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174 6 World War II and Public Redefinitions of Americanism 1941–1945 Although May Day had reached a climax in terms of its numerical strength and cultural resonance during the Popular Front years, it did not maintain that position for very long. From World War II through the early years of the Cold War, those radicals and progressives who continued to support May Day would face their most difficult challenges. The holiday went from attracting 700,000 participants and spectators in New York during the late 1930s to its essential disappearance by the late 1950s. But what made the challenges of these years more potent than those raised in earlier decades? Part of the answer lies in the actions that American communists and workers took during World War II. The Communist Party USA’s (CPUSA) suspension of traditional May Day activities during the war was one reason the party could never revive the holiday to its former glory. At the same time, many laborers, be they politically radical or not, found it necessary to look for different ways to define their identities as progressive American workers during this crisis. By creating other forums for expressing their unique sense of working-class Americanism in wartime, these workers began to undermine the vitality of the May 1 holiday in the United States. Alongside the explicitly laborite expressions of patriotic Americanism that workers created on Flag Day and Labor Day during the war years, there also emerged a new holiday: “I Am an American Day.” Drawing supporters from a broad cross-section of the population, this event saw newly naturalized citizens pledge their allegiance to the United States in company with longtime residents who took pride in celebrating America’s democratic heritage. As the nation focused on uniting against the fascist threat abroad to defend that democracy, public celebrations World War II and Public Redefinitions of Americanism 175 like Flag Day, Labor Day, and “I Am an American Day” supplanted the suspended May Day events. In addition, African Americans under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph pressed their fight for civil rights within the context of both the wartime “double victory” campaign and the ceremonial assertions of democracy made in the “I Am an American Day” events by organizing a “We Are Americans, Too!” movement. As the nation ’s political culture shifted to one that accommodated such progressive assertions of democracy and racial equality during the war, class-based expressions of dissent and the May Day celebrations where they were traditionally voiced were nowhere to be found. And so, even before the Cold War would present its own challenges to radicals and workers who wanted to maintain May Day, political and cultural changes that took place during World War II laid the groundwork for the holiday’s eventual demise. By calling for an end to May Day celebrations from 1942 through 1946, the Communist Party (CP) broke the continuity of what had been an annual ritual. It no longer coordinated large Popular Front May Day parades as it had done in New York City and Chicago during the late 1930s. On May 1, 1942, the CP instead sponsored indoor mass meetings in support of the war; in 1943, it joined in a huge prowar rally at Yankee Stadium.1 The cessation of the grand May Day celebrations was meant to be temporary, so that party members’ money and time would be focused on mobilizing the country for battle. The Communist Party’s abandonment of May Day parades and strikes resulted, in part, from its decision to support the allied fight against fascism after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The suspension of parades and strikes was also the result of the disruption that characterized the Communist Party during the latter years of the war. In 1944, Earl Browder broadened the CP’s wartime Popular Front policy by calling for it to form an alliance with “progressive capitalists ” and to operate as “a pressure group within the Democratic party.” In May 1944, the CPUSA was dissolved as an independent party and reorganized itself as the Communist Political Association (CPA) to carry out Browder’s vision. The CPA maintained the suspension of communistdominated May Day events as part of its support for the war effort. By the spring of 1945, however, opposition from communist leaders abroad (the famous Duclos letter) led to a reversal of this policy. The CPUSA reconstituted itself with William Z. Foster at its head in 1946. That...

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