![]() ![]() His decision to go to the USSR was further motivated by the lynching of his friend’s cousin several months prior. “With that I should be able to bring my mother to New York … since she was alone in Cuba without any family,” Robinson recalled in his memoirs Black on Red: My 44 years inside the Soviet Union. Badly in need of qualified specialists to help industrialize the country and build a communist society, the Soviets were hiring foreigners. Then the Soviets made him a very good offer: a $250 monthly salary (as opposed to $140 at Ford), plus accommodation and travel. Robinson was the only black employee at the 700-worker Ford factory, and he faced insults and contempt every day. In addition to the economic hardships of the Depression, racism was widely prevalent and a matter of state policy. In the U.S., times were tough for black folks. ![]() ![]() He had called Robinson to his office to discuss an important matter. Those were the first words that 23-year old Robert Robinson, an African-American engineer, heard from his boss at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit one day in 1930. Couldn’t you get your face over here any quicker than that?” “You black monkey, you were supposed to be here half an hour ago. ![]()
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