More Than Color

"My conviction is that few men should put in more than four years in Government at a stretch. With rare exceptions, it isn't good for the man, and it's not good for the Government." This is not an opinion shared by Presidents, but last week, after 4 1/2 years in Government--as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Ambassador to Finland, and USIA director-Carl Rowan took his own advice and went back to journalism.

The first Negro to attain so many high public offices, Rowan, 39, will now become the top Negro syndicated columnist. While such civil rights leaders as Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young Jr. write columns largely on racial topics, Rowan will comment on the news in general for the Chicago Daily News. "This is going to be journalism," he said last week. "What I bring to this column is knowledge of what is going on inside this Government and other governments. This is what I'm offering editors, not the color of my face."

As USIA director, Rowan left administrative details to others, but he upgraded the agency by persuading Congress to give Foreign Service status to many of its employees. And he got around quite a bit: he made 52 speeches during his 1 1/2 year tenure. As a columnist, he plans to make extensive use of the contacts he made in Government.

"I have already been approached by diplomats about town asking me to be sure and see their leaders. I know most of the ambassadors and top officials in Washington on a first-name basis."

Rowan has also signed to write several articles a year for the Reader's Digest, and his combined income will be in the neighborhood of $60,000, double what he earned in Government.

"It was a good feeling to have five syndicates approach me and offer the kind of money I never thought was in journalism 15 years ago," he said. "But I had a feeling of satisfaction beyond what it meant to my personal pocketbook. It meant that Negroes, like white Americans, can leave Government and face economic opportunity commensurate with what they know and are prepared to deliver. This has not always been so. The Negro who got a good job in Government was prepared to make it his home. But my old profession came through beautifully, and I hope that this indicates we've reached a new day."

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