Marie Monsen: Charismatic Revivalist - Feminist Fighter

After leaving the diplomatic post vacant for over a year, Richard Nixon in 1970 surprisingly appointed African-American Jerome H. Holland as the new US ambassador to Sweden. When Jerome Holland arrived at the Stockholm airport, antiwar protesters allegedly shouted ‘nigger go home’ at him. A week later, as Dr. Holland submitted his credentials to the Swedish king, demonstrators may have again shouted the racist epithet ‘nigger’. These incidents were widely reported in the US media and now appear in history books. This article examines what happened in April 1970, and concludes that the evidence showing that antiwar demonstrators said any of these things is weak. It may be that someone simply misunderstood what had been said. Another possibility is that the Nixon White House wanted to smear the Swedish antiwar movement with the stain of racism, trying to undercut the legitimacy of Sweden's criticism of the Vietnam War. This article examines the evidence behind a historical puzzle that still allows various interpretations of meanings and motives.