#tdih 1951, Paul Robeson submitted a petition (edited by William Patterson) to the U.N. titled, “We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People,” signed by almost 100 U.S. intellectuals and activists.

With the Cold War raging, the U.S. gov't maneuvered to prevent the U.N. Commission on Human Rights from formally debating or even considering the charges brought in the petition.

[One of countless examples of the white supremacist goals/purpose of "Cold War" and McCarthyism.]
U.S. corporate media gave scant coverage to the petition or the crimes it documented. The few Gov't officials who commented on the petition described it as “Communist propaganda.” Elsewhere in world [& in US Black press] it was well received & extensively covered in the press.
As the Black Freedom Movement gathered strength in the following years, Cold War geo-politics influenced [and justified to public] Washington's reaction to major events like the sit-ins, Freedom Rides, voting rights organizing, and so on.

Read ⬇️ https://t.co/0norlV8Scw
On return to U.S, Patterson's passport was seized, he could no longer speak to foreign audiences. Robeson was prevented from leaving U.S. They & other CRC leaders were harassed & persecuted by FBI & other federal agencies for rest of their lives.

More ⬇️
https://t.co/LUjMJw7DMd
The description in this thread of the 1951 "We Charge Genocide" petition is from "Civil Rights Movement Archives," an invaluable online collection of stories & docs created by veterans of the Southern Freedom Movement (1951-1968).

Read here: https://t.co/R4ClRD9gY1
To learn more about the history in this thread, we recommend the biography of anthropologist and activist Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson by @BarbaraRansby. https://t.co/xKMG7KNAFi
Read about the role of the Black press in covering stories such as the "We Charge Genocide" petition that were (and still are) either ignored or vilified by the white and corporate media.

See "News for All the People" ⬇️ by @juangon68 & Joseph Torres.

https://t.co/tvwzft719S
Engage students in grades 7+ in the lesson below on the long and ongoing struggle for reparations.

Also see lesson on FBI & COINTELPRO. All the lessons at the Zinn Ed Project website are free for download. (Thanks to donations.) #teachoutsidetextbook

https://t.co/oTt3xJY2ab

More from History

Folks who don't know history just tweet whatever they want.

On Feb 1935, Bose attacked the Nazis as he was angry as Indians were described as Sub-Humans in Mein Kampf. The British arrested Bose in April 1936, because he insulted the Nazis.

#Thread


The West at this point had a soft spot for the Nazis. France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Poland all gave the Nazi Salute during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Even during the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939), the Western powers observed neutrality as the Fascists rose in Spain.


In 1937, Hitler told British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax that one of his fav movies was ‘The Lives of a Bengal Lancer’. Why?

‘The Lives of a Bengal Lancer’ depicted a handful of "superior race" Brits holding sway over an entire Indian subcontinent (Sub-Humans).

"Shoot Gandhi. If necessary, shoot more Congress Leaders (Nehru & Bose)."

- Hitler to Lord Halifax, Britain's Foreign Secretary

This statement by Hitler in 1937 angered many pro-Leftist leaders of the INC including Bose.

Bose reached London in Jan 1938, and he met many leaders of the British Labour Party including Attlee.

1938 & 1939 were two huge years for the Indian National Congress. As i always say, the 10-year phase from 1938 - 1948 shaped modern India and it began in 1938 Haripura session.

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