Historians of Einstein will bring to light sometimes overlooked aspects
of this scholar, and will weave links that we do not always suspect between the struggle for civil rights and his scholarly side. There are times to hear from the mouth of an Orannais, a Tunisian from Sousse or even a Meknassi. Or even a rabbi calling himself a philosopher but with a mark of crass ignorance on Einstein. Too often, Einstein’s opposition to racism is reduced to ‘a matter of the Jewish community’ relegating to the background the personal initiative which was opposed to 97% within his community. This is the widest possible return, if not the most exhaustive, over the period from 1933 to 1955 that wishes to present and which will be nurtured over the coming months. In order to have a wide range of contributors who deal with multiple facets of this period, we call on historians, and moreover, which will bring to light sometimes overlooked aspects of his life. Einstein was a strong advocate of civil rights and free speech. Historians of Einstein will bring to light sometimes overlooked aspects
of this scholar, and will weave links that one does not always suspect between the struggle for civil rights. In fact, many important details are missing from the many studies of his life. 1933 when he arrived in the USA, he was a friend of the black singer Paul Robeson.
Scandalized by racial segregation as soon as he arrived in the United States, he refused to intervene in the universities reserved for whites and campaigned for civil rights alongside Unknown facet of the character, Albert Einstein was also committed to civil rights black people in the USA including black singer Paul Robeson.
Considered by the FBI as an “enemy of the state”, Albert Einstein continued his fight relentlessly, going as far as to vouch for the black intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois before the Federal Court. But he does will not see the fruits of his struggle during his lifetime: racial segregation is abolished in the United States only in the 1960s, long after Einstein died on April 18, 1955. The physicist is also distinguished by his political commitments. In 1920, he supported the movement of Jews claiming territory for their people. Ben Gurion even proposed to him, in 1952, the presidency of the State of Israel – a position he would refuse. In 1919, he was called to the League of Nations, and in 1928 became president of the League of Human Rights. But as its international prestige grows, nationalist Germany does not forget its Jewish origins. Threatened by the rise of Nazism, Albert Einstein moved to the United States in 1933. He teaches at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, while pursuing his research on global field theory.
In 1946, ten years before his death, for example, he denounced segregation in the United States during a lecture at Lincoln University (at the time reserved for blacks), explaining that “this separation is not the disease of colored people. It’s a white man’s disease. I don’t intend to be silent about this topic.” And it wasn’t just words. The German physicist, of Jewish origin, actually invested in several associations fighting for the civil rights of African Americans to the point to be placed under surveillance by the FBI, as the story goes very well. In the spring of 1933, while in Germany, Einstein witnessed the anti-Semitic measures taken by the Nazi Party. As honorary president of the League Against Anti-Semitism, he strongly denounces these actions and strives to raise public awareness of what he presents as “acts of brutal force and oppression [ …] against the Jews […]”. Some time later, Einstein decides to leave Germany to go to the United States.
In the United States, Albert Einstein observes the context of racial discrimination which he considers very unfair. He campaigned for civil rights and fought against racism. He refuses to associate with universities that practice segregation and is involved so that black children have access to knowledge. During the Cold War, he took a stand against the arms race, calling on people to seek another way to achieve peace. He also denounces, by the publication of a text, McCarthyism in the United States during this period, which earned him the title of “enemy of America” by Joseph McCarthy.
In 1946, Albert Einstein, an activist for the civil rights of African Americans, went to the University of Lincoln in Pennsylvania and took the opportunity to give a lecture on relativity to students. It was the first school in America to award college degrees to black people. At Lincoln, Einstein gave a speech in which he said, “I have no intention of being silent as long as African Americans are treated like Jews in Germany” Having experienced racial segregation in Germany, he simply wanted to inspire young minds with the beauty and power of science. Unfortunately, Einstein’s visit to Lincoln is not better known, and it was virtually ignored by the mainstream press, which regularly covered Einstein’s speeches and activities. (Only the black press of the time covered the event.) There is also no mention of his visit to Lincoln in the major Einstein biographies or records.
In fact, many important details are missing from the many studies of Einstein’s life and work, most relating to Einstein’s opposition to racism and his dealings with African Americans have been ignored by the press. of the era dominated by whites.
Einstein continued to support progressive causes throughout the 1950, when
the pressure of the anti-Communist witch hunt made it dangerous to do so. Another example of how Einstein used his prestige to help an African-American figure happen
in 1951, when WEB Du Bois, one of the founders of the NAACP, was indicted at the age of 83 by the federal government for failing to register as a “foreign agent,” a consequence of the circulation of the “pro-Soviet” petition for the peace of Stockholm. Einstein offered to appear as a character witness for Du Bois, which convinced the judge to dismiss the case.
In 1951, when W.E.B. Du Bois was accused of being an unregistered agent for a foreign power, Einstein volunteered to appear on his behalf, as a witness. When the lawyer
Du Bois informed the Court that Einstein was appearing, the judge decided to dismiss the case.
*Fred Jerome and Rodger Taylor: “Einstein on Race and Racism” at Rutgers University Press, 2006.