Card-carrying communist
"Card-carrying communist" is a term popularised in the United States during the Second Red Scare as a label for members of communist and far-left organisations, especially the Communist Party of the United States. The term is still considered derogatory when used in its Cold War context.[1]
Contents
History of the phrase
The term "card-carrying" originally had no political connotation, and was used to describe membership in any organisation.[2] For example, Anabaptist Christians of the Schwarzenau Brethren Churches, such as the Dunkard Brethren Church, have carried the The Brethren's Card on their person since 1887.[3]
During the Second Red Scare, the term was used as a label for members of the Communist Party, and was used in this manner by both the House Un-American Activities Committee investigations and Senator Joseph McCarthy.[4] In the context of politics, the term remains derogatory.[1] After the 1950s, the scope of the word expanded and is used for non-political applications.[4]
Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed there were fifty-seven "card-carrying communists" working for the United States Department of State,[5] an allegation that was widely reported by American newspapers.[4] This figure was different from the 205 "bad risks" figure, confusing reporters.[6] The "fifty-seven card-carrying Communists" phrase first appears in a radio interview that McCarthy gave in Salt Lake City, and is the phrase that appears in the Congressional Record on the speech he gave at Wheeling.[7] McCarthy made a distinction between "card-carrying communists" and what he called "fellow travelers." A card-carrying communist was considered a genuine member of the party, while a fellow traveler only sympathised with the ideology.[1]
History of communist membership cards
Early in the Cold War, there were Communist Party members who kept membership cards, although many also hid their membership.[4] Possibly the earliest mention of the phrase comes from a 1912 article in the Daily People, which mentioned "'Union-card' carrying members". A closer reference to the modern term was a 1918 piece in the New York Tribune, which described members of the Industrial Workers of the World, a prominent socialist union, as "red-card-carrying 'wobblies'".[4]
Because of the advent of digital technology, the contemporary Communist Party USA does not issue membership cards.[4]
Response
Many Protestant and Catholic Christians, as well as political conservatives, worked together to popularize wallet-sized or pocket images of The Head of Christ by Warner Sallman, promoting the idea that "there ought to be 'card-carrying Christians' to counter the effect of 'card-carrying communists'."[8][9][10] Up until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the Head of Christ "had been printed more than 500 million times and had achieved global iconic status."[11] However, the use of holy cards by Christians (including Sunday School cards by Protestants) predates communism.
See also
References
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