Rayford W. Logan and the Dilemma of the African-American Intellectual

This interesting academic biography portrays Rayford W. Logan (1897-1982) as a scholar and ``diligent second-tier leader'' in the civil rights struggle. Janken, who teaches African American studies at the University of North Carolina, traces his subject's background as a member of Washington, D.C.'s so-called light-skinned black elite, and his embrace of Pan-Africanism after his service in WW II brought him wider experience of racism. Logan worked early for voter registration and for a stronger relationship between organized labor and civil rights groups and he also edited What the Negro Wants (1944), a collection of essays by prominent African Americans. But he was also a history professor, teaching at Howard University from 1938 to 1968, and hence equally involved in academic projects: he briefly edited the Journal of Negro History and wrote The Negro in American Life and Thought: The Nadir, 1877-1901 . Unfortunately, Logan's earlier achievements were to be overshadowed by his vituperative campaign of his later years criticizing African Americans for identifying themselves as ``black,'' a term he considered separatist. Photos not seen by PW . (July)