Art for Polities' Sake

Paul Robeson is a great baritone, a good actor (Othello). He is also a Communist-liner. "There is no such thing as a nonpolitical artist," he explained at a rally of Communist war veterans in Washington. "Either the artist serves the people or he serves those who would throttle them."

Albany's Mayor Erastus Corning, II, in effect, agreed. On that basis Corning had ruled that Robeson could not sing in Philip Livingston Junior High School. A public school, said the mayor, should not be open to an artist identified with Communism. But the New York State Supreme Court reversed Corning and, in effect, Robeson, by ruling that singing is an artistic performance "and nothing else." Robeson could appear in the high school.

Last week he sang. Some 1,100 people turned out to hear him. The songs were nonpolitical. So was the applause. At the end, Robeson made a nonpolitical speech: "I shall remember this with great warmth and affection."

But afterwards Paul Robeson rumbled to newsmen: "This is the sixty-fifth formal concert of my present season and, thank goodness, my last. I'm going to devote the next two years to lecturing, speaking and singing as I please."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.