342 ChaPter^6
bers by launching into criticism of segregation, police brutality against Blacks,
and lynching. Eleanor Roosevelt, perhaps the most influential liberal in the
country, was much harsher on Robeson, charging he “does his people great
harm in trying to line them up on the Communist side of political picture.
Jackie Robinson helped them greatly by his forthright statements.” Among
Blacks, the reaction to Robinson’s testimony against Robeson was mixed, with
some praising him for talking about segregation while others accused him of
“selling out” to Whites in order to stay out of trouble. As for Paul Robeson,
the government went further then, taking away his passport and accusing him
of various un-American activities. His employment opportunities plummeted
and his income dropped to a few thousand dollars a year. Robeson, and the
entire issue of real equality for blacks, had been contained.
Women too were objects of domestic containment, though it was more
subtle than other groups. Many women took jobs during the war because so
many men were in the armed forces. When the war ended, however, those
women were expected to give up their jobs, marry, have children, and become
homemakers. Certainly, many did, as this was the beginning of the “baby
boom,” which saw a major increase in the U.S. population, but others had
found fulfillment in having their own job, their own money, and indepen-
dence, and women who challenged the primacy of men were considered
disloyal. In addition, women were accorded a “special” role in the Cold War,
as the family was considered the first line of defense against subversion.
Women, as both wives and mothers, were to be sure the home was organized
and stable, that “moral education” was taught, and that they were supportive
of their husbands in their careers [think of June Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver].
To seek a different path then–be it a career, education, or remaining single–
meant that one was not being a full-fledged American but was putting her
own goals before that of the country. As with workers and African Americans,
women would have to subordinate their own dreams and needs to the
demands of the cold war and “national security.” To do otherwise would raise
suspicions or allegations of disloyalty.despaiR and hope in the cold waRThis has not been a pretty picture painted here. In the aftermath of the allied
victory over the dreaded Nazis, the U.S. and Soviet Union could not maintain