUSE I'M A LITTLE BIT MORE REMOVED.
[00:41:12] MY GRANDPA FATHER WAS HOWARD
[00:41:15] FAST, WHO WAS.
[00:41:18] SO I DON'T HAVE. I'M GOING TO NOW. I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT I'M GOING TO DO.
[00:41:22] I DID NOT WRITE SOMETHING BRILLIANT READ.
[00:41:25] I WROTE SOMETHING. IT'S OKAY.
[00:41:27] I'M WORKING ON A BOOK ABOUT HIM
[00:41:31] AND I'M TRYING TO GET IT. AND THIS IS A LITTLE BIT OF THE
[00:41:35] INTRODUCTION AND WHICH AS I WAS READING OVER BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WAS.
[00:41:39] SO.
[00:41:41] BUT I HAVEN'T SOLD IT YET. IT'S JUST VERY EARLY STAGES, SO
[00:41:44] YOU HAVE TO BEAR WITH ME AND IF IT'S TERRIBLE, DON'T TELL ME.
[00:41:48] TELL ME IT'S GOOD. WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE.
[00:41:52] WHEN I NINE YEARS OLD, MY MOTHER
[00:41:54] TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHY MY GRANDFATHER HAD GONE TO JAIL.
[00:41:58] SHE EXPLAINED TO ME THAT THE
[00:42:00] GOVERNMENT CAN SOMETIMES ON YOU AND JAIL YOU, EVEN THOUGH YOU'VE
[00:42:04] DONE NOTHING WRONG, YOU MIGHT
[00:42:06] FIND YOURSELF IN THE WRONG PLACE
[00:42:09] AT THE WRONG TIME THE VICTIM OF
[00:42:11] AN OVERLY AMBITIOUS US
[00:42:13] POLITICIAN, OR A SHIFTING POLITICAL LANDSCAPE.
[00:42:16] YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF IN A COUNTRY THAT NO LONGER ITS OWN
[00:42:21] RULES OR ITSELF. SHE EXPLAINING WHY HER FORMER
[00:42:25] FATHER IN LAW, MY GRANDFATHER
[00:42:27] HOWARD, FAST ENDED UP IN FEDERAL PRISON.
[00:42:30] MILL POINT PRISON IN WEST
[00:42:35] VIRGINIA, SPECIFICALLY FOR THREE
[00:42:38] MONTHS IN 1950.
[00:42:40] I'D SAY I'M GOING KEEP GOING HERE.
[00:42:44] I'LL READ THE WHOLE THING. I'M. I'M NOT GOING TO READ VERY MUCH,
[00:42:46] BUT I REMEMBER BLANKLY AND ASKING HER THE KARMEL TASTY
[00:42:52] CAKES. MY NANNY MARGARET HAD BROUGHT ME ON THE WAY HOME FROM SCHOOL.
[00:42:55] I SPENT TOO MUCH TIME FOCUSING ON SOMETHING I WAS SPENDING TOO
[00:42:58] MUCH TIME FOCUSING ON SOMETHING WASN'T EATING. I HAD RED HAIR.
[00:43:02] MY DYSLEXIA HAD ME UNABLE TO
[00:43:04] READ DESPITE COMING FROM A FAMILY OF WRITERS.
[00:43:08] I ONE OF THOSE SMART KIDS WHO COULDN'T DO ANYTHING. I'D COME HOME FROM MY LITTLE
[00:43:12] LEFTY SCHOOL. THE ONE WHERE JEFFREY EPSTEIN USED TO TEACH.
[00:43:16] I'D COME HOME FROM THAT DAY AND WANTED TO KNOW HOW.
[00:43:20] HOW SOMEONE COULD BE GOOD AND
[00:43:23] IMPRISONED FOR DOING RIGHT THING.
[00:43:26] HOW COULD THE SAME GOVERNMENT THAT EMPLOYED GRANDPA AS ONE OF
[00:43:30] THE VOICES OF THE VOICE OF
[00:43:32] BROADCASTING AMERICAN IDEALS ALL
[00:43:35] OVER THE WORLD, THEN JUST A FEW
[00:43:37] YEARS LATER, THAT HE WAS SO
[00:43:39] DANGEROUS HE HAD TO BE JAILED AND LATER BLACKLISTED.
[00:43:43] MY GLAMOROUS MOTHER WAS PACKING A TRIP. AS SHE EXPLAINED THIS.
[00:43:46] SHE WAS ALWAYS PACKING FOR A TRIP, ALWAYS IN THE PROCESS OF HANDLING A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF
[00:43:51] CLOTHING, FOLDING THEM NEATLY FOR ADVENTURES TO EXOTIC FAR OFF
[00:43:54] PLACES. SHE SMELLED LIKE PARISIAN
[00:43:57] PERFUME, A CLOUD OF ROSES TO MY NINE YEAR OLD MIND.
[00:44:00] SHE WAS IMPOSSIBLY ELEGANT LIKE
[00:44:01] A MOVIE, BUT A LITTLE FAT.
[00:44:05] YOUR GRANDFATHER DID GO TO JAIL,
[00:44:07] SHE SAID, FOLDING A BLOUSE, BUT NOT FOR ANYTHING BAD. HE WAS A HERO.
[00:44:11] MY MOTHER AND FATHER HAD HAD A
[00:44:13] FAMOUSLY ACRIMONIOUS TWO VOICE DIVORCE. SO WAS SIGNIFICANT.
[00:44:17] SHE RARELY PAID A COMPLEX AUNT TO ANYONE WITH A LAST NAME.
[00:44:21] FAST. SO IF SHE WAS WILLING TO CALL
[00:44:24] HOWARD FAST A HERO, HE MUST HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN ONE.
[00:44:27] HIS WORTH HIS WORK ETHIC WAS CERTAINLY HEROIC.
[00:44:31] PUBLISHED AN EYE WATERING 52
[00:44:34] BOOKS, WHICH, BY THE WAY, I'M ON MY BOOK, FIVE.
[00:44:37] SO IT'S VERY FRUSTRATING.
[00:44:39] HIS MOST FAMOUS WORK OF WHICH
[00:44:41] WAS SPARTACUS.
[00:44:44] BUT WHY WOULD OUR GOVERNMENT PUT
[00:44:46] A HERO IN PRISON? AND HOW COULD HE HAVE BEEN
[00:44:50] DECLARED ENEMY OF THE STATE WITHOUT EVER HAVING COMMITTED A CRIME?
[00:44:53] I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS MEANT, WHAT IT MEANT TO LIVE IN
[00:44:56] A COUNTRY WHOSE GOVERNMENT WASN'T JUST BLOATED,
[00:45:00] INCOMPETENT, BUT THAT ACTIVELY
[00:45:02] HATED YOU AND CONSIDERED YOU ENEMY OF THE STATE.
[00:45:05] IT WAS THE 1980S, A TIME OF HIGH
[00:45:08] AND AN ACTOR PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN.
[00:45:11] I LACKED IMAGINATION TO
[00:45:13] UNDERSTAND WHAT POSTWAR WORLD
[00:45:15] WAR TO AMERICA LOOKED LIKE AND WHAT IT COULD VERY EASILY LOOK
[00:45:19] LIKE. AGAIN, BEING ON THE WRONG OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS SOMETHING
[00:45:23] PEOPLE IN AUTHORITARIAN COUNTRIES UNDERSTAND WELL.
[00:45:26] SO DO PEOPLE OF COLOR.
[00:45:28] BUT I HAD GROWN UP BELIEVING BECAUSE I WAS PERMITTED TO.
[00:45:32] THAT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE WERE ON THE SAME SIDE.
[00:45:34] I SEE NOW THAT I WAS LUCKY TO
[00:45:36] NOT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS
[00:45:39] LIKE TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY THAT CONCERTED CAN THEY CONSIDERED
[00:45:42] CERTAIN KINDS OF PEOPLE TO BE ENEMIES?
[00:45:45] MY GRANDFATHER STORY FORCED ME
[00:45:48] TO CONFRONT A VERY UNPLEASANT TRUTH.
[00:45:51] OUR COUNTRY HAD A NASTY HABIT,
[00:45:54] REGULARLY LOSING ITS MIND.
[00:45:57] MY GRANDFATHER WAS NOT A MEMBER OF THE HOLLYWOOD TEN, BUT HE WAS
[00:46:00] ON THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE
[00:46:03] JOINT ANTI-FASCIST REFUGEE
[00:46:07] COMMITTEE. I MEAN, THIS IS NOT TOTALLY DONE.
[00:46:10] SO IT MEANDERS.
[00:46:12] EVERY FEW DECADES IN TIMES OF
[00:46:14] ANXIETY OR HYSTERIA OR DURING
[00:46:17] PERIODS IN WHICH PROGRESS IS
[00:46:19] THREATENING, THE COUNTRY DECIDES
[00:46:21] THAT MORAL SERIOUSNESS, A PUNISHABLE OFFENSE.
[00:46:25] I MAY KEEP GOING HERE. IT'S IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT
[00:46:28] FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE OF COLOR, AMERICA HAS NEVER BEEN A.
[00:46:31] SOME OF THESE PEOPLE THESE IMPORTANT CIVIL RIGHTS ICONS
[00:46:35] ACTUALLY UP IN MY GRANDFATHER'S STORIES.
[00:46:37] STORY PEOPLE LIKE W.E.B. DUBOIS AND PAUL ROBESON.
[00:46:41] AFTER WORLD WAR TWO, THE HYSTERIA TOOK THE FORM OF AN
[00:46:45] ANTI-COMMUNIST PANIC WHEN HE WAS CALLED TO APPEAR BEFORE THE
[00:46:48] HOUSE ON ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE. HE REFUTE MY GRANDFATHER REFUSED
[00:46:53] TO NAME THE CONTRIBUTORS DONATED
[00:46:56] TO A HOME FOR ORPHANS OF VETERANS OF THE SPANISH CIVIL.
[00:47:00] FOR THIS HE WAS CONVICTED CONTEMPT AND SERVED THREE MONTHS
[00:47:02] IN PRISON.
[00:47:04] HIS FBI FILE I LATER SAW, THOUGH
[00:47:08] OF IT WAS REDACTED. HE WROTE.
[00:47:10] AND I'M GOING TO I WANT TO READ BECAUSE THIS IS LIKE I THINK ONE
[00:47:14] OF THE MOST MEANINGFUL THINGS.
[00:47:16] THIS IS SOMETHING HE WROTE ABOUT
[00:47:18] HIS FBI FILE IN THOSE PAGES.
[00:47:21] THERE IS NO CRIME NO BREAKING OF
[00:47:24] THE LAW, NO REPORT OF AN EVIL
[00:47:28] ACT, AN UN-AMERICAN ACT, AN INDECENT ACT.
[00:47:32] AND I WAS NO PARAGON OF VIRTUE,
[00:47:35] WHICH IS REALLY TRUE AND I DID
[00:47:38] ENOUGH THAT I REGRET.
[00:47:39] BUT THE LOUSY AND PIECES OF MY
[00:47:43] ARE NOWHERE IN THOSE PAGES.
[00:47:45] ONLY THE DEEDS AND POSITIVE
[00:47:49] ACTS. SPEAKING AT MEETINGS FOR HOUSE
[00:47:51] ANG, FOR TRADE UNIONISM, FOR
[00:47:54] BETTER GOVERNMENT, FOR LIBERAL
[00:47:56] ISM, FOR A FREE PRESS, FOR THE
[00:47:58] RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE, FOR HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE, FOR EQUAL JUSTICE,
[00:48:02] FOR BLACK, WHITE AGAINST
[00:48:06] LYNCHING AND AGAINST THE CREATION OF AN UNDERCLASS,
[00:48:11] AGAINST INJUSTICES WHEREVER WAS FOUND.
[00:48:14] AND FOR PEACE.
[00:48:17] WHAT I LOVE THAT.
[00:48:19] SORRY, I JUST I'M GOING TO READ
[00:48:24] ONE LITTLE BIT MORE. OKAY. THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT HAD
[00:48:26] DOCUMENTED HIS DECENCY AND THEN PUNISHED FOR IT.
[00:48:30] BUT WHEN I WAS A KID, I COULDN'T
[00:48:32] REALLY CONCEPTUALIZE LIVING IN AN AMERICA THAT HAD SO
[00:48:36] THOROUGHLY LOST ITS MIND. I THOUGHT LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE
[00:48:39] HAD, THAT THE ARC OF HISTORY BENT TOWARDS JUSTICE AND OUR
[00:48:43] COUNTRY HAD OUTGROWN THIS
[00:48:45] PARTICULAR KIND OF STUPID.
[00:48:47] I LACKED THE IMAGINATION TO
[00:48:50] CONCEIVE OF AN AMERICA THAT WENT
[00:48:52] BACKWARDS, THAT INCLUDED
[00:48:54] REVERSALS LIKE THE END OF ROE OR ROLLING BACK OF CERTAIN CIVIL RIGHTS.
[00:48:58] IT HAPPENED AGAIN. IT AN ABERRATION.
[00:49:00] IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A PATTERN.
[00:49:03] IT WASN'T MY FRIEND. THE JOURNALIST DON LEMON,
[00:49:07] ARRESTED IN THE LOBBY OF A HOTEL
[00:49:09] IN BEVERLY HILLS THAT IT ALL CAME INTO FOCUS.
[00:49:13] IT'S EASY TO BE HYPERBOLIC. I WAS GUILTY OF HYPERBOLE DURING
[00:49:17] TRUMP'S FIRST ADMINISTRATION, WHICH THE HOUSE JANEK COMPARED
[00:49:20] TO WHERE WE ARE NOW. YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT IN TRUMP'S FIRST TERM, THERE WERE A LOT OF
[00:49:24] MEAN TWEETS AND DUMB POLICY. BUT HE WASN'T ACTUALLY ABLE TO
[00:49:27] DO A OF THE THINGS HE THREATENED TO DO OR, WANTED TO DO.
[00:49:31] THERE WAS A FEELING THAT THINGS
[00:49:33] WERE STILL NORMAL ISH ISH AND.
[00:49:39] AMERICA IN 2016 WAS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT MEDIA ENVIRONMENT.
[00:49:43] WE STILL HAD LOTS OF NEWSPAPERS AND REPORTED WARS BREAKING REAL NEWS.
[00:49:47] MILLIONS PEOPLE WATCHED RACHEL MADDOW. THERE WAS A FEELING THAT THIS
[00:49:50] MIGHT BE KIND OF NIGHTMARE, THAT
[00:49:52] THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WOULD COME
[00:49:54] TO THEIR SENSES AT ANY MINUTE.
[00:49:57] NO ONE CAME TO SAVE US.
[00:49:59] MUELLER DIDN'T SAVE US. NO ONE CAME TO SAVE US.
[00:50:04] DONALD TRUMP WAS REELECTED, AND THIS TIME HE WON THE POPULAR VOTE.
[00:50:09] IT WAS A STRANGE SINCE TO WATCH
[00:50:11] THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REJECT
[00:50:14] EVERYTHING THEY'D SEEN THEIR OWN
[00:50:16] EYES AND, EVERYTHING THEY'D
[00:50:18] HEARD WITH OWN EARS TO DELETE
[00:50:23] DUE TO ELECT THAT GUY AGAIN.
[00:50:25] ANYWAY, SO THAT'S JUST THE BEGINNING.
[00:50:28] BUT I WANTED TO JUST WRITE A
[00:50:30] LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THE STORIES
[00:50:34] OF THAT TIME AND THESE STORIES
[00:50:38] CAN REALLY, THEY REALLY DO RELATE TO RIGHT NOW.
[00:50:41] AND SO THAT'S WHAT I TO TALK
[00:50:46] ABOUT.
[00:50:51] WELL, THANKS ALL THREE OF YOU
[00:50:55] FOR THOSE POWERFUL STORIES.
[00:50:57] I FEAR I MAY BE UP HERE AS THE
[00:51:01] REPRESENTATIVE J. EDGAR HOOVER, WHICH IS AN POSITION TO BE IN.
[00:51:04] BUT THIS IS NOT FACT GOING TO BE
[00:51:06] AN INTEGRAL.
[00:51:08] BUT I HOPE THAT WE HAVE A
[00:51:10] CONVERSATION UP HERE ALSO THAT
[00:51:12] THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE WHO HAVE QUESTIONS CAN WRITE THEM ON
[00:51:16] THESE PIECES OF PAPER, AND THEY
[00:51:18] WILL SOMEHOW IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS,
[00:51:22] MIGRATE WAY UP HERE AS TALK THIS
[00:51:27] SEMESTER AT YALE.
[00:51:28] I TEACHING A NEW CLASS IS CALLED
[00:51:31] THE UN-AMERICAN CENTURY.
[00:51:34] IT'S A PARTNER, A GENERAL CLASS
[00:51:36] THAT I TEACH THE AMERICAN
[00:51:38] CENTURY THAT'S SORT THE SURVEY
[00:51:41] OF 20TH CENTURY POLITICS. WE USUALLY GET THEM.
[00:51:44] AND THIS IS A CLASS THAT ABOUT
[00:51:48] THESE STORIES, THAT IS ABOUT THE
[00:51:50] WAYS THAT THESE BATTLES OVER
[00:51:52] COMMUNISM AND ANTI-CAA ISM
[00:51:55] REALLY STRUCTURED EVERYTHING
[00:51:57] THING ABOUT AMERICAN POLITICS
[00:51:59] FOR DECADE AFTER AFTER DECADE.
[00:52:04] AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MADE
[00:52:05] ME WANT TO THAT CLASS IS THAT I
[00:52:09] THINK MANY OF STORIES WHICH WERE
[00:52:11] SO CENTRAL TO THE POLITICS OF
[00:52:15] MANY GENERATIONS ARE FACT FADING
[00:52:19] THAT POST-COLD WAR GENERATION
[00:52:22] MIGHT KNOW OF THE OUTLINES. THEY MIGHT KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT
[00:52:26] JOE MCCARTHY. BUT THE CENTRALITY AND POWER OF
[00:52:30] A LOT OF THESE CONFLICTS, I THINK IS IS BEING LOST.
[00:52:34] SO THANK YOU TO, COLUMBIA, FOR
[00:52:36] ORGANIZING THIS EVENT.
[00:52:38] FOR ALL OF YOU, FOR BEING HERE
[00:52:42] TO TALK ABOUT ALL OF THIS.
[00:52:45] SO ONE THING THAT STRUCK ME
[00:52:47] ABOUT ALL THREE OF YOUR STORIES
[00:52:51] IS THAT WHILE WE SAY THAT WE ARE
[00:52:53] UP HERE TO TALK MCCARTHYISM,
[00:52:57] ACTUALLY JOSEPH MCCARTHY DOESN'T
[00:52:59] SHOW UP IN ANY OF THESE STORIES.
[00:53:01] YOUR PARENTS WERE PROSECUTED
[00:53:05] AND, EXECUTED BY THE COURT
[00:53:08] SYSTEM, BY THE NEW YORK
[00:53:12] JUDICIARY BY THE FBI IN YOUR TWO
[00:53:16] CASES, WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
[00:53:19] UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES IS RIGHT HERE TO ASK.
[00:53:22] AND SO I GUESS I WILL PUT TO YOU.
[00:53:25] YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
[00:53:27] STRIKES ME IS HOW WIDESPREAD SO
[00:53:31] MUCH OF THESE STORIES ARE.
[00:53:33] AND IF WE DISINTER JOE MCCARTHY,
[00:53:35] WHO AS YOU NOTED GOT CENSURED IN
[00:53:38] 1954, THEN WE SEE ACTUALLY A MUCH LONGER AND MUCH MORE
[00:53:42] CONTINUOUS STORY IN THESE.
[00:53:44] SO I'M WONDERING YOU CAN TAKE US
[00:53:48] INTO I GUESS PARTICULARLY DR.
[00:53:52] PATTERSON AND DR. MEEROPOL INTO
[00:53:54] THE LATE 1950S INTO KIND OF THE
[00:53:58] WAY THAT THESE STORIES SHAPED
[00:54:01] YOUR LIVES PAST THE REALLY ACUTE
[00:54:03] MOMENT, WHAT THESE ALLOWED YOU TO SEE ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND
[00:54:07] YOU, WHAT THEY ALLOWED TO THINK
[00:54:09] ABOUT, ABOUT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
[00:54:12] AND KIND OF HOW THIS CONTINUED
[00:54:15] ON THIS ACUTE MOMENT.
[00:54:18] IF YOU THINK THAT IT DIDN'T. HELLO.
[00:54:23] CAN HEAR. YEAH, I WOULD SAY THAT THE MOST
[00:54:28] IMPORTANT THING IT DID IS IT MADE US SKEPTICAL. AND I HAVE TO SAY, BEING ON THE
[00:54:32] PANEL WITH MOLLY, I HAVE TO SAY
[00:54:34] I LEARNED ABOUT RECONSTRUCTION FROM HER GRANDFATHER'S NOVEL,
[00:54:37] FREEDOM ROAD, AND I GO TO
[00:54:39] GRADUATE TO UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL
[00:54:42] AND THE HISTORICAL PROFESSION
[00:54:44] HAD STILL CONCLUDED IT RECONSTRUCTION WITH BLACKS.
[00:54:48] THE RIGHT TO VOTE WAS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY FOR THE SOUTH AND THE
[00:54:52] SOUTH WAS REDEEMED WHEN THE KU KLUX KLAN DROVE THE BLACK FOLKS
[00:54:55] BACK INTO CABINS AND I OF COURSE
[00:54:58] THANK GOD, WAS INOCULATED HOWARD
[00:55:01] FAST NOVEL FREEDOM ROAD GROWING
[00:55:05] UP IN THAT KIND OF FAMILY. CREATED A SKEPTICISM WHICH
[00:55:09] PERMITTED PEOPLE LIKE ME TO LOOK PAST WHAT ESTABLISHMENT WAS SAYING.
[00:55:13] TRY TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES, TRY TO BE WILLING TO FIND THE
[00:55:17] FACTS THAT WERE AVAILABLE. AND I THINK IT MADE ME SANE TO
[00:55:21] BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
[00:55:24] I WOULD SAY FOR ME IN TERMS OF
[00:55:29] THE TREATMENT, AFRICAN-AMERICANS
[00:55:32] BY THE GOVERNMENT OR CERTAINLY
[00:55:35] CONDONED BY THE GOVERNMENT, BOTH
[00:55:37] ON A MUNICIPAL CITY LEVEL, ON A
[00:55:40] STATE LEVEL, ON A FEDERAL LEVEL,
[00:55:44] THE CASES WHERE BLACK MEN WERE
[00:55:48] ACCUSED OF RAPE AND THEN WERE
[00:55:50] LEGALLY MURDERED BY THE STATE
[00:55:52] WAS SOMETHING I GREW UP KNOWING
[00:55:56] ABOUT BECAUSE MY FATHER WAS IN IT.
[00:55:58] AND I THINK IN IN THAT CASE, IT
[00:56:02] FOR ME IT REALLY MADE ME WANT TO
[00:56:06] DO ABOUT THAT TO TO BE A PART OF
[00:56:09] FIGHTING AGAINST. AND THEN MY MOTHER, WHO STARTS
[00:56:13] THIS ORGANIZATION, BLACK WOMEN,
[00:56:15] WHO SAY, WE ARE GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, YOU BLACK
[00:56:19] WOMEN ARE ALSO WHEN THEY OPPOSE
[00:56:21] BEING RAPED BY A WHITE MEN. THEN THEY GO TO JAIL.
[00:56:25] SO THAT'S WHAT I WAS INSTILLED
[00:56:30] WITH. AND WHAT MOTIVATES ME NOW, YOU
[00:56:34] KNOW, AND THE PIECE OF IT, I
[00:56:36] GUESS, IS THAT MY PARENTS HAD EARLY ON GONE TO THE SOVIET
[00:56:40] UNION. MY MOTHER HAD GONE IN 1932.
[00:56:43] SHE TOOK A GROUP OF.
[00:56:47] 22 AFRICAN-AMERICANS TO MAKE A FILM THAT WAS NEVER MADE.
[00:56:52] BUT SHE GOT A CHANCE TO SEE BOTH MOSCOW.
[00:56:55] BUT THEY ALSO WENT SOUTH IN THE
[00:56:58] SOVIET UNION AND THEY SAW
[00:57:02] PEOPLES WHO WERE COLONIZED REALLY BY, YOU KNOW, THE
[00:57:06] RUSSIANS, WHO PRACTICED WHAT WAS
[00:57:10] CALLED RUSSIAN CHAUVINISM.
[00:57:12] AND SHE SAW THEM LIBERATE. DID YOU KNOW THAT UNDER THE
[00:57:15] CZAR, THAT IS AND SHE SAW THEM LIBERATED, THEY WERE JUST BEING
[00:57:19] LIBERATED WHEN. THEY WENT THERE IN 1932 AND SHE
[00:57:22] SAW PEOPLE WHO HAD NO ALPHABET BEING, YOU KNOW, NOW HAVING AN
[00:57:26] ALPHABET WOMEN WHO COULDN'T WHO COULDN'T EVEN LEAVE THE HOME
[00:57:30] WITHOUT PERMISSION ARE NOW GOING TO UNIVERSITY CITIES.
[00:57:32] UNIVERSITIES WERE BUILT.
[00:57:34] THIS IS AFTER THE REVOLUTION.
[00:57:37] AND SO SHE SHE SEES WHAT'S
[00:57:39] POSSIBLE FOR THE SOUTH, WHAT'S POSSIBLE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
[00:57:43] AND SHE COMES BACK AND JOINS THE COMMUNIST PARTY AND.
[00:57:47] WHEN MY FATHER WENT IN THE 1930S, LATER ROSE AND THIRTIES
[00:57:51] TO GO TO THE SCHOOL, THE TOILING
[00:57:55] WORKERS OF THE EAST TO LEARN TO
[00:57:58] BE ANTI-COMMUNIST ACTIVISTS, SHE
[00:58:00] LEARNED AND AND CAME BACK AND
[00:58:04] JOINED STRUGGLE TOO, AND LEADS
[00:58:06] STRUGGLE TO FREE THE SCOTTSBORO DEFENDANTS.
[00:58:09] SO I GREW IN A HOME WHERE THAT
[00:58:11] WAS HAPPENING AND IT IT'S IT'S
[00:58:15] IT'S FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL OVER ME.
[00:58:20] YEAH. I ACTUALLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT
[00:58:23] ABOUT MY GRANDFATHER WHEN HE MET
[00:58:24] SO I THAT'S SORT OF INTERESTING.
[00:58:29] OKAY SO HE SAID IN MY SINGLE ENCOUNTER WITH THE OLD MONSTER I
[00:58:35] TRIED VAINLY TO INSTRUCT HIM
[00:58:37] SOME OF THE MORE OBVIOUS TROOPS
[00:58:39] OF AMERICAN HISTORY, WHICH I DON'T DOUBT HE DID, IN RESPONSE
[00:58:44] TO WHICH MCCARTHY IN A TOWERING
[00:58:46] RAGE WORE TO ME TO GO WRITE
[00:58:50] BOOK, I WROTE MORE THAN HE ASKED FOR.
[00:58:54] BUT OF THAT LATER.
[00:59:00] THAT IS A GREAT STORY. KEEP THAT ONE IN WHATEVER
[00:59:03] CUTTING YOU DO, KEEP THAT ONE THERE. I'M GLAD THAT THE THE SOVIET
[00:59:08] UNION UP WHICH WAS ALSO NOT
[00:59:12] SOMETHING THAT WE HEARD A LOT
[00:59:13] ABOUT IN YOUR EARLIER COMMENTS
[00:59:17] AND YOU KNOW THINKING ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
[00:59:19] COMMUNIST PARTY AND THE SOVIET UNION WHICH BECAME SO MUCH AT
[00:59:23] THE HEART OF THE LOGIC THE
[00:59:25] POSTWAR RED I GUESS IT SEEMS
[00:59:30] LIKE THERE ARE A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS THINKING ABOUT
[00:59:34] THIS. ONE IS THAT AS SOME WOULD HAVE
[00:59:37] FRAMED IT, IT WAS THE GREAT
[00:59:39] TRAGEDY OF AMERICAN COMMUNISM IN
[00:59:42] THE SENSE THAT COMMUNAL STATES
[00:59:45] WERE FIGHTING FOR A NOBLE AT
[00:59:49] HOME BUT WERE TO TO ATTACK
[00:59:53] BECAUSE THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SOVIET UNION.
[00:59:55] THERE IS AN ARGUMENT THAT SAYS ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, THE PRESENCE
[00:59:59] OF THE SOVIET UNION AND DOCTOR PATERSON, YOU WERE SUGGESTING
[01:00:02] THIS GAVE WORLD OF AMERICAN
[01:00:06] COMMUNISM A KIND OF AN ENERGY
[01:00:09] AND A SENSE.
[01:00:11] THE FORWARD MOTION OF A KIND OF
[01:00:13] MODEL, AT LEAST IMAGINED MODEL,
[01:00:15] IF NOT ALWAYS AND FREQUENTLY A
[01:00:20] GREAT LIVING MODEL.
[01:00:22] SO I WONDER HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THAT AND KIND OF WHAT YOU
[01:00:27] LEARNED ABOUT THE USSR FROM THE
[01:00:31] THIRTIES THROUGH SIXTIES, RIGHT? THESE ARE THE PEAK YEARS IN
[01:00:36] WHICH ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS ARE REALLY FRONT AND CENTER IN
[01:00:39] AMERICAN POLITY.
[01:00:42] YOU HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. I MEAN, I'M NOT SURE HOW TO
[01:00:46] ANSWER THAT AND YOU KNOW, IN 2
[01:00:50] SECONDS OR LESS.
[01:00:54] I WENT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL IN THE
[01:00:56] SOVIET UNION IN THE 1960S AND
[01:01:04] THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS, I THINK.
[01:01:06] FIRST IS I DON'T THINK THAT WE.
[01:01:09] WHEN THE THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
[01:01:12] TOOK PLACE IN 1917, HOW ACTUALLY
[01:01:15] BACKWARDS IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, THE
[01:01:19] SOVIET UNION REALLY WAS.
[01:01:21] SO THE SOVIET UNION WAS AGRARIAN
[01:01:25] COUNTRY RURAL WITH A THE
[01:01:27] MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION
[01:01:31] UNLETTERED AND COMING THE 20TH
[01:01:35] CENTURY THEY STILL LIVED IN
[01:01:37] BASICALLY SMALL AND ON FARMS AND
[01:01:41] FARMS. SO WEREN'T ANYWHERE NEAR
[01:01:45] DEVELOPED EVEN AT THE TURN OF 20TH CENTURY AS WESTERN CAPITALS
[01:01:51] WERE IN THEY DIDN'T BENEFIT FROM
[01:01:53] FROM SLAVERY, THE ENSLAVEMENT OF
[01:01:55] OF MILLIONS OF AFRICANS AND THE
[01:01:58] GROWTH OF COTTON WHICH BUILT NOT
[01:02:00] ONLY THE UNITED BUT BUILT EUROPE. WELL, THEY DIDN'T THAT.
[01:02:04] SO COMING THE 20TH CENTURY
[01:02:06] THEY'RE VERY BACKWARD IN TERMS
[01:02:09] OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT.
[01:02:11] SO THIS WHOLE NOTION THAT WE
[01:02:14] HAVE A NEMESIS THAT IS OF OUR
[01:02:17] MIRROR IMAGE THAT'S REALLY TRYING TO TAKE OVER AND AND TURN
[01:02:21] AROUND THE AMERICAN WAY OF KNOW THIS WONDERFUL AMERICAN WAY OF
[01:02:24] LIFE AND WE HAVE TO HIDE OUR
[01:02:27] DESKS, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING TO BOMB US AND WE'RE GOING
[01:02:30] TO SOMEHOW THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOL AND I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY
[01:02:33] OF YOU IN THE AUDIENCE THROUGH THAT OF, YOU KNOW, WE WERE
[01:02:37] DRILLED, BUT WHEN I GOT THERE IN
[01:02:40] 1960 AND THEY WERE, WHAT, 15
[01:02:44] YEARS OUT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, WHERE THEY WERE TOTALLY
[01:02:48] DECIMATED. STALINGRAD LOOKS LIKE GAZA TODAY.
[01:02:51] WHAT GAZA LOOKS LIKE TODAY, THAT'S WHAT STALINGRAD LOOKED LIKE.
[01:02:55] AND A LOT OF THE WESTERN OF THE
[01:02:57] COUNTRY WHERE, THE NAZI ARMY HAD
[01:03:01] HAD INVADED, SAY SO THEY, THEY,
[01:03:10] THEY THEY TRIED, I THINK, TO
[01:03:14] DEVELOP A WORLD, TO MAKE A SYSTEM TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM AND A
[01:03:19] COUNTRY AND A WAY OF THINKING
[01:03:21] THAT WAS INDIVIDUAL, THAT WAS
[01:03:28] COLLECTIVE OF THAT WAS NOT ABOUT GREED AND PERSONAL IN GRAND
[01:03:34] EASEMENT. AND THEY WERE FOUGHT EVERY STEP
[01:03:37] OF THE WAY, HAD THEY BEEN LEFT ALONE TO DO IT, MAYBE THEY WOULD
[01:03:41] HAVE TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY. BUT THEY WERE THEY WERE
[01:03:46] CONSTANTLY BEING HOUNDED,
[01:03:49] HARASSED AND SURVEILLED BY. THE WESTERN GOVERNMENTS THAT
[01:03:52] DIDN'T WANT THEM TO DEVELOP
[01:03:56] WANTED TO FAIL, TRIED IT AT AT
[01:03:58] EVERY POINT. I MEAN, HITLER TURNED ON THE
[01:04:02] SOVIET UNION, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED DO.
[01:04:06] HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DEFEAT
[01:04:09] COMMUNISM, YOU KNOW, HE WAS
[01:04:12] FINANCED BY FORD.
[01:04:14] YOU KNOW, HE WASN'T HE?
[01:04:17] HE WAS FINANCED BY THE WEST. SO HE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DEFEAT
[01:04:22] COMMUNIST THEM, BUT HE FAILED. BUT THE COST THAT IT TOOK THE
[01:04:26] UNION TO STOP, TO STOP HITLER WAS GREAT.
[01:04:30] SO IN 1960, WHEN I GOT THERE, TO
[01:04:32] ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I WAS
[01:04:36] DUMBFOUNDED BECAUSE I WAS
[01:04:38] EXPECTING THIS MIRROR IMAGE OF
[01:04:40] THE UNITED STATES IN TERMS OF
[01:04:43] DEVELOPMENT, BECAUSE WE KEPT
[01:04:45] BEING HEARING THEY'RE COMING FOR US, THEY'RE COMING FOR US. WELL, HOW COULD THEY COME FOR US
[01:04:49] IF DIDN'T HAVE THE WHEREWITHAL TO DO THAT.
[01:04:52] AND I GOT THERE AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE WHEREWITHAL DO THAT AT ALL.
[01:04:58] SO YEAH, THEY MADE LOT OF
[01:05:02] MISTAKES. WOULD THEY HAVE MADE AS MANY HAD
[01:05:04] THEY NOT BEEN THE ENEMY OF THE
[01:05:07] WEST AND THE WEST, TRYING AT
[01:05:09] EVERY SINGLE TURN TO SABOTAGE
[01:05:11] THEM, TO INFILTRATE THEM TO TURN IT AROUND?
[01:05:15] I DON'T THINK SO. I DON'T THINK THEY WOULD HAVE MADE AS MANY MISTAKES, BUT WE
[01:05:19] KNOW. BUT THE FACT THAT THEY WERE
[01:05:22] TRYING TO CREATE A NEW WAY OF
[01:05:24] LIVING AND A NEW WAY OF THINKING ABOUT HOW TO LIVE, I THINK
[01:05:28] THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TO DO TODAY.
[01:05:30] THAT'S WHAT THESE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO DO TODAY. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING.
[01:05:33] THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE
[01:05:38] OTHER WAYS OF LIVING.
[01:05:40] BECAUSE ONE ISN'T ISN'T ISN'T
[01:05:46] HAPPENING.
[01:05:48] AND IS THIS THING WORKING OKAY,
[01:05:52] I GREW UP BELIEVING THAT THE
[01:05:56] SOVIET UNION WAS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE IN THE 1950S, FOLLOWING
[01:06:01] KHRUSHCHEV'S AND FOLLOWING THE SINO-SOVIET DISPUTE AND JOINING
[01:06:05] FORCES, WHICH CONSIDERED SORRY,
[01:06:07] MARY LOUISE, THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY, A BUNCH OF
[01:06:10] STATE OLD DUDDIES, I BECAME A
[01:06:15] DIFFERENT KIND OF PERSON AND I
[01:06:17] WAS 20, 20 HINDSIGHT, EXCEPT
[01:06:21] FACT THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF
[01:06:23] TERRIBLE THINGS THAT WENT UNDER
[01:06:25] STALIN, UNDER COLLECTIVIZATION
[01:06:28] AND I REMEMBER HAVING A VERY
[01:06:31] INTERESTING FIGHT WITH MY FATHER, MEEROPOL.
[01:06:33] I SAID, YES, I AGREE STYLE AND
[01:06:37] BOUGHT A WHOLE TWO YEARS BY SIGNING NON-AGGRESSION PACT WITH
[01:06:42] HITLER AND THAT MAYBE SAVED SOVIET UNION FROM BEING
[01:06:45] CONQUERED WHEN HITLER INVADED. BUT WHY DID THE AMERICAN
[01:06:50] COMMUNIST OPPOSE THE WAR?
[01:06:53] WHY DID THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST
[01:06:55] PARTY SING SONGS LIKE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT WENT THE PEOPLE, AND
[01:06:59] SADLY SHOOK HIS HEAD. THESE ARE THE WORDS HE SAID.
[01:07:03] I WAR, AND SO DOES ELEANOR. BUT WE BE SAFE TILL EVERYBODY'S DEAD.
[01:07:06] AND THEN AFTER JUNE 1941,
[01:07:10] FLIPPED 180 AND WAS IN FAVOR OF JOINING THE WAR, I SAID, DAD,
[01:07:13] WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY? HE HE COULDN'T GET HIS MIND
[01:07:17] AROUND THAT. SO THAT WAS WHERE I WAS FROM.
[01:07:20] SO I ACCEPT FACT THAT THE
[01:07:24] AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY, FROM TIME TO TIME ITS LEADERSHIP,
[01:07:28] DECIDED THAT WHATEVER THE SOVIET UNION DID WAS THE RIGHT THING,
[01:07:31] AND THAT HELPED HURT THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY HERE AT
[01:07:34] HOME. THEY WERE GREAT DURING WORLD WAR TWO, THEY WERE GREAT FIGHTING
[01:07:37] FOR CIVIL RIGHTS FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS. THEY WERE NOT SO GREAT IN THE
[01:07:41] PERIOD OF THE NAZI SOVIET PACT WHEN THEY ATTACKED ROOSEVELT AS
[01:07:44] A WARMONGER. SO ALL THOSE THINGS, AMERICAN
[01:07:47] COMMUNISTS, SOME THEM MADE
[01:07:51] MISTAKES AND SOME OF THEM, BY THE WAY, QUIT BECAUSE. THEY FELT THAT THE COMMUNIST
[01:07:55] PARTY HAD ABANDONED THE ANTIFASCIST STRUGGLE.
[01:07:58] SO THAT'S WHERE I AM COMING FROM.
[01:08:01] BUT VERY IMPORTANT.
[01:08:03] THE REASON THE AMERICAN
[01:08:05] GOVERNMENT DECIDED THE 1950S AND
[01:08:09] PATRICK LEE, THE 1960S, THAT
[01:08:12] APARTHEID, AMERICAN STYLE HAD TO BE ABOLISHED.
[01:08:16] THAT SOUTHERN REGIONAL FASCISM
[01:08:19] TO BE DEFEATED IS OF THE
[01:08:23] EXISTENCE OF THE SOVIET UNION BECAUSE.
[01:08:25] IT WAS A BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS IN THIRD WORLD.
[01:08:29] AND IN THAT CONTEXT, THE
[01:08:31] AMERICAN RACE SYSTEM IN THE
[01:08:34] SOUTH WAS DESTROYED, DYING.
[01:08:36] THE AMERICAN IMAGE.
[01:08:38] SO YOU CAN CRITICIZE THE SOVIET UNION ALL YOU WANT CAN CRITICIZE
[01:08:42] THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY ALL YOU WANT.
[01:08:44] THE EXISTENCE OF THE SOVIET
[01:08:47] UNION IS PROBABLY WHY THE
[01:08:51] ESTABLISHMENT, THE UNITED STATES, OPTED FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO SUPPORT
[01:08:55] MARTIN LUTHER KING OF SUPPRESSING HIM.
[01:08:58] SO I GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR THAT,
[01:08:59] JUST FOR AND RACISM WAS THE
[01:09:03] ACHILLES HEEL. I'M JUST GOING TO ADD.
[01:09:07] MY GRANDFATHER WAS VERY LATE TO DISAVOW STALIN.
[01:09:09] HE WAS THE LAST LIVING RECIPIENT
[01:09:11] OF THE STALIN PEACE PRIZE. IT SHOWS A LITTLE OXYMORONIC.
[01:09:17] IN 1953, BUT THERE A LOT OF
[01:09:20] PEOPLE WHO GOT THAT YEAR. SO STALIN WAS SORT OF SO HE
[01:09:24] WASN'T THE ONLY AND WE HAVE THE
[01:09:26] PRIZE, BUT WE CAN'T FIND IT RIGHT NOW.
[01:09:29] IT'S IN MY FATHER'S GARAGE. GREAT.
[01:09:34] WELL, WANT TO TURN TO SOME THE
[01:09:36] QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE AND. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO
[01:09:40] MAYBE COMBINE HERE A LITTLE BIT.
[01:09:44] SO THERE ARE A SET OF QUESTIONS
[01:09:46] THAT ARE ABOUT COMPARING THE LEFT OF, THE PERIOD OF YOUR
[01:09:52] PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS TO THE
[01:09:54] LEFT AS IT EXISTS TODAY. A FEW PEOPLE PICKED UP ON YOUR
[01:10:00] CLAIM MICHAEL THAT TODAY'S LEFT
[01:10:04] IS STRONGER THAN IT WAS IN
[01:10:08] MID-CENTURY AMERICA. THEY SEEM TO BE QUESTIONING THAT
[01:10:13] IDEA. BUT THEN THERE ARE ALSO A LOT OF
[01:10:15] QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT THE
[01:10:19] LEGACIES SOCIALISM OR THE OTHER
[01:10:22] ISMS AND MOVEMENTS OF THAT
[01:10:24] EARLIER PERIOD WHAT DO THEY MEAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
[01:10:27] WHAT ARE THEY USEFUL FOR? WHAT IS PASSÉ NOW?
[01:10:32] WHAT SHOULD BE HELD ON TO?
[01:10:33] WHAT SHOULD BE TOSSED ASIDE?
[01:10:37] ALL RIGHT.
[01:10:39] WELL I WOULD SAY THAT WHEN I THE
[01:10:41] OPPOSITION TO AUTHORITARIANISM,
[01:10:45] I INCLUDE EVERYBODY FROM BERNIE
[01:10:48] SANDERS AND AOC AND PEOPLE WHO
[01:10:50] ARE OUT DEMONSTRATING AGAINST
[01:10:53] GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE ALL THE
[01:10:55] WAY UP TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BECAUSE I
[01:11:00] HOPE, I HOPE I'M RIGHT. THE LEADERSHIP OF THE DEMOCRATIC
[01:11:04] PARTY WHO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME
[01:11:06] ATTACKING THE PROGRESSIVES NOW
[01:11:08] REALIZE IN KIND OF A NEAR-DEATH
[01:11:11] EXPERIENCE THAT IF THEY DON'T MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH
[01:11:13] PROGRESSIVES AND THAT MEANS ALL OF THEM, THEN THEY WILL BE UNDER
[01:11:18] THE OF TRUMPIAN FASCISM ALONG WITH THE REST OF US.
[01:11:22] AND I'LL GIVE YOU A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE.
[01:11:24] I WAS TO SPEAK AT A KING'S DAY
[01:11:29] RALLY, AND THE PERSON WHO
[01:11:32] INTRODUCED ME INTRODUCED ME AS PARENTS SON.
[01:11:34] AND I SHARED, I'M GOING TO START CRYING.
[01:11:38] I SHARED THE PLATFORM WITH THE
[01:11:40] LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK
[01:11:42] BECAUSE WE'RE ALL IN THIS
[01:11:46] BLEEPING FIGHT TOGETHER AND.
[01:11:49] I THINK I HOPE AND I PRAY THAT THE LEADERSHIP OF, THE
[01:11:53] DEMOCRATIC PARTY, WILL STOP TRYING TO BEAT DOWN THE QUOTE
[01:11:57] UNQUOTE, EXTREME LEFT.
[01:11:59] AND I HOPE THE EXTREME WILL STOP HAVING PURITY.
[01:12:02] LET LITMUS TESTS BECAUSE THIS IS
[01:12:06] A FIVE ALARM FIRE. AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE GOT TO BE
[01:12:13] ON.
[01:12:19] YOU WANT TO GO NEXT.
[01:12:24] I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF LESSONS FROM, THE PERIOD OF MCCARTHY
[01:12:28] THAT CAN TAKE AT THIS MOMENT AND. ACTUALLY, I SPEND A LOT OF TIME
[01:12:32] THINKING ABOUT LIKE, IS THIS WORSE THAN THE HOUSE ON
[01:12:35] UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES. IT'S TRUE.
[01:12:38] THE LEFT THEN WAS SUCH A SMALL
[01:12:41] GROUP AND THEY HAD BEEN SO OPPRESSED. I MEAN, THE LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT
[01:12:46] SURVEILLANCE THAT YOU GUYS WENT THROUGH AND THEN MY GRANDFATHER WENT THROUGH IT.
[01:12:50] MY WOULD TELL STORIES OF THEM
[01:12:50] THROWING ROCKS AT HER WINDOW
[01:12:54] AND, YOU KNOW, JUST THE HARASSMENT.
[01:12:57] THEN, YOU KNOW, MY GRANDPARENTS, NO ONE, MY GRANDPA, THEY GOT OUT OF JAIL.
[01:13:01] THEY COULDN'T GET PASSPORTS AND THEY REALLY DID A LOT OF STUFF
[01:13:03] THAT EVEN A VERY CONSERVATIVE COURT LATER RULED THAT YOU
[01:13:08] COULDN'T TAKE AWAY PEOPLE'S PASSPORTS.
[01:13:10] SO THERE REALLY WAS I THINK THAT
[01:13:14] IT WAS MUCH MORE OPPRESSIVE IN A CERTAIN WAY.
[01:13:16] BUT I ALSO THINK WHAT WE SEE RIGHT NOW IN THE WAY IS THAT
[01:13:21] VIDEOS SURPRISED WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF TRANSPARENT SEE, WHEN IT
[01:13:24] COMES TO THE ALGORITHMS THAT SHOW US OUR NEWS, YOU KNOW, WE
[01:13:27] JUST WE DON'T KNOW HOW WE DON'T
[01:13:29] KNOW IN A CERTAIN WAY IS SORT OF
[01:13:32] SIMILAR TO THE FIFTIES.
[01:13:34] SO I THINK I THINK THOUGH, THIS
[01:13:36] IDEA THAT IT'S THAT AMERICAN
[01:13:38] DEMOCRACY IS BROADLY POPULAR AND
[01:13:41] THAT THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE WHO
[01:13:43] WANT TO KEEP IT THEN WHO WANT TO
[01:13:45] GET RID OF IT TO HELP DONALD
[01:13:47] TRUMP, I THINK IS REALLY TRUE.
[01:13:49] AND WHAT I'VE SEEN JUST FROM BEING ON THE GROUND TALKING TO
[01:13:53] PEOPLE VERSUS TALKING TO
[01:13:55] LEADERSHIP OR PEOPLE IN OF THESE
[01:13:57] MORE ISOLATED SPACES, IS THAT
[01:14:00] THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE FURIOUS
[01:14:04] LIKE FURIOUS. AND I ACTUALLY SAY THIS TO DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP ALL THE
[01:14:07] TIME, I'M LIKE, YOU GUYS DON'T UNDERSTAND THE TEA IS COMING FOR
[01:14:12] YOU. YOU KNOW, 30% OF ALL DEMOCRATS
[01:14:13] RIGHT NOW, A PRIMARY CONTEST,
[01:14:19] 30% THAT CRAZY LIKE THERE IS A REAL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE
[01:14:23] MUCH MADDER THAN THE DEMOCRATIC
[01:14:25] PARTY UNDERSTANDS. AND SO I DO THINK THERE'S A
[01:14:28] BROADER COALITION. AND BUT I ALSO THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE REAL COME TO JESUS
[01:14:33] MOMENT IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY,
[01:14:35] WHICH WILL BE INCREDIBLY INTERESTING AND STRANGE.
[01:14:41] ALEVI.
[01:14:45] WE CAN KEEP GOING, KNOW. LET'S KEEP GOING.
[01:14:48] OKAY, GREAT.
[01:14:50] ONE OF THE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT
[01:14:53] SORT OF DREW ON ALL OF THESE IS
[01:14:57] I GUESS A QUESTION ABOUT CHARACTER. ONE THING THAT ALL OF THESE
[01:15:03] STORIES HAVE IN COMMON, YOUR PARENTS MOST DRAMATICALLY,
[01:15:05] MICHAEL, IS THAT THEY ARE ALL
[01:15:09] STORIES, PEOPLE WHO REFUSED TO NAME NAMES.
[01:15:12] SO NAMING NAMES WAS THE CURRENCY
[01:15:16] OF THE RED SCARE RIGHT.
[01:15:18] SO SOMEONE WOULD BE BROUGHT IN FRONT OF CONGRESS OR BE BROUGHT
[01:15:22] FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FBI
[01:15:24] AND WHAT WAS OFTEN WANTED IN
[01:15:26] THAT SETTING WAS NOT ONLY
[01:15:28] CONFESSION OF GUILT WHICH MIGHT
[01:15:31] MEAN A VARIETY OF THINGS.
[01:15:33] MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMUNIST
[01:15:35] PARTY, BUT WOULD ALSO THEN WANT
[01:15:38] THE DISCLOSURE OF NAMES OF OTHER
[01:15:40] PEOPLE, PEOPLE YOU KNEW GUILT BY
[01:15:44] ASSOCIATION WHO WERE ON THE SAME MEMBERSHIP LISTS, PEOPLE YOU WERE CONSPIRED WITH.
[01:15:47] AND IT'S THAT ALL THREE SETS OF
[01:15:51] RELATIVES UP HERE WERE PEOPLE
[01:15:52] WHO WENT TO JAIL AND IN THE CASE
[01:15:56] OF YOUR PARENTS, MICHAEL, WERE EXECUTED BECAUSE THEY DID NOT
[01:16:00] NAME NAMES. AND SO THE QUESTION HERE IS,
[01:16:03] WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT KIND OF
[01:16:06] POLITICAL COURAGE COMES FROM?
[01:16:09] WAS IT THE CONTEXT OF THAT MOMENT?
[01:16:13] WAS IT SOME SET OF BELIEFS ABOUT
[01:16:17] WORLD AND THE FUTURE AND THE WAY
[01:16:19] WOULD JUDGE THESE STORIES, WAS
[01:16:22] IT SOME SET, YOU KNOW, INNER
[01:16:26] QUALITIES WHY DIDN'T THEY NAME
[01:16:30] NAMES? I WANT TO GO FIRST. IT'S PROBABLY COMBINATION OF ALL
[01:16:33] OF THOSE.
[01:16:38] THESE WERE YOU KNOW COURAGE WAS
[01:16:40] A PART OF WHO THEY WERE BUT THEY WERE ALSO COURAGE IN COMMUNITY
[01:16:44] WITH OTHERS WHO HAD THAT SAME
[01:16:49] COURAGE. AND I THINK IN THE IN THE IN
[01:16:54] TERMS OF MY PARENTS, IT'S
[01:16:56] BECAUSE WERE IN COMMUNITY WITH
[01:17:02] OTHERS THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO BE AS COURAGEOUS AS THEY WERE.
[01:17:05] BUT I THINK THEY WERE ALSO AS
[01:17:10] THEY COURAGEOUS AND THEY HATED
[01:17:14] THIS THINK THE THE HATRED RACISM
[01:17:18] OF SEEING WHAT IT MEANT WHAT IT
[01:17:22] DID AND THESE ARE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO WERE
[01:17:26] ACTUALLY SUBJECT SUBJECTED TO
[01:17:29] THAT RACISM THAT YOU COULDN'T
[01:17:31] GIVE IN YOU GIVE IN YOUR
[01:17:36] COMRADE, YOUR FRIENDS WHO WERE FIGHTING VALIANTLY TO TO TO TO
[01:17:40] END THIS RACISM, TO END THIS OPPRESSION.
[01:17:44] SO COULDN'T TURN THEM IN.
[01:17:48] SO I THINK IN TERMS OF MY PARENTS, IT WAS JUST A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THAT.
[01:17:52] THEY STRONGLY THAT RACISM COULD
[01:17:57] BE OVERTURNED, THAT THAT OPPRESSION COULD BE ENDED THEY
[01:18:01] BELIEVED THAT IT TOOK A
[01:18:03] COMMUNITY IT TOOK US ALL A
[01:18:07] COALITION PARTY.
[01:18:07] I THINK THEY BELIEVED STRONGLY
[01:18:11] UNTIL MY MOTHER KIND OF DRIFTED AWAY.
[01:18:14] BUT MY FATHER STAYED TILL THE
[01:18:15] VERY END OF HIS LIFE AS A MEMBER
[01:18:18] OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY.
[01:18:20] THEY BELIEVED IN THE VALUES AND
[01:18:23] PRINCIPLES AND THE DREAMS, THE
[01:18:27] VISIONS. AND THEY THEY BELIEVED
[01:18:32] FERVENTLY, BUT THEY WEREN'T
[01:18:32] ABOUT TO TURN IN THEIR FRIENDS. YEAH.
[01:18:36] CAN I ASK MOLLY? YOU'RE DOING A BIOGRAPHY OF YOUR GRANDPA.
[01:18:40] SO WHAT? WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE BASIS
[01:18:42] OF HIS IN CREDIT IRON IRONCLAD
[01:18:47] RESISTANCE.
[01:18:48] SO I THINK HE GREW UP VERY POOR,
[01:18:52] PRETTY CLOSE TO HERE. HIS MOTHER DIED WHEN HE WAS
[01:18:55] YOUNG AND HE HAD TWO BROTHERS
[01:18:57] AND HE FELT THAT HE HAD TAKE CARE OF THEM.
[01:19:00] AND HE BELIEVED THAT THE LIBRARY
[01:19:03] THAT THE AMAZING SERVICE NEW
[01:19:05] YORK HAD AT THAT TIME. AND I ACTUALLY THINK WHEN YOU
[01:19:09] LOOK AT THE MEN OF THAT MEN AND
[01:19:12] WOMEN OF THAT WHO WERE BORN DURING THAT PERIOD THOUGH
[01:19:15] ESPECIALLY MEN ACTUALLY THEY
[01:19:16] ENDED UP HAVING A LOT OF SUCCESS
[01:19:20] YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THEM WERE THE CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS WHO CAME
[01:19:23] TO THIS COUNTRY AND WENT INTO
[01:19:25] THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, CUNY SYSTEM,
[01:19:27] THE LIBRARY IS. AND THEY HAD THESE VERY POOR
[01:19:31] PARENTS. SO MY GRANDFATHER JUST HAD A
[01:19:33] FATHER AND HE WAS TO SORT OF,
[01:19:35] YOU KNOW, MAKE AND THEY A LOT OF
[01:19:40] THESE MEN WENT ON TO RULE WORLD. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THEM
[01:19:44] ARE BIG DONORS TODAY, BELIEVE IT OR NOT. I MEAN, YOU KNOW EXACTLY.
[01:19:49] BUT JUST SAYING THERE WAS A LOT OF SOCIAL MOBILITY AT THAT
[01:19:53] MOMENT. AND NEW YORK HAD JUST A LOT OF
[01:19:56] OF OF EDUCATION IN THAT WAS FREE
[01:19:59] OR VERY AND, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS
[01:20:02] JUST A LOT OF LEARNING THAT COULD BE DONE CHEAPLY AND THERE
[01:20:05] WAS A LOT OF SOCIAL. SO I THINK THAT WAS OF IT.
[01:20:09] AND I ALSO THINK HE DID
[01:20:12] GENUINELY WAS WEIRDLY VERY BRAVE PERSON.
[01:20:16] SO GOT OUT THERE AND HE JUST COULD NOT, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH
[01:20:20] IN HIS OWN LIFE HE HAD VERY COMPLICATED WITH MY GRANDMOTHER
[01:20:23] AND WAS NOT A VERY GOOD HUSBAND. HE WAS A VERY GOOD FIGHT.
[01:20:27] YOU KNOW, HE FELT AND HE KNEW
[01:20:30] IT'S THIS THING WHERE HE KNEW HE WAS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THINGS.
[01:20:34] YOU KNOW, HE TRULY BELIEVES THAT
[01:20:35] RACE ISM WAS EVIL AND THAT IF HE
[01:20:38] COULD, YOU KNOW, PART OF FBI FILE, PART OF THE THE WERE YOU
[01:20:42] KNOW, THEY YOU HE HAD THERE WAS
[01:20:46] IN THERE'S MORE ABOUT IT BUT THERE'S THIS YOU KNOW HE HAD
[01:20:48] PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT IN HIS HOUSE
[01:20:52] WHICH YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO DO YOU KNOW ALL THINGS THAT HE WAS
[01:20:55] JUST HE JUST KNEW THEY WERE WRONG HE HAD MORAL CONVICTION.
[01:20:59] AND SO IT'S INTERESTING TO BECAUSE I ALWAYS THINK OF MYSELF
[01:21:02] AS NOT A BRAVE AT ALL, BUT I
[01:21:05] FEEL LIKE WHEN THINGS ARE SO
[01:21:07] WRONG, WHEN THEY'RE SO PROFOUND
[01:21:10] ROUNDLY WRONG, YOU HAVE TO SPEAK OUT.
[01:21:14] YOU JUST TRIGGERED SOMETHING IN MY BRAIN.
[01:21:16] I AM GOING TO REFER TO MY SECOND
[01:21:19] FATHER, ABEL MEEROPOL, WHO DID EXACTLY WHAT HOWARD DID.
[01:21:23] HE GREW UP IN THE NEW PUBLIC SCHOOLS. HE BECAME A WRITER.
[01:21:29] HE BECAME A VERY SUCCESSFUL WRITER. HE WROTE THE ANTI-LYNCHING
[01:21:35] ANTHEM STRANGE FRUIT. HE WROTE THE PATRIOTIC SONG THE
[01:21:38] HOUSE I LIVE IN, WHICH FRANK
[01:21:39] SINATRA SANG THE STATUE LIBERTY
[01:21:43] WHEN THEY CELEBRATED THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY AND WHEN HE
[01:21:47] WROTE STRANGE FRUIT THE
[01:21:52] ANTI-RED. NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION CALLED BEFORE THEM AND SAID, DID THE
[01:21:56] COMMUNIST PARTY TELL YOU TO WRITE STRANGE FRUIT?
[01:21:59] SO HE WAS FROM THE VERY
[01:22:01] BEGINNING, RESISTING THE KIND OF
[01:22:03] OPPRESSION HE SAW AROUND HIM. HE GREW UP POOR.
[01:22:06] HE MARRIED A POOR JEWISH WOMAN,
[01:22:10] ENDED UP GOING TO HOLLYWOOD, WRITING IN HOLLYWOOD, COMING
[01:22:12] BACK AND ADOPTING ROBBY AND ME. I MEAN, HE A QUINTESSENTIAL
[01:22:16] PRODUCT OF THE YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS CITY COLLEGE, A
[01:22:21] SUCCESSFUL AND HE USED IT GOOD
[01:22:25] AND HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT? I MEAN, IT'S ELEMENT OF
[01:22:28] CHARACTER AND ELEMENT OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD AND BEING
[01:22:31] STIMULATED BY THE WORLD. HE WAS IN THE TEACHERS UNION,
[01:22:34] WHICH WAS A LEFT WING UNION. SO HE JOINED THE COMMUNIST PARTY
[01:22:38] AS PART OF HIS WORK WITH THE UNION.
[01:22:40] I MEAN, IT'S IT'S JUST I KIND
[01:22:44] AGREE THAT IT'S IT'S UNCERTAIN
[01:22:46] WHY THAT ELEMENT CHARACTER COMES IN.
[01:22:48] BUT FROM MY PERSPECTIVE THANK
[01:22:50] GOD HE DID SO THE DESCRIPTIONS
[01:22:55] THAT GIVEN RAISE ANOTHER
[01:22:57] QUESTION WHICH IS HOW THEY
[01:23:00] THOUGHT ABOUT THEMSELVES IN
[01:23:03] RELATION TO THE COUNTRY IN WHICH
[01:23:05] LIVED AND IN LOOKING THE STORIES
[01:23:07] OF AMERICAN COMMUNISTS AND LOOKING AT THE ACCUSATIONS OF THE RED SCARE.
[01:23:11] YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY INTERESTING
[01:23:13] TO SEE THE WAYS IN WHICH A LOT
[01:23:15] OF COMMUNISTS WENT OUT OF THEIR
[01:23:18] WAY TO SAY ACTUALLY, WE ARE GOOD
[01:23:20] AMERICANS AND HERE'S HOW WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE
[01:23:24] AMERICANS IN A MOMENT WHEN WE
[01:23:28] ARE UNDER SUCH PRESSURE.
[01:23:30] SO I WONDER IF YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT.
[01:23:33] I MEAN, THE THE HOUSE WE LIVE
[01:23:36] IN, GREAT, PATRIOTIC ANTHEM. IT'S A VERY STRANGE FRANK
[01:23:40] SINATRA FILM FROM 1945, IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT.
[01:23:44] I, I DO RECOMMEND IT.
[01:23:46] BUT HOW THEY DID THEY THINK
[01:23:49] ABOUT THEMSELVES AS AMERICAN? DID THEY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES
[01:23:53] AS, YOU KNOW SOVIET CITIZENS IN
[01:23:57] EXILE? HOW DID THEY THINK ABOUT THIS
[01:24:00] COUNTRY AS A COUNTRY THEY LOVED
[01:24:04] THIS COUNTRY AND I WISH I HAD OR
[01:24:06] I WISH WE HAD HERE PAUL ROBESON'S ANSWER.
[01:24:10] HE WAS ASKED, YOU KNOW AT THE AT
[01:24:14] THE Q OR WHATEVER THE COMMITTEE. IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN, HUGH, WHEN
[01:24:18] WAS CALLED TO TESTIFY.
[01:24:21] YOU KNOW, DIDN'T HE GO BACK TO
[01:24:24] THE SOVIET UNION? HE SEEMED TO LOVE SO AND HIS
[01:24:28] ANSWER, I BUILT THIS COUNTRY.
[01:24:30] MY MY ANCESTORS BUILT THIS COUNTRY. I'M NOT GIVING IT.
[01:24:34] THIS IS MINE. AND HE SAW HIMSELF A GREAT
[01:24:38] AMERICAN. SO DID SO. SO DID MY PARENTS.
[01:24:43] THEY YES, THEY SAW WHAT THEY
[01:24:46] THOUGHT WAS.
[01:24:48] THE FUTURE AS, FLAWED AS IT WAS
[01:24:51] PRACTICED OR PUT INTO THE LIFE BROUGHT TO LIFE THE SOVIET
[01:24:55] UNION.
[01:24:55] AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, CATHOLICISM
[01:25:00] HAS HAD 2500 YEARS AND IT STILL CAN'T GET IT RIGHT.
[01:25:03] YOU KNOW, CAPITALISM HAS ONLY
[01:25:06] BEEN AROUND, WHAT, 250 YEARS AND
[01:25:09] SOVIET UNION WAS AROUND, WHAT, 70 YEARS?
[01:25:12] SO YOU DON'T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER.
[01:25:15] MARIE CURIE TOOK HER A THOUSAND
[01:25:18] EXPERIMENTS TO GET RIGHT TO FIND THE RADIUM.
[01:25:22] YOU KNOW, THAT THAT IS THE BASIS
[01:25:24] FOR A LOT OF THE MEDICAL NOW.
[01:25:27] SO WHY ARE WE THROWING THAT OUT
[01:25:30] JUST ONE, ONE, ONE TIME ROUND
[01:25:34] AND A LOT OF THE PRINCIPLES, A
[01:25:37] LOT OF THE VALUES AND IN FACT A
[01:25:40] LOT OF THEM ARE IN SYNC WITH THE
[01:25:44] VALUES OF INSTITUTION THAT WE'RE
[01:25:46] SITTING IN RIGHT NOW NOW.
[01:25:50] SO THEY WEREN'T ABOUT TO GIVE
[01:25:52] THIS UP THIS AMERICA IS OURS.
[01:25:54] AND WE SHOULD NOT GIVE IT UP WE MUST NOT GIVE IT UP AND GIVE IT
[01:25:58] OVER TO THE TRUMP ITES.
[01:26:04] I CAN'T ADD ANYTHING THAT GREAT
[01:26:08] WELL, WE WANT TO FINISH WITH ONE LAST QUESTION HERE, WHICH IS ARE
[01:26:12] THE LESSONS OF MCCARTHY ISM.
[01:26:14] SO THAT IS HOW IS BILLED
[01:26:16] CONFRONTING MCCARTHY
[01:26:19] GENERATIONAL LESSONS FROM FAMILIES WHO RESISTED THE RED SCARE.
[01:26:23] SO LESSONS WHAT WHAT WHAT WOULD
[01:26:27] YOU YOU WANT US TO GO IN REVERSE
[01:26:29] ORDER YOU CAN GO IN WHATEVER
[01:26:31] YOU'RE FEELING INSPIRED. YEAH.
[01:26:35] I'LL I'LL GO FIRST.
[01:26:37] SO THE LESSON THAT I LEARNED
[01:26:40] FROM MY GRANDFATHER ACTUALLY,
[01:26:42] WAS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE BRAVE IF
[01:26:48] YOU IF, IF SOMETHING, LIKE, THIS HAPPENS.
[01:26:51] AND THAT'S WHAT I'VE SEEN MYSELF AT THIS MOMENT IS, THAT YOU IT
[01:26:54] IS YOUR RESPONSE ABILITY TO BE BRAVE.
[01:26:58] I KNOW A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO
[01:27:01] HAVE MOVED TO CANADA, YOU KNOW,
[01:27:03] THESE PEOPLE TO AND I KNOW SOME
[01:27:07] PEOPLE HAVE MOVED TO EUROPE AND
[01:27:09] I AM PAUL AND I AM JUST APPALLED
[01:27:13] BY THEM. THIS IS NOT THE MOMENT. BE A COWARD.
[01:27:16] THIS IS THE MOMENT. STAY AND BE BRAVE.
[01:27:20] AND OUR COUNTRY CALLS ON US TO
[01:27:22] DEFEND THESE VALUES.
[01:27:24] AND IT IS JUST NOT EVEN IT DID
[01:27:26] NOT EVEN OCCUR TO ME TO DO THAT.
[01:27:29] I MEAN, IT DID. I JUST IT IS APPALLING TO ME
[01:27:33] THAT WE WOULD HAVE HAD SO MUCH
[01:27:36] FROM THIS COUNTRY AND THEN ABANDONED IT AT THE MOMENT WHEN
[01:27:39] IT WAS IN REAL PERIL.
[01:27:42] SO YOU KNOW, MY I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MY GRANDFATHER AS REALLY
[01:27:46] COULD BE A BLOWHARD, MEAN THAT
[01:27:48] IN THE NICEST POSSIBLE WAY BUT YOU KNOW SOMETIMES HE WOULD TELL
[01:27:52] THESE STORIES AND MY DAD I WOULD WALK OUT OF THE ROOM BECAUSE WE
[01:27:55] KNEW WHERE THEY GOING AND TRY TO LEAVE OTHER THERE SO THEY'D HAVE
[01:27:59] TO HEAR THEM AND I NOW YOU I
[01:28:04] JUST I HAVE SO MUCH RESPECT FOR
[01:28:07] HIM AND I, I HOPE THAT I LIKE AN
[01:28:11] OUNCE OF THAT LEVEL OF
[01:28:17] FORTITUDE.
[01:28:24] LESSONS FROM MCCARTHY PERIOD.
[01:28:32] I THINK WE HAVE TO.
[01:28:36] COME TOGETHER I THINK WE HAVE TO
[01:28:44] TO.
[01:28:46] UNDERSTAND AND THAT THIS IS A
[01:28:49] MOMENT WHEN IT REQUIRES ALL
[01:28:53] HANDS ON DECK THAT WE HAVE TO PUT DOWN OUR PETTY IDEOLOGICAL
[01:28:58] OR POLITICAL DIFFERENCES AND
[01:29:03] THAT THIS IS AN EXERCISE AND A
[01:29:05] MOMENT AND AND AND WE HAVE TO
[01:29:10] STAND UP AND SAY WE HAVE TO MAKE
[01:29:12] THIS UNGOVERNABLE.
[01:29:14] WELL, WE CAN'T LET.
[01:29:18] CONTINUE WITH THIS.
[01:29:21] AND I AGREE WITH YOU THAT
[01:29:25] LEAVING IT'S RESPONSIBILITY.
[01:29:28] WE'RE AMERICAN IS WE ARE NOT THE
[01:29:33] ENEMIES OF US SITTING IN THIS ROOM. AND SO MANY OUTSIDE THE MAJORITY
[01:29:36] OF THE OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY ARE NOT THE ENEMIES THAT
[01:29:40] THE PEOPLES THE WORLD. WE'RE NOT THE ENEMIES OF THE
[01:29:44] PLANET THAT WE LIVE ON.
[01:29:46] WE'RE NOT RAPING AND GO GRABBING
[01:29:51] AND EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN
[01:29:54] OURSELVES AS INDIVIDUALS.
[01:29:55] YOU KNOW, WE'RE WE'RE NOT WE'RE NOT THAT.
[01:29:59] AND WE HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD
[01:30:01] THAT WE'RE NOT THAT WE HAVE TO VOTE.
[01:30:04] WE HAVE TO GET EVERYBODY OUT TO VOTE IS NOT THE ONLY ANSWER.
[01:30:07] BUT WE HAVE TO DO THAT AND, THEN WE IF WE HAVE TO MAKE THIS
[01:30:12] UNGOVERNABLE, WE HAVE TO DO THAT.
[01:30:14] AND I THINK THE LESSONS THE
[01:30:16] MCCARTHY PERIOD ARE, THAT NO ONE
[01:30:19] ELSE IS COMING HERE, SAVE US. THERE ARE NO ANGELS COMING DOWN
[01:30:22] FROM ANYWHERE. THERE'S NO RED ARMY COMING. I MEAN, IT'S US.
[01:30:26] IT'S US THAT'S GOING TO MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.
[01:30:32] SO AND, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T TO BE DIVIDED.
[01:30:35] I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER LESSON
[01:30:37] FROM THAT PERIOD WE HAVE TO WE
[01:30:41] HAVE TO PUT THOSE DIFFERENCES
[01:30:45] ASIDE AND SAY, NO WE'RE GOING TO
[01:30:49] SAVE THIS COUNTRY. WE ARE GOING TO SAVE OURSELVES. AND IN SO DOING, WE WILL
[01:30:52] ACTUALLY SAVE THE WORLD.
[01:30:58] WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I
[01:31:01] STUDIED FRENCH AND THE MOST
[01:31:05] INCREDIBLE MESSAGE I GOT IT AND IT'S STAYED WITH ME.
[01:31:08] NOW YOU KNOW, 70 YEARS LATER IS
[01:31:12] THAT EVEN WHEN YOU I'M GOING TO
[01:31:14] CRY, EVEN WHEN KNOW YOU'RE GOING
[01:31:16] TO LOSE YOU GOT TO FIGHT BECAUSE
[01:31:20] THE END YOU ACTUALLY MIGHT WIN.
[01:31:22] RESISTANCE IS AND I HOPE HAVE
[01:31:27] THE COURAGE AND THE ENERGY TO DO
[01:31:29] THAT WITH EVERY BREATH HAVE
[01:31:34] LEFT.
[01:31:37] WELL THAT SEEMS AN EXCELLENT
[01:31:40] NOTE TO END ON PLEASE JOIN ME
[01:31:44] THANKING THE PANELISTS THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR BEING HERE.
[01:31:48] THERE IS A RECEPTION.
[01:31:50] THE CONVERSATION CAN CONTINUE
[01:31:56] SO. THIS AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR
[01:32:00] PANELISTS FOR SHARING THESE
[01:32:00] INCREDIBLE FAMILY AND STORIES OF
[01:32:04] COURAGE.
[01:32:06] I WANT TO THANK TY JONES, THE
[01:32:09] LEHMAN CURATOR FOR AMERICAN
[01:32:12] HISTORY, WHO HAD THIS IDEA AND
[01:32:16] AND WORKED SO HARD TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
[01:32:20] THANK SO MUCH. TIME AND THANKS TO ALL OF THE
[01:32:24] CATHEDRAL'S STAFF AND THE COLUMBIA STAFF WORKED HARD TO
[01:32:27] PUT TOGETHER THIS PROGRAM IF IF
[01:32:31] DIALOG HAS INSPIRED, I'M SURE IT
[01:32:35] HAS THEN I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO
[01:32:38] CONTINUE TO EXPLORE THESE THEMES
[01:32:40] WITH COLLEAGUE, STUDENTS AND FRIENDS.
[01:32:44] AND TO THAT END, I WOULD LIKE TO
[01:32:46] INVITE YOU TO ANOTHER UPCOMING
[01:32:48] EVENT PRESENTED BY COLUMBIA'S LIBRARIES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF
[01:32:52] HISTORY, THE BANCROFT PRIZES IN AMERICA AND HISTORY AND DIPLOMACY.
[01:32:56] ON APRIL THIRD. THE PRIZES DISTINGUISHED WORKS
[01:32:59] OF HISTORICAL THAT DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING HISTORY AND ITS
[01:33:04] RELEVANCE FOR THE PRESENT MOMENT
[01:33:06] THE AUTHORS ARE INTERVIEWED FELLOW HISTORIANS, AND THIS
[01:33:11] SHEDS ON THE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM SCHOLARLY STUDY OF THE PAST.
[01:33:14] THERE IS A REGISTRATION AND LINK
[01:33:16] AT THE ON THE AT THE QR CODE
[01:33:20] THAT'S ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR
[01:33:21] PROGRAM AND I AGAIN THANK YOU
[01:33:24] FOR THIS WONDERFUL PROGRAM THESE
[01:33:28] TERRIFIC INSIGHTS AND A VERY
[01:33:30] MEANINGFUL EVENING THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
[01:33:34] THANK YOU SOWOW.
[01:33:49] WELCOME TO FREE AND INDEPENDENT.
[01:33:50] A CELEBRA OF THE DECLARATION.
[01:33:53] WE HAVE OVER A MILLION VISITORS A YEAR WHO COME TO THE ROTUNDA
[01:33:57] OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES TO SEE THE ORIGINAL DECLARATION OF IT
[01:34:00] IS A NATIONAL TREASURE THAT
[01:34:03] PEOPLE COME EVERY YEAR ON THEIR
[01:34:06] PATRIOTIC TO SEE THAT INCREDIBLE
[01:34:09] THAT FOUNDED OUR COUNTRY AND SET
[01:34:11] AND WAS AT THE ROOTS OF OUR ONGOING DIALOG OF WHAT MEANS TO
[01:34:15] BE FREE AS A NATION ON THAT
[01:34:19] DOCUMENT, THE WORDS ARE QUITE FADED AND. THAT'S A TESTAMENT TO ITS
[01:34:22] JOURNEYS AND ITS HARDSHIPS DURING THE WAR AND ALSO DURING THE WAR OF 1812.
[01:34:26] BUT ON THE DOCUMENT YOU CAN STILL SEE FREE AND INDEPENDENT
[01:34:29] WRITTEN ON THE DOCUMENT VERY
[01:34:32] CLEARLY, AND THAT IS WE NAMED
[01:34:34] THIS EXHIBIT FREE INDEPENDENT, A
[01:34:36] CELEBRATION OF THE DECLARATION
[01:34:38] AND THE EXHIBIT STARTS WITH THE
[01:34:41] END OF THE FRENCH INDIAN WAR
[01:34:45] AND. A PROCLAMATION FROM THE KING THAT ESTABLISHES THE BOUNDARIES
[01:34:47] FOR THE COLONIES AND HOW THEY
[01:34:51] END AND HOW THEY THE CALLS FOR
[01:34:53] NOT TO GO BEYOND THOSE
[01:34:55] BOUNDARIES INTO INDIAN TERRITORY
[01:34:58] AND THEN AS WE KNOW AT THE END OF THE FRENCH AND WAR THAT WERE
[01:35:03] TAXES WERE SET AND THE INTOLERABLE AND THAT WAS THE
[01:35:07] START OF THE LEAD UP TO THE SIGNING THE DECLARATION.
[01:35:10] SO THE EXHIBIT TAKES YOU THE STORY. IT GOES THROUGH THE FIRST
[01:35:13] CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AND THE RESPONSES TO THE ACTS.
[01:35:17] IT GOES TO THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AND, THE
[01:35:20] FORMATION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY
[01:35:23] ARMY, AND THEN CULMINATING TO
[01:35:25] THE SIGNING OF THEHELLO, EVERYOO
[01:35:57] LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, THE HOME OF THE