A Scholar's Conscience: Selected Writings of J. Saunders ReddingJ. Saunders Redding (1906 1988) was often and justifiably called ""the dean of Afro American scholars."" As professor and man of letters, he wrote about Afro American literature and culture in vivid and scholarly prose. And of all the writers of his generation, he best represented, and came close to explaining, the hopes and conflicts of American democracy in a multiracial society. Yet his perceptions and writings were never limited to race,