"In one hearing, Langston Hughes testified that his political interests, such as they were, sprang from trying to understand how he "can adjust to this whole problem of helping to build America when sometimes [he] cannot even get into a school or a lecture or a concert or in the south go to the library and get a book out." That answer, grounded in the betterment of the United States, didn't matter to his interrogators."
"Roy Cohn, an attorney working for Senator Joseph McCarthy, continued berating the poet using out-of-context snippets of his work while appearing to advocate for federally funded libraries removing it. This mistreatment was, unfortunately, not a rarity. The Red Scares were one of the most repressive periods of the 20th century, and yet we are seeing similar efforts to stifle free speech and punish political dissent in higher education today."
Secret McCarthy hearing transcripts were released after fifty years, revealing hostile interrogations and career-protecting behaviors alongside defenses of speech and expression. Langston Hughes testified that his political interests sprang from trying to understand how he could help build America while facing exclusion from schools, lectures, concerts, and libraries. Roy Cohn berated Hughes using out-of-context snippets and advocated removal from federally funded libraries. The Red Scares represented one of the twentieth century's most repressive periods. Similar efforts to stifle free speech and punish political dissent are appearing in contemporary higher education, including attacks on trans scholars and scholars of color.
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