An Activist’s Red Scare
Those familiar with the desegregation of Merriam’s South Park Elementary School know of Esther Brown’s tireless efforts as a civil rights activist. What many might not know, is that because of Esther’s commitment to racial equality, she and her husband Paul Brown became some of the first targets in Johnson County of the anti-Communist hysteria commonly referred to as McCarthyism. Like other civil rights activists across the nation, the Browns were accused of being Communists by opponents of desegregation who hoped the damaging stigma would derail their crusade.
The daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Esther Brown first joined the black parents of South Park in 1947. She assisted them in forming a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), filing a lawsuit against the school district, and organizing a school boycott known as “Walker’s Walkout.” After the Kansas Supreme Court ordered South Park School to admit the African-American students in 1949, Esther went on to help with the landmark Brown v Topeka Board of Education (no relation) case.
Because of this, according to her husband Paul, the couple was, “among the first targets of virulent McCarthyism.” In 1948, Paul lost his job because of Esther’s civil rights activism. Later, unknown informants went to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with accusations that the two were engaged in “subversive” activity. During the FBI’s investigation, agents interviewed numerous friends and neighbors in an attempt to tie Paul and Esther to Communists. Consequently, the Air Force abruptly demanded Paul Brown’s resignation from the Air Force reserve because he had “supported and sympathized with unspecified Communist-front organizations.” Innocent of all charges, he hired a lawyer to fight the Air Force. “There was no doubt,” Brown said, “that Esther’s outstanding success in fighting bigotry in Kansas was responsible for my dilemma.” Eventually the Air Force dropped the case, but the Browns continued to be labeled Communists by those displeased with Esther’s “radical activities.” “Yes, McCarthyism took its toll on Esther and me,” Paul Brown later admitted, “We paid a high price for our ‘good deeds,’ but never regretted or second-guessed our efforts.”
--ALBUM vol. 14, no. 1 (winter 2001)