Joshua
Daniel White
was born in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1914. As a child he worked
as a guide for a local street-singer, Blind John Henry Arnold. In
1932 White moved to New York City where
he obtained a recording contract with ARC and had a great success
with songs such as St. James Infirmary Blues
and the anti-lynching song, Strange
Fruit.
In 1939 White appeared with Paul Robeson
in the show John Henry. During
the Second World War he performed for the US
Office of War Information. These radio programs were broadcast by
the BBC and he became very popular in Britain.
After the war the House of Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC) began an investigation into the entertainment
industry. In its first three years the HUAC managed to get a large
number of people blacklisted for their political views. On 22nd June,
1950, Theodore Kirkpatrick, a former FBI
agent and Vincent Harnett, a right-wing television producer, published
Red Channels, a pamphlet listing
the names of 151 writers, directors and performers who they claimed
had been members of subversive organizations before the Second
World War but had not so far been blacklisted.
White was one of those named in Red Channels.
This became a serious problem when a free copy was sent to those involved
in employing people in the entertainment industry. All those people
named in the pamphlet were blacklisted until they appeared in front
of the House of Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) and convinced its members they had completely renounced their
radical past.
On 1st September, 1950, White appeared before the HUAC. He admitted
he had performed at charity concerts with Paul
Robeson but argued that he was unaware of the political groups
behind them. White claimed that the only communist he knew was Robeson's
friend, Benjamin Davis.
However, despite this testimony, White was not removed from the blacklist
in the United States. White continued his career
as a folk-singer in Europe where his work was published by Vogue (France)
and EMI (Britain). White also recorded for Electra (1954-62) and Mercury
(1962-4). Josh White died on 5th September, 1969.
(1)
In his testimony before the House
of Un-American Activities Committee
John White explained why he got involved in the Civil
Rights Movement (1st September, 1950)
I
was seven years old when I left my home in Greenville, South Carolina
to lead a blind man while playing the tambourine. Before I was eight
years old I knew what it meant to be kicked and abused. Before I was
nine years old I had seen two lynchings. I got to hate Jim Crow for
what it did to me personally and because Jim Crow is an insult to
God's creatures and a violation of the Christian beliefs taught by
my father.
(2)
Josh White spoke about Paul
Robeson when he testified before the House
of Un-American Activities Committee
(1st September, 1950)
I
have a great admiration for Mr. Robeson as an actor and great singer,
and if what I read in the papers is true, I feel sad over the help
he's been giving to people who despise America. He has a right to
his own opinions, but when he, or anybody, pretends to talk for the
whole race, he's kidding himself.
(3)
Josh White testimony before
the House
of Un-American Activities Committee
(1st September, 1950)
I
intend to do some explaining for
my own sake, and for the sake of many other entertainers who, like
myself, have been used and exploited by people who give allegiance
to a foreign power.
(4)
Pete Seeger was shocked when he discovered
that John White had testified against singers who had taken part in
protest meetings against racism.
I found out he had called Robeson
the night before and said, "Paul, I just have to let you know
that tomorrow I have to go and make a heel of myself."
"Well, why do you have to? Robeson said.
"I can't tell you why, but I just have to, I don't have any choice."
(5)
Elijah Wald, Josh
White Society Blues, University of Massachusetts Press (2000)
Josh's Red Channels entry
was typical. It described him as a "Singer of Folk Songs,"
and reported that he had been listed on the Advisory Committee of
People's Songs and as an entertainer or performer for ten suspect
organizations, ranging from the Communist Party to the New Theatre
League, American Relief for Greek Democracy, and the Veterans Against
Discrimination of Civil Rights Congress. All of the listings were
at least three years old, and most were simply copied out of Daily
Worker advertisements and concert reviews.
(6)
After his name appeared in Red Channels,
Josh White had a meeting with the former a
former FBI agent, Theodore Kirkpatrick.
In his book Josh
White Society Blues,
Elijah Wald, reports what
White said at the meeting.
'I got here as fast as I could.'
I say, 'First of all, I don't know where you got this lie, which is
a lie, that I was in Europe fronting for the Communist Party. . .
. Like, I care less about the Communist Party. I am an American, I
was born here. But, first of all, let me tell you about myself.' And
I started from when I was a child, . . . about the the fear that the
average Negro has for the uniform, the brass buttons, the brutality.
The South - I can't even tell you. It's hard to imagine what it's
been like. I told him about the lynchings, about the walking tax,
I told him about my daddy, I told him the whole bloody thing.
"And then he says to me, 'You worked at Cafe Society quite a
few years. You know that was run by the Communist Party.' And I says,
'No, I don't. I know I went there, I think my first paycheck was seventy-five
dollars a week, $125 a week, and I was taking care of my family. I
didn't go to Barney Josephson and ask him what his relations, or what
his feelings were. You don't go ask your boss. No, you don't. This
was my job."
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