I don't need to go to Wikipedia to read about Robeson. Guy became a Stalin fan and crumbled mentally when he realised the USSR was not what it claimed. Great singer though.
I think part of what they didn't like was that in Old Man River, instead of singing:
Git a little drunk
An' you lands in jail
for Moscow audiences he sang:
Show a little grit
And you land in jail
That's how east berlin marketed it too, it still features bi-directional blocking abilities, like all walls.