Book #9: Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa

Title: Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa


Author: Keith Richburg


Talk about a total change of scenery-- I finished Little Children while we were on vacation in Utah last month, and borrowed this book from my mother-in-law, whose tastes are much more highbrow (and lean much more to nonfiction) than mine. The book is the product of the time Richburg spent as the Washington Post's bureau chief in Africa. Richburg, an African American who grew up in Detroit (only a couple of blocks from the big race riots in the late 60s) had previously purposely avoided going to Africa, and the experience both opened his eyes and sickened him.


What I realized after reading Out of America, is just how little I know about Africa. I thought I was enlightened after watching Hotel Rwanda (there's a big chapter in Richburg's book about the history between the Hutu and Tutsi) and The Constant Gardener. But I hadn't realized the extent of the corruption in many African countries, or the depth of poverty of the average African (and the book was published before the AIDS epidemic reached its current crisis). I probably couldn't identify more than 10 African countries on a map, and when I think of Africa I think of savannahs and safaris, not tribal infighting and racism.


Out of America is the kind of book Americans should read in order to be better informed about the rest of the world. Richburg writes well and doesn't apologize for his position that he's much better off as an American of African descent than he would have been had his ancestors remained in Africa.


--originally published 4/9/07