Red diaper baby

A red diaper baby is a child of parents who were members of the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) or the Communist Party of Canada in Canada or were close to the party or sympathetic to its aims.

History

The term Red Diaper Baby was used by Josh Kornbluth as the title of his 1996 autobiography and related one man show, and a 2004 performance documentary film of his show by Doug Pray.

In their 1998 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).

In the 1976 film Marathon Man, the lead character, Thomas Levy, played by Dustin Hoffman, is a "red diaper baby."

Notable red diaper babies include journalist Carl Bernstein and rock singer Country Joe McDonald.

Canadian political scientist James Laxer titled his 2005 memoir Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism.

Further reading

• Aptheker, Bettina (2006). Intimate Politics: How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech, and Became a Feminist Rebel. Seal Press. ISBN 1-58005-160-X.
• Bock, Laura (2017). Red Diaper Daughter: Three Generations of Rebels and Revolutionaries. Laura Bock. ISBN 978-0-99816-160-0.
• Christie, Chris (2010). This American Family: Growing Up as a Red Diaper Baby - A Memoir. Booklocker. ISBN 978-1-60910-580-8.
• Flacks, Mickey; Flacks, Dick (2018). Making History / Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-81358-922-0.
• Horowitz, David (1996). Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey. Simon & Schuster.
• Kaplan, Judy; Shapiro, Linn, eds. (1998). Red Diapers: Growing up in the Communist Left. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-25202-161-4.
• Kimmage, Ann (1998). An Un-American Childhood. University of Georgia Press.
• Laxer, James (2004). Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism. Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 1-55365-073-5.
  • Review of Laxer's book by Nicole LibinLaxer, James (January 2004). "View of Red Diaper Baby: A Boyhood in the Age of McCarthyism (Nicole Libin)". Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes: 127. doi:10.25071/1916-0925.22634. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
• Mishler, Paul C. (1999). Raising Reds. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11045-6.
• Radosh, Ronald (2001). Commies: A Journey Through the Old Left, the New Left and the Leftover Left. Encounter Books. ISBN 1-89355-405-8.
• Rosenberg, Daniel (2008). Underground Communists in the McCarthy Period: A Family Memoir. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-77344-842-1.