Red Diaper Baby (child of Communists)
A “red diaper baby” is a child of Communist parents (and one who presumably inherits their political leanings). Barack Obama was called the “red diaper baby president.” “Red diaper baby” has been cited in print since at least 1965.
The term was possibly coined by Stefan Thomas Possony (1913-1995), an economist at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Wikipedia: Red diaper baby
Red diaper baby describes a child of parents who were members of the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) or were close to the party or sympathetic to its aims.
History
In their book Red Diapers: Growing Up in the Communist Left, 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”.
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).
25 August 1965, Dallas (TX) Morning News, ‘Red Influence on U.S. Youth Pointed Up” by Nancy Kowert, pg. 6A, col. 3:
Adding to Siegrist’s testimony, Possony said he was told “by well-informed authorities that a percentage of the hard-core (Communist) leaders are second-generation Communists” or “red diaper babies.”
25 October 1965, Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI), pg. 12, col2. 1-2:
Red Diaper Babies ‘Protest’
By Chicago Tribune
(...)
A large number of other names could be added to the list of what Dr. Stefan Possony, director of international political studies at the Hoover institution of Stanford university, calls “red diaper babies.”
2 July 1967, Boston (MA) Sunday Herald, “Sub-Culture of Hippies Linked to Red Thrust in U.S.” by James Droney, pg. 7, col. 1:
BETTINA is what Allen calls a “red diaper baby,” a prase used to describe children of Communists who as adults have followed the parental leanings.
OCLC WorldCat record
Red diaper babies : children of the Left : edited transcripts of conferences held at World Fellowship Center, Conway, New Hampshire, July 31-August 1, 1982, July 9-10, 1983
Author: Judy Kaplan; Linn Shapiro
Publisher: [United States] : Red Diaper Productions ; Somerville, MA : To order additional copies to J. Kaplan, ©1985.
Edition/Format: Book : Biography : Conference publication : English
OCLC WorldCat record
Red diaper baby : 3 comic monologues
Author: Josh Kornbluth
Publisher: San Francisco : Mercury House, ©1996.
Edition/Format: Book : English : 1st ed
OCLC WorldCat record
Red Diaper Baby: From a Jewish ChicKen Farm in The Catskills, to the Cane Fields of Cuba, to the First Gay Protests in New York City
Author: A Young
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: VIETNAM GENERATION, 7, no. 1/2, (1998): 25-32
Database: British Library Serials
OCLC WorldCat record
Red diaper baby : a boyhood in the age of McCarthyism
Author: James Laxer
Publisher: Vancouver : Douglas & McIntyre, ©2004.
Edition/Format: Book : Biography : English
The American Spectator
THE OBAMA WATCH
OUR FIRST ‘RED DIAPER BABY’ PRESIDENT?
All the pieces fit, so why do historians and biographers ignore the question.
By Paul Kengor – 10.22.12
As president, Barack Obama is many things—many unprecedented things. There’s the commendable: the truly historic achievement (with apologies to Bill Clinton) of being the first black president. There’s the dubious: the lamentable distinction (christened by Newt Gingrich) of being the first “food stamp president.”
But here’s an intriguing, provocative thought: Is Barack Obama our first “Red Diaper Baby” president? Gee, that would be unprecedented.
Twitter
SgtMaj-USMC
@retireleo
OUR FIRST ‘RED DIAPER BABY’ PRESIDENT? All the pieces fit, so why do historians ignore it http://spectator.org/articles/34558/our-first-red-diaper-baby-president … oldie but goodie on Obama
6:41 PM - 28 Jan 2014 from Collingswood, NJ
Twitter
Lou Mancini
@louatbb
A “RED DIAPER BABY” Definition…..a person raised by parents with communist beliefs….Hmmm
6:45 PM - 28 Jan 2014 from Florida, US