3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

hammering home the notions of self-defense and constitutional rights.
While the Senate hearings did not break his spirit, they certainly deflated
Williams' defiance . Afterward, he shifted his energies in different dir+ectiona . He took a
position as an expert on Chinese-American relations at the Center for Asian Studies at the
University of Michigan . Shortly thereafter, a book about Williams went to print .
Williams had had a falling out with his ghostwriter, Robert C. Cohen, after the recording
of forty-six hours of interviews taped while in exile . Cohen had power of attorney over
the book, and proceeded with plans to publish the autobiography with Bantam Books
while Williams was out of the country . According to Williams, Cohen failed to get the
book out on schedule (upon Williams' return to the United States in 1969) ; therefore,
Williams repudiated their agreement. At the time of the Senate Judiciary hearings, he had
received no royalties (agreed at eight cents per copy) for the book.~2 The book, entitled
Black Crusader (1973), essentially became an unauthorized biography.
Williams served as a research associate in the Center for Chinese Studies at the
University of Michigan from 1970 to 1971 . Drawing from his first-hand experience in
China, he advised Allen Whiting, a political scientist who in turn advised Henry
Kissinger shortly before Kissinger's first trip to China . He also served as director of the
Detroit East Side Citizens Against Drug Abuse Clinic . Klan members marched in
Monroe in 1972, when the Grand Dragon, Virgil Lee Griffin, said they wanted "to bring
that nigger Robert Williams back so we can hang him:'~3 Williams returned briefly to
~U.S . Senate Judiciary Hearings, 2428 .
as~~o~ quoted in Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) newsletter, Feb.
219