Albert Einstein travelled to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1946 to accept an honorary degree. This was the first college in America to grant college degrees to Blacks. Einstein usually turned down requests to speak at universities but he delivered an impressive speech at Lincoln. In this speech he described racism as a disease of white people.
The mainstream press that usually reported Einstein’s speeches and activities virtually ignored his visit to Lincoln. Only the black press extensively covered the event. Many of his biographies or archives also don’t mention this incident.
Einstein was a friend and supporter of the African-American actor and singer Paul Robeson who was blacklisted for his civil rights activities. Einstein also publicly encouraged the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and its founder, W. E. B. Du Bois. In 1951, the American government made a case against 83-year-old Du Bois, accusing him of being a “foreign agent.”
Einstein offered to appear as a character witness during the trial. The judge dropped the case afraid this could lead to unfavorable publicity. Einstein published an essay titled The Negro Question in Pageant magazine in January 1946. In this essay he called racism America’s “worst disease.”
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