Red diaper baby explained
A red diaper baby is a child of parents who were members of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) or the Communist Party of Canada, or were close to the party or sympathetic to its aims.[1] [2] [3]
History
The term Red Diaper Baby was used by Josh Kornbluth as the title of his 1996 autobiography and related one man show,[4] and a 2004 performance documentary film of his show by Doug Pray.
In their 1998 book , Judy Kaplan and Linn Shapiro define red diaper babies as "children of CPUSA members, children of former CPUSA members, and children whose parents never became members of the CPUSA but were involved in political, cultural, or educational activities led or supported by the Party".[5] More generally, the phrase is sometimes used to refer to a child of any radical parent, regardless of that parent's past partisan affiliation (or the affiliation of the child).
In the 1976 film Marathon Man, the lead character, Thomas Levy, played by Dustin Hoffman, is a "red diaper baby."[6]
Notable red diaper babies include journalist Carl Bernstein and rock singer Country Joe McDonald.[7]
Canadian political scientist James Laxer titled his 2005 memoir Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism.
Further reading
- Book: Aptheker
, Bettina
. Bettina Aptheker
. Bettina Aptheker . Intimate Politics: How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech, and Became a Feminist Rebel . Seal Press . 2006 . 1-58005-160-X . registration .
- Book: Bock
, Laura
. Red Diaper Daughter: Three Generations of Rebels and Revolutionaries . Laura Bock . 2017 . 978-0-99816-160-0 .
- Book: Christie
, Chris
. This American Family: Growing Up as a Red Diaper Baby - A Memoir . Booklocker . 2010 . 978-1-60910-580-8 .
- Book: Flacks . Flacks . Mickey . Dick . Making History / Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America . Rutgers University Press . 2018 . 978-0-81358-922-0 .
- Book: Horowitz
, David
. David Horowitz
. David Horowitz . Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey . Simon & Schuster . 1996 .
- Book: Kaplan . Judy . Shapiro . Linn . Red Diapers: Growing up in the Communist Left . Simon & Schuster . 1998 . 0-25202-161-4 .
- Book: Kimmage
, Ann
. An Un-American Childhood . University of Georgia Press . 1998 .
- Book: Laxer
, James
. James Laxer
. James Laxer . Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism . Douglas & McIntyre . 2004 . 1-55365-073-5 .
-
- Book: Mishler
, Paul C.
. Raising Reds . . 1999 . 0-231-11045-6 .
- Book: Radosh
, Ronald
. Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left and the Leftover Left . Encounter Books . 2001 . 1-89355-405-8 .
- Book: Rosenberg
, Daniel
. Underground Communists in the McCarthy Period: A Family Memoir . . . 2008 . 978-0-77344-842-1 .
Notes and References
- News: 2017-06-18 . Mill Valley "red diaper daughter" documents her radical roots . 2023-05-11 . Marin Independent Journal . en-US.
- News: Today's Red-Diaper Baby Dilemma. Tom . Hall . LA Progressive . March 14, 2020.
- News: Gates . Anita . 2014-01-22 . Traveling Back in Time From the Left, With Context . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-11 . 0362-4331.
- Book: Kornbluth
, Josh
. Josh Kornbluth
. Josh Kornbluth . Red Diaper Baby: Three Comic Monologues (With Mathematics of Change and Haiku Tunnel) . Mercury House . 1996. 1-56279-087-0 .
- Book: Kaplan, Judy . Shapiro, Linn . amp . Red Diapers: Growing Up in the Communist Left . . 1998. In this anthology, we define red diaper babies as children of CP members, children of former CP members, and children whose parents never became members of .... 0-252-06725-8 .
- Web site: Red Star Over Hollywood. The Film Colony's Long Romance with the Left. Radosh. Ronald. Radosh. Aliss. May 17, 2023.
- Web site: Red Diaper Babies . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230712063519/https://apnews.com/article/e4fe9d63e8564a2f0c11adfa842f162c . 2023-07-12 . 2023-07-12 . AP News . en.
