Paul Robeson, Jr., son of civil rights renaissance man Paul Robeson, delivered a deliberate but passionate speech condemning the Bush administration and American apathy toward human rights to a crowd of around 60 Dartmouth students and local residents Thursday afternoon in Dartmouth Hall.
Robeson spoke in a calm, measured fashion for over an hour and delivered a polemic message against President Bush, his administration and particularly the potential American invasion of Iraq.
Robeson also outlined his theory that America is developing into two separate and distinct countries, one dominated by African-Americans and one controlled by the ideals of white Southern Protestants.
In addition, he spoke of the need for a "second period of Reconstruction" to complete the work of the Civil Rights movement and establish universal human rights -- including better-distributed economic resources.
He was especially negative on the Bush administration's declared "War on Terrorism" and the creation of the Homeland Security Department.
As a scholar of Russian studies, Robeson said that the Homeland Security Act was modeled after a collection of documents authored by Joseph Stalin and that President Bush "is part of a neo-Confederate government geared at destroying the Union."
Several times during his speech Robeson mentioned the dominance of the Republican Party and the popularity of President Bush in the Southern states, making allusions to Hitler's support from southern areas of Germany.
According to Robeson, there is an over-representation of white southern Protestants in Washington, including Senators Trent Lott and Bill Frist, Attorney General John Ashcroft, and Vice President Dick Cheney. Robeson also said that while certain politicians may be more polite on the outside than Trent Lott they are all "made of the same stuff."
Among the goals for the "second Reconstruction," Robeson listed not just civil rights, but human rights for all people.
He highlighted the need for economic justice in the United States, and instead of reparations to the black community, Robeson suggested spending "hundreds of billions of dollars" elevating the income of every American who made less than the median income.
During the question and answer session which followed, the topic turned to the means by which Robeson's "revolution" could be carried out.
"Talk is cheap. Revolutions never got made by talking. Revolution only happens when large groups of people spontaneously want it," Robeson said.
"A civil war at a time like this would be unimaginable " but by any means but that," was Robeson's response to how the revolution should begin.
Robeson's speech was part of a week-long series of events scheduled by the College to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
