>>17934471
This is sadly probably true.

The ones who have stuck around in the U.S. as free-floating symbols are usually black. The biggest star the communists had in the post-war era was probably Angela Davis. She's a boomer now and nobody cares, but she was a big symbol in the 1970s. The Soviet Union had billboards up around the country with her image on it. She also became just a symbol that is removed from her as an actual person like this around 1:17:
https://youtu.be/8CFrCk6_0rM

That's pretty standard "black liberal / vaguely progressive / let's for Democrats" stuff. But it's a thing. Also Paul Robeson but that guy was like the 1940s and a lot of people don't know who he is. He was popular then and you'll still see his image in black history contexts.