A Study in Black and White

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 846, 14 December 1929, Page 22

A Study in Black and White

Colour Problem in London

H DRAMATIC statement that he had been refused admittance to the grillroom of a West End hotel is made in a letter from Paul Robeson, the coloured singer, who has won fame on the English and American stage by means of the übiquitous gramophone record. The letter, which was read by Mr. James Marley, M.P., at a lecture on “The Colour Bar Problem in England,” at the Friends’ Meeting House, Euston Road, was in the following terms: “A few days ago a friend of, mine, an Englishman, invited my wife and myself to meet him at a West End hotel grill-room at midnight for a drink and chat.

“We were both very tired and did not wish to go, but he urged us to do so, and finally we consented. “On arriving, the waiter who knows me, informed me that he was sorry he could not allow me to enter the dining room. I was astonished, and asked him why. "It never occurred to me that there, would be any difficulty of any kind, and I thought there must be some mistake. Both my wife and I had dined at the hotel and in the grill-room many times as guests. “I sent for the manager, who informed me that I could not enter the grill-room or the dining room because I was a negro, and the management did not permit negroes to enter the rooms any longer. ' “My friend and his party of six came out to find out what was the trouble. “They were indignant, but it seemed that there was no doubt about the ruling against negroes, and we all had to leave.” When the management of the hotel was asked by a representative of the “Daily Chronicle” if it had any comment to make on Mr. Robeson’s letter, an official replied: “We have had inquiries made, and have been unable to trace the incident. “Mr. Robeson had dined at the hotel on many occasions, and the colour bar is certainly not applied here.” Mr. Robeson left London recently for America. The artist Is a graduate of Columbia University and a barrister. A year ago he was entertained to lunch at the House of Commons by several members of Parliament, and had an interview with Mr. Ramsay MacDonald. The singer’s father was once a slave.