THE RED SCARE

By Ryan Ratnam

Do they used ‘Communist Language’ such as ‘comrade’, ‘progressive’, ‘reactionary’, witch-hunt etc.? Are they sympathisers of Communist, raising issues of violations of civil rights, racial or religious discrimination? Has he identified himself with certain activities…such as folk dancing?

These are extracts from a pamphlet made by the US First Army Headquarters in 1955, accompanying a video which warns of Communists, “Who work more silently,” over a video of protests against the Klu Klux Klan.

The Red Scare can best be described as a period between the 1947 and 1960 in the USA, where common sense and pragmatism were suspended, all thanks to a wave of Communist paranoia. In the wake of WWII and the 1945 advent of Nuclear Weapons, the rivalry between the US and the USSR rapidly grew.  Yet, so did paranoia, given details of Soviet espionage started being uncovered. Despite being much less extensive, there was also still fresh memory of the first Red Scare, which took place just after WWI.

On 21st March 1947, Harry Truman, President at the time, issued the Loyalty Order, which meant mandatory analysis of all federal employees to see if they were loyal to the government. Testing was done by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), technically founded in 1938 but rising to prominence in this period. The committee particularly focussed on the government and Hollywood. Under pressure, many studios started making extremely extensive blacklists, publicly firing many and ruining their career prospects, so to almost fulfil a quota. Universities, factories and many other companies started imposing these tests too.

The prominent senator, Joseph McCarthy was the leader of the figurative witch-hunt and personally made accusations against many celebrities, such as Orson Welles and even Charlie Chaplin, but also other politicians – virtually anyone who disagreed with his domestic policy. He birthed the concept of McCarthyism, which is essentially making accusations of treason without proper or viable evidence. J Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, took a key role in compiling reports on the accused as well as using wire taps to infiltrate more liberal groups. In 1949, 12 members of the American Communist Party were convicted of plotting to overthrow the government and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage in 1951 and even executed in 1953.

The government completely exaggerated and over-inflated this problem so to consolidate control over the country and they certainly achieved this. The population was overtaken by this paranoia and truly believed that a Communist takeover was imminent, especially given the backdrop of China succumbing to Communism in 1949 and civil war waging in Korea at the time. The public followed the government’s ridiculous tips for identifying Communists and the list of accused dramatically increased, especially including those who were part of ethnic minorities, supported civil rights movements or even liked modern art.

In 1951, the case of Eugene Dennis (one of the accused) vs. The United States was a turning point in the Red Scare. The government unsurprisingly won the case and it was ruled that free speech, free press and the rights of the accused could all be restricted if the government was in danger of being overthrown. Membership of liberal groups fell dramatically, as did voices of protest. However, this was extremely symbolic and for the American people, clashed with ingrained ideas of liberty and freedom. Opposition against the government began to grow and the Scare eventually ended as federal employees grew brave enough to denounce McCarthy and his tactics. This opposition served as the prelude to the widespread outrage felt in reaction to the Vietnam War.

The playwright, Arthur Miller, framed the Red Scare through his play ‘The Crucible’, which showed the mass panic of the Salem Witch Trials, the similarity between the conditions of these events fascinating. He himself was put on the Hollywood Blacklist as a result and could not attend the premiere of the play in London.

The Red Scare was one of the first considerable missteps for the American government, the country of liberty and freedom restricting people’s views, rights and speech eventually proving too much for its devoted population.