Academic Historian

Greg Robinson is Associate Professor of History and a board member of the institute for United States Studies at Université du Québec A Montréal in Montreal, Canada. He is the author of By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Harvard University Press, 2001) and Associate Editor of The Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History and its supplements (Gale Macmillan, 1995- ). A specialist on historical relations between African Americans and Asian Americans, he is the author of many articles, including “Korematsu and Beyond: Japanese Americans and the Origins of Strict Scrutiny,” Law & Contemporary Problems, V. 68, No.3, pp. 29-55

Paul Robeson and Japanese Americans, 1942-1949

One hero and friend of Japanese Americans, both individuals and the community generally, was Paul Robeson. Robeson was (after Joe Louis) the most popular and visible African American of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a celebrated stage actor and movie star, an internationally famous … Read MorePaul Robeson and Japanese Americans, 1942-1949

Defending Nikkei: Hugh MacBeth and the Japanese American Internment

In the account below University of Quebec at Montreal historian Greg Robinson describes the activies of Hugh MacBeth, a black Los Angeles attorney, on behalf of the Japanese American citizens and resident aliens incarcerated during World War II.  Hugh MacBeth, Sr., an African American attorney … Read MoreDefending Nikkei: Hugh MacBeth and the Japanese American Internment

Hugh MacBeth, Sr. (1884-1956)

Hugh MacBeth, Sr., an African American attorney active in Los Angeles, California in the early 20th Century, was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1884 as Hugh Ellwood MacBeth. His father, Arthur MacBeth, was a pioneering African American photographer. Hugh MacBeth attended the Avery Institute … Read MoreHugh MacBeth, Sr. (1884-1956)

Booker Washington in Seattle, 1913

An unusual incidence of interracial solidarity between blacks and Asian Americans occurred during Booker T. Washington’s visit to Seattle. In March 1913, Washington embarked on a national speaking tour in order to raise money for Tuskegee Institute, the chronically underfunded “Normal and Industrial School” in … Read MoreBooker Washington in Seattle, 1913