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Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa | 
 enlarge | Author: Keith B. Richburg
Publisher: Harvest/HBJ Book
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Rating:  124 reviews
Sales Rank: 47863
Media: Paperback
Pages: 266
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0156005832
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.0967
EAN: 9780156005838
ASIN: 0156005832
Publication Date: July 1, 1998
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Condition: Cover wear and may contain some marks or writing. Keen Northwest ships in 2 business days or less. Refunds for any reason if item returned within 30 days of shipment.
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Amazon.com Review
From 1991 to 1994, Keith Richburg was based in Nairobi as the Africa bureau chief for the Washington Post. He traveled throughout Africa, from Rwanda to Zaire, witnessing and reporting on wars, famines, mass murders, and the complexity and corruption of African politics. Unlike many black Americans who romanticize Africa, Richburg looks back on his time there and concludes that he is simply an American, not an African American. This is a powerful, hard-hitting book, filled with anguished soul-searching as Richburg makes his way toward that uncomfortable conclusion.
Product Description
In “the most honest book to emerge from Africa in a long time” (USA Today), a black american correspondent for the Washington Post reports on the horrors he witnessed in Somalia, Rwanda, South Africa, and other troubled African nations-and reflects on his own identity. Map; updated with a new afterword.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 119 more reviews...
 a real eye opener October 8, 2008
regular user (morrisville,nc)
This reporter went to Africa with lots of hope and was forced to conclude that the reality did not match it.A good,honest job of reporting.
Out of America October 5, 2008
Cwn_Annwn (Copenhagen, Denmark)
I remember hearing about this book in the 90's and all the heat that the author took over it from pseudo black nationalists and white liberals. The writer stood his ground instead of backing down and I think I even remember him saying "thank God for slavery!" in an interview when reflecting on his time in Africa, which of course further added fuel to the fire. After all these years I've only just recently gotten around to reading it. I expected this to be good but I would have to put up with Richburg being one of those preachy oddball "black conservatives" Negro Limbaugh types, and Richburg does have a slight streak of that to him, but overall he comes off as a pretty liberal guy. But he's a liberal thats seen enough reality to be honest about the situation in Africa.
Before I get into this I will be fair and bring up that Richburg doesn't bring up the exploitation that has went on for centuries by the globalist scumbag uber-capitalists and still goes on to this day, whether they be the world bank buying the puppet African leaders and running their loan/debt scams, or the Rothschild/British crown sponsored shenanigans of Cecil Rhodes, or the phony revolutions funded by the same people who the Africans thought they were throwing out but were actually only destroying their own infrastructure (which mainly consisted of middle, upper middle, and low level wealthy whites) while the uber capitalist banking/mining/business mafias conducted business as usual in most cases. And if you think those European/Jewish banking and business cartels were bad for Africa just wait a few years down the line and see what happens now that the Chinese have massively invested in various African nations! So what I am saying for all their massive faults the continent and people of Africa have truly been and still are being economicly raped and exploited.
That being said you can't really get around that Africans seem to have trouble governing themselves and that everything Richburg talks about in this book is from firsthand experience during his time working as the African correspondent for a major US newspaper. Every time the super wealthy whites have decided to rid African nations of the mid level whites that upheld the infrastructure they fall into complete chaos. Just go to google video and search for the documentary Africa Addio to see this with your own eyes. Just coincidentially a guy from Ghana was just telling me yesterday about how its common for the police there to commit armed robberies, and this is in one of the African nations thats considered to be reasonably stable to the outside world. But Richburgs recollections and observations really are fascinating. Its worth grabbing from the library or buying at bargain table prices.
I worthy read, but realize you're only hearing one extreme viewpoint June 20, 2008
Jeremy Casterson (Craig, CO USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've lived in Africa for four years and have always been interested in the African American perspectives of Africa. Of course, perspectives vary widely, even within the African American community. Richburg's viewpoint is at the extreme end of the anti-Africa crowd. He cherry picks stories, of course, but he doesn't lie and his stories are true. It is quite one-sided. But that doesn't mean it's not a worthy and thought-provoking book. He doesn't lie, there is no "false journalism" as other reviewers have contended. These are all true accounts of Richburg's visits to the continent.
I'm definitely not as pessimistic and damning of Africa as Keith is, but this book still sparks a lot of though and makes for great discussion if you run into someone else who has read it. Richburg's perspective--brutally honest and unashamed--is what makes this book so interesting. I certainly do not agree with the absolute his broad-brush painting of Africa. Is it controversial? You bet--big time. That's what makes it pack a punch. Just read the introduction and the end of the section where he says he's glad his ancestors were slaves. A bit over-the-top for sure, but like I said, a worth-while read for a different perspective.
 False Journalism May 6, 2008
Derick Pearson (Delray Beach, FL)
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
It is not simply a narrative of what he saw. The controversy arises when the writer constantly speaks in absolutes about Africa being hopeless. I also challenge everyone to think about the American Revolution and how bloody it was trying to break the shackles of British oppression, now compare that event with Africans trying to break the oppression of World funded Militia's and Dictators. A true unbiased journalist would have thought about the history of developed nations: American Revolution, Civil War, French Revolutions, the Two world Wars, Haitian Revolution etc. The writer's work clearly shows his bias.
Neither offended nor moved, just sorry April 2, 2008
C. H. Toomer (USA)
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
"Out of America" is a memoir where the author, a black man, confronts his ambivalent feelings towards Africa and the guilt of not connecting to "the motherland". Being a black American woman who grew up in Kenya, during its most stable and prosperous time, I was also very aware of the differences between myself and Africans, but for no other reason than because of my prior formative experiences. There isn't an honest black American in Africa who doesn't, at times, relish in those differences. It is therefore no surprise to me that Mr Richburg felt the same. But, I couldn't help but wonder if he was reacting to the self-loathing and racial embarrassment that permeated his life prior to his going to Africa. I was not at all offended, nor moved, just sorry for a man uncomfortable in his own skin everywhere in the world. This book should have been more aptly entitled, "Comfortable Nowhere, A Black Man Needs to Confront Himself".
Mr. Richburg's love/hate for Africa, and his account of the atrocities of war and corruption committed in Africa, are stories worth telling, but have been done better by description and analysis in other books; "The Zanzibar Chest" by Aidan Hartley is one.
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