{{Short description, American political insult for someone sympathetic to communism ''Pinko'' is a pejorative term for a person on the left of the political spectrum. The term has its origins in the notion that ''pink'' is a lighter shade of ''red,'' a color associated with communism. Thus ''pink'' could describe a "lighter form of communism", purportedly promoted by supporters and believers of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

who were not themselves actual or "card carrying" communists. The term pinko has a pejorative sense, whereas "pink" in this definition can be used in a purely descriptive sense, such as in the term

pink tide The pink tide (; ; ), or the turn to the left (; ; ), is a political wave and turn towards left-wing governments in Latin America throughout the 21st century. As a term, both phrases are used in political analysis in the news media and elsewhe ...

. One of the first recorded uses of ''pinko'' was in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine in 1925 as a variant on the noun and adjective ''pink'', which had been used along with ''parlor pink'' since the beginning of the 20th century to refer to those of leftish sympathies, usually with an implication of effeteness. In the 1920s, for example, a ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' editorial described supporters of the Progressive politician

Robert La Follette Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), nicknamed "Fighting Bob," was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. ...

as "visionaries, ne'er do wells, parlor pinks, reds, hyphenates mericans with divided allegiance soft handed agriculturalists and working men who have never seen a shovel." ''Pinko'' was widely used during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

to label individuals accused of supporting the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Communist China, including many supporters of former vice president Henry Wallace's 1948 U.S. presidential campaign of the Progressive Party. Many politicians, like

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, exploited the fear of communism by referring to their opponents as "pinkos". The word was predominantly used in the United States, where opposition to Communism grew strong among the population, especially during the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

. It was also in common use in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

during the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

era. In his two presidential campaigns,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

governor

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

often railed at what he called "the left-wing pinko press" and "pseudo-pinko-intellectuals.""The Wallace Challenge -- and Opportunity", ''The Wall Street Journal'', March 13, 1972. Some of the most infamous uses of the term ''pink'' came during future president

's 1950 Senate campaign against

Helen Gahagan Douglas Helen Gahagan Douglas (born Helen Mary Gahagan; November 25, 1900 – June 28, 1980) was an American actress and politician. Gahagan Douglas's acting career included success on Broadway theatre, Broadway, as a touring opera singer, and in Hollyw ...

: "She's pink right down to her underwear!" – a play on the fact that, at the time, pink was the usual color of women's undergarments. Nixon regularly referred to her as "the Pink Lady", and his campaign distributed political flyers printed on sheets of pink paper.

References

Political pejoratives for people Political terminology of the United States Communism Socialism 1920s neologisms

See also

References