What prompted hysteria during the red scare?

Answer 1

That is a very complicated question, but let me try to give it some context. The Red Scare did not come out of nowhere. In fact, it has deep historical roots. For generations, ultra-conservatives in a society have sought to distract the public from very real problems by offering scapegoats who are blamed for everything wrong in that society. Liberal and secular people, as well as religious minorities or racial minorities, are often the groups who are made the scapegoats by those forces that want to see theocracy (as in Iran or Saudi Arabia) or that want nationalism or a hyper-version of patriotism (as we saw in Nazi Germany). I am not comparing the folks in the Republican Party in the early 1950s to Nazis or theocrats, but I am saying the motivation is similar-- the Red Scare included the belief that anyone who disagreed with the views of the dominant group of conservatives was unAmerican, unChristian, or unpatriotic.

Many of the people called Communists (or Reds) during this period were from organizations considered liberal or secular. Some of the people accused, such as the Hollywood Ten, had in fact belonged to the Communist Party in the 1930s, but more as a social protest against racism and against the rich getting richer while the poor were suffering. I am not defending any of this, but I think some of this was conveniently dredged up during the McCarthy era to get back at critics of the government. Beating up on liberals (or those perceived as liberals) had been going on since the 1920s, in fact. Most historians today will tell you that in the 1950s, there was little concrete evidence that the US government was "dominated by Communists" as the McCarthyites claimed, but it was easy then, as now, to stir people up and scare them. McCarthy would claim he had "a list of 208 names" of Communists in the US government (the number varied, but he would never show the list-- just say that he had it) and he knew how to get headlines with charges like that. it was the Cold War, Americans were terrified of Communism, and it was all too easy to persuade them to fear anyone that was said to be a danger to our way of life.

As a result of the Red Scare, many innocent lives were ruined just to score cheap political points. Had Edward R. Murrow and a few others not spoken out so courageously at a time when dissent was not only discouraged but demonized, one wonders if the McCarthy era would have ended when it finally did. Sad to say, keeping Americans afraid of "traitors" and "Reds" gave a number of conservative politicians cover when they sought to go after Jews, African-Americans, the ACLU, and outspoken white liberals, as well as some of the ultra-right wing's political enemies.

I fully expect this answer to cause some controversy, and I'd be happy to offer the questioner some good (and objective) books about the Red Scare if he or she wants to know more. But the tactic of calling your opponent's patriotism into question (or demonizing anyone who disagrees) is still around today.

Answer 2

mr.alfred