Question

Briefly describe the purpose of “blacklisting” and other authoritarian measures during Red Scares in the United States.

Answer 1

The Hollywood blacklist was the colloquial term for what was actually a broader blacklist of the entertainment industry put into effect in the U.S. during the early years of the Cold War in the mid-20th century. The blacklist involved the practice of denying employment to professionals in the entertainment industry who believed they were or were Communists or sympathizers. The studios barred from work not only actors but screenwriters, directors, musicians and other American entertainment professionals.

The purpose of the blacklisting and other relatively authoritarian measures during the Red Scares in the United States was essentially to prohibit and limit any further financial or employment success to those who expressed and actively involved their political beliefs. It is understood during the U.S. Red Scares that the main purpose of such scares was to address the anticommunist crisis when national leaders were threatened by what they thought was a communist rebellion.

Other authoritarian measures taken by leaders were permitting a multitude of raids, arresting group leaders, shutting down offices of perceived communists and, as previously mentioned, graduating in the blacklist of hundreds after the third noted Red Scare in the 1950's national leaders.