Wright was cowed.

• Author: Rowley, Hazel
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the Editor

In his essay "Stand by the Man: Black America and the Dilemma of Patriotism" (January issue), Brian Gilmore points out the ambivalence of Black America when it comes to flag-waving patriotism. It's too bad that he misrepresents Richard Wright, who felt exactly the same way. Gilmore prefaces his article with a pledge of allegiance Wright made soon after the United States joined the war. It needs to be said that Wright felt under extreme pressure, from the Communist Party and from every other quarter, to demonstrate his patriotism. As Gilmore says, it was a quite surprising aberration for a man who was known, throughout the nation, as an outspoken opponent of the war. Wright was cowed into joining the flag-wavers. However, like most of his black friends, Wright was frightened by the implications of the war for black Americans.

If Gilmore had read my new biography, Richard Wright: The Life and Times (Holt, 2001), he would know that Wright felt not simply ambivalence about World War II but a furious rage that black Americans were expected to fight for a country that herded...