The day I’m afraid to sit down with people I do not know because five years from now someone will say five of those people were Communists and therefore you are a Communist — that will be a bad day.
I want to be able to sit down with anyone who may have a new idea and not be afraid of contamination by association. In a democracy you must be able to meet with people and argue your point of view — people whom you have not screened beforehand. That must be part of the freedom of people in the United States.Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Speech (1950-04-02), Americans for Democratic Action
(Source)
On the rise of McCarthyism in the US.