THE PITIFUL AND THE PROUD

by Carl T. Rowan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 1956

In 1954 Carl Rowan undertook a trip to India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia as a grantee under the State Department's International Educational Exchange Program and as a reporter for the Minneapolis Morning Star and Tribune. Here is his first hand report of what he and the Asians he met said, saw and did -- with some clear-headed conclusions as to significance. The greater part of his book is devoted to India, where he spoke to newsmen, college students, Nehru, villagers, U.S.I.B. men -- and received ample material to appraise the mechanisms and extent of Communism, of anti-Western feeling, of Indian ambitions, of Nehru's leadership. As a Negro, he was welcomed as a ""colored brother"" and questioned constantly on America's acts in terms of race. He concluded that the heart of India might be in its villages, but its mind was in New Delhi, that anti-racism and colonialism were the two most explosive ingredients in the Asian revolution, that the pitiful were not the proud, and that we must work through the fostering of development and dignity to gain Asian friends. Further travels in Pakistan, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Indo-China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, whose internal situations he reviews concisely, revealed much the same thing. Mr. Rowan concludes his book with a report of the Bandang Conference, which he saw as the first international conference of colored peoples, claiming their rights to self-rule and respect. An extensive sourcebook for the more than casual reader.

Pub Date: April 23, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION