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Thursday, May 2, 2013

May 2, 2013: Communism in America: Spies Like Us

[As we celebrate another May Day, hopefully with no riots, a series on some AmericanStudies connections to the legacy of Herr Marx. Add your takes on these topics or any connections you’d make for a weekend post that shares the wealth!]
On what we don’t know about two high-profile controversies—and why it doesn’t matter.
Few examples better illustrate the stakes of historical interpretation and analysis than the cases of Alger Hiss and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. At one extreme—but, to be clear, an extreme that could be argued within the bounds of serious historical inquiry—each case could be seen as at least a partial vindication of McCarthyism, as evidence that communist spies and sympathizers were indeed operating within the U.S. government and society. At the other, equally arguable extreme, these three Americans embody the worst of that era, and particularly its persecution and destruction of innocent lives in service of paranoia, fear, and the creation at all costs of the “us vs. them” mentality about which I wrote in Monday’s post.
Perhaps in time sufficient evidence will be unearthed or released that historians will be able to come to more conclusive perspectives on one or both cases—although so far key details have not only remained secret but also have been legally reinforced in that state. To date, at least as far as this AmericanStudier understands it (and as I analyzed from a different angle in this post), the available evidence seems to implicate Julius Rosenberg, to cast serious doubt on the guilt of his wife Ethel, and to remain entirely inconclusive when it comes to Hiss. Yet while the guilt and innocence of these individuals are no small matters—not least because the Rosenbergs were executed for their alleged crimes, but Hiss lived the remaining forty-five years of his life under the cloud of suspicion as well—it’s also possible, and important, to analyze the cases in other contexts, to consider what they can reveal even if their deepest secrets might never see the light of day.
To my mind, one clear and important way to consider all three accused spies is to recognize the range of American identities and experiences to which they connect: Julius for example as the son of Jewish immigrants who settled in New York’s East Side neighborhoods; Ethel for example as a New York New Woman who initially pursued a career as an actress and singer; Hiss for example as the product of a declining Maryland family, surrounded by tragedies including his father’s and sister’s suicides, who worked his way to Harvard and a prestigious career in law and politics. Which is to say, whether they spied or not, whether they were traitors or victims, these are American stories and histories and identities, lives and worlds no less (and no more) a part of our national narratives than those of Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover, and their other accusers and adversaries. Whatever the truth, there simple fact is that there’s no us vs. them—it’s all us.
Final Communist connection tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Responses for the weekend post?

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