In Memoriam: Jerry G. Watts

Jerry G. Watts, a longtime contributor to Dissent, passed away on November 16. Jerry, a professor at CUNY Graduate Center, earned his B.A. from Harvard and PhD from Yale University. His essays for Dissent—on intellectuals, politics, crime, affirmative action, the draft—were searching, honest, and always provocative. He was the author of Heroism and the Black Intellectual: Reflections on Ralph Ellison, Politics, and Afro-American Intellectual Life and Amiri Baraka: The Politics and Art of a Black Intellectual.

About a year ago my phone rang. “Levinson.” Despite not having heard from Jerry in years, I instantly recognized his voice. (And with Jerry it was always Levinson, never Mark.) We talked about Dissent and I told him we missed his voice in the magazine. He said he wanted to write for us again.

As I read over his essays today I miss his independent, thoughtful voice. I know Jerry had many students. Nothing would honor Jerry’s memory more than them stepping forward and writing as authentically and as probingly as he did. We look forward to hearing from them.

Below are links to his articles in Dissent. A memorial service will he held tomorrow (Saturday, December 5) at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (2 West 64th St.) at 6:15 p.m. —Mark Levinson

Culture and Icons (Winter 1996)

Affirmative Action (Fall 1995)

The Race Problem and “Moral Innocence” (Winter 1991)

Dilemmas of Black Intellectuals (Fall 1989)

“It Just Ain’t Righteous”: On Witnessing Black Crooks and White Cops (Summer 1983)

The Case of a Black Conservative: Thomas Sowell, Talent and Tragedy (Summer 1982)

The Draft and the Poor (Fall 1980)