“Have you ever been a believer in Communism?” The interrogator asked Langston Hughes. It was 1953, and the Harlem author had been called before Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Subcommittee.
Hughes took a deep breath. This whole situation was ridiculous – but the wrong answer could mean blacklisting, or worse.
Hughes understood what was going on. His honesty would not be understood by the interrogator or the government – so he felt no need to lie. They recorded his words, and Hughes spoke plainly.
As he spoke about his hard upbringing, “segregated, poor, [and] colored,” the memories came back to him vibrant and bittersweet.
The author loved his country, he said, but it and capitalism gave him no answers to solve the problems he faced. Hughes didn’t need Communism to understand that his country simply did not respect him or his people.
“Could you make it briefer please?” The interrogator asked. This white man would never understand Hughes in his full, Black complexity. Besides, it was all a governmental witch hunt – this “Red Scare” was intended to suppress dissent, not actually find Communists.
Whether we support Communism or not, American capitalism as a system has never worked for Black people – and never will. It required enslavement to exist. Dismantling that system has to be considered a part of ending white supremacy.