Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1944-12-15
SAYS WAR IS FOR FREEDOM
Robson Predicts Winston
Churchill Government to
Fall Before Wars End
By C.. T. r. Nelson
STAFF Correspondent

of the truly great men of this
century. Although there were
hundreds of people gathering
in the Lyceum Theater in
Minneapolis TO see and hear this
man he did not seem in hurry and
he talked with me and my friends,
Mr.. and Mrs. Irving Blumberg for
almost half an hour in the inter-
view that he had graciously grant
ed me in his dressing room back
stage. This great man was the
most gracious of the great person.
alities that l have ever met. He
is a big man physically, mentally
and spiritually.
1t was with his big strong body,
broad shoulders and height of more
than six feet coupled with his keen
mind that brought him All-Ameri-
can honors at his alma mater,
Rutgers, when he played football.
He is versatile man, with many
talents. People all over the world,
as well as in his native land, Amer
lea, have been delighted to see and
hear him on the stage, in the movies
and as one of the outstanding con-
cert soloists of our day.
He sings and speaks several
languages including an,
French, Russian and Chinese!
One evening when l was visit
ing in the Irving Blumberg home
heard Mr.. Blumberg's aunt, Mrs.
Morris Rubinstein, of Brooklyn, say
that his Russian accent is truer
than that of many Russian sing
ers."
For more than two years this
man has played the leading char
acter role in one of Shakespeare's
great plays "Othello," with a cast
composed entirely of white actors,
except for himself. am sure that
you, my dear reader, realize now
that l am writing about Paul Robe
son, athlete, actor and singer of
international fame. 1t takes a man
of the character and spiritual
strength of Robson to do what he
is doing in breaking down the bar
riers of race prejudice and be able
to play opposite a beautiful white
woman on the stage in our country
and have white critics praise his
performance and pack the largest
playhouses day after day.
Answers Questions Readily
What did Mr.. Robson have to
say in our interview? l asked him
at least two questions in one at
the very beginning of the inter-
view:
What effect does the continued
mistreatment of minorities have on
our country's reputation among the
other nations? ?" and What effect
will this have on the matter of
permanent peace ?" Those ques-
tons proved enough to keep Mr..
Robson talking until we realized
that we just must not take more
of his time. He talked easily and
without restraint.
According to Mr.. Robson
americas continued mistreatment
of minorities in our country makes
a lie of our whole position in the
world. First, in the matter of win
ming the war and second, in the
problems that we will face when
the war is over. eff this war means
anything, it is a war for the free
dom of all minorities, Mr.. Robe
son declared. when l speak of
minorities l include all workers re-
CARELESS of race-the migrant
Mexican, the sharecropper, the peo-
pie Steinbeck writes about and all
Others"
Mr.. Robson asked this signifi-
cant question and answered it in
words to this effect-"How does
this war differ from other wars in
history? The war of 1776 in our
nation was fought to free the
colonies from the tyranny of Eng
land, but the Negro was in slavery.
The French Revolution was funda-
mentally a middle class war. The
war of 1860 in our country brought
about the freeing of the slaves as
chattel property, but there was little
thought of giving him full freedom
and equality. This war that we
are now engaged in means to me-"
Mr.. Robson said, "that we can and
ought to reach level of compare
tive equality for all citizens in this
country. This means the extension
of equal privileges to all peoples
the Negro and other minorities in
this country and to China, India
and Africa" he emphasized.
America faces something more
serious today than in 1860, accord
ing to Mr.. Robson. He enlarged
upon this statement on this wise.
America is faced with changed at
titude of the people. Take the
laborers as an example. Ameri-
can laborers realize that they
should have more than a mere sub
sistence wage and that they should
have wages and working conditions
that make for better living condi-
tons. With our productive ability,
Mr.. Robson declared, we can take
care of all of our people and pro-
vide jobs for all in this country,
and the whole world. He spoke of
| the reronversion of tank factories