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Out Of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa (A New Republic book)
 
 
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Out Of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa (A New Republic book) (Hardcover)

~ Keith Richburg (Author) "WHAT'S THAT SMELL?" I asked..." (more)
Key Phrases: panga knives, street radar, white conspiracy, South Africa, United States, United Nations (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)


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Editorial Reviews

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.


Review

To his credit, Mr. Richburg lays out his own confusion and guilt about saying some of the things he does . . . he is candid about his gratitude that his ancestors made it to America. Mr. Richburg lambastes whites in the West who, for fear of appearing racist, hesitate to place responsibility for Africa's woes on African shoulders, and then he extends this criticism to white Americans who are allegedly afraid to hold black Americans responsible for their own woes. -- The New York Times Book Review, William Finnegan

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (February 5, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0465001874
  • ISBN-13: 978-0465001873
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (126 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #948,095 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Keith B. Richburg
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Out Of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa (A New Republic book)
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Out Of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa (A New Republic book) 4.0 out of 5 stars (126)
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54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most honest books, regardless of stance!, February 9, 2004
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Out of America is a black man's journey back to Africa as a newspaper reporter. Within the book, a myiad of political and social issues are delved into and the answers - not THE answers, to be sure, but answers as good as any other - are disturbing.

While Mr. Richburgh makes clear towards the beginning of the book that he never felt his 'blackness' was his defining characteristic, his journey in the book sours him on Africa and wipes many preconceptions out of the window. Before anyone can help Africa, he concludes, Africans need to help Africa. The descriptions of tribalism, dictatorship, factionization, and senseless murder seemingly as a way of life, are disturbing and graphic. Richburgh pulls no puches. The irony is that in the process of reading a book where the author ultimately concludes that Africa may be less 'salvagable' than we thought, it is obvious that he is not callous about this judgment, that he remains all-the-while sympathetic, and that this conclusion is one of the hardest ones the author has ever had to make (he tells us THAT much).

Many who've read Out of America denounce Richburg as an out-and-out "uncle Tom". He is a black man who realizes that he is an "american" before he's an "african-american" (as if I'm 'european-american' instead of just plain 'white'). The irony is that those who are shocked that Richburg, a black man, would DARE criticize Africa seems to prove RIchburgs ancillary point. Black leaders, intellectuals, and arm-chair diplomats have pussyfooted around Africa, ignoring abuses of 'human rights', ignoring the deadly tribalism and murder, so as to keep the image of "Africa - the glorious motherland" alive. We may, of course, criticize Europe ("the hegemonic western world") but dare we ever criticize atrocities in Zaire?! How dare we! So it is ironic that the authors point - that we must be realistic instead of untopion when dealing with Africa - is played into perfectly by those so willing to call Richburg an 'uncle tom" or a 'sellout'.

So as not to rant anymore, this book is somewhere between a personal biography, a corageous political statement, and an insider glimpse at the sheer hell international journalists go through to get the story and the shot. Don't miss it.

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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Heart wrenching, December 17, 2002
By L. C. Robinson "-montana" (Fountain Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
"Out of America' is a tough read.

Mr. Richburg's book has brought wails of protest from all over, in Africa certainly but from many other countries and nations as well and not the least America.

Mr. Richburg is a reporter; his book is a report of what he saw while on assignment in Africa. What he saw was appalling, the author does not sugar coat it and it rings with an awful truth. The truth is that today in Africa, black Africans are slaughtering other black Africans at a rate that is incalculable. An ongoing slaughter that is largely unreported in the mainstream media. What makes the book so controversial is Mr. Richburg's refusal to blame the past for Africa's murderous appetites of today. What makes the book so controversial is Mr. Richburg's courage in laying bloody Africa at the feet of today's African leaders. He makes no excuses for black leaders that treat their people like charnel.

It is this "no excuses" approach that infuriates Mr. Richburg's detractors. It is much easier to blame King Leopold, slavery, the colonialism of the British, or the Belgians than it is to look at the simple truth. What happened yesterday does not give license for the atrocities of today.

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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Out of America is an adventure story, November 2, 2000
By Eros Faust (Jacksonville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
Has anyone, besides me, actually read this book? I've looked at review after review and thought to myself "Did I read the same book?"

Take away the politically incorrect premise, that an African-American journalist was horrified by what he saw in Sub-Sahara Africa and is grateful to be an American, a premise which is merely in the controversial 5 1/2 page Prelude, and what you have in the remaining 259 pages is one of the most intriguing, exciting, and even breathtaking adventure stories told in modern times. This stuff makes war reporting from WWI and WWII seem like nursery rhymes. If Hemingway and Churchill wanted to see and write about battles up close, they needed to go where Richburg's been. The Spanish Civil War and Boer War were tame by comparison.

Want to know what it was like in Mogadishu during the American and United Nations occupation of Somalia? It's here.

Why were the corpses of American soldiers dragged through the streets? He'll tell you.

Want to know what it was like to stand on a bridge at Rusomo Falls and watch countless Tutsi bodies drift by after being massacred in Rwanda? It's here.

What's it like to be a Belgian soldier who is told to put down his weapons to avoid a Hutu riot in Rwanda, and then to die for following that order?

Want to know what its like to be in the middle of a cholera epidemic in Zaire? It's here too.

Are you interested in the "Whys"?

For instance, why do the Hutus hate the Tutsis? How does it relate to the black experience in America? It's discussed here in frank and clear terms.

If you've ever wanted to be a foreign correspondent, or a CIA case worker, or to travel to "hot spots" around the world this is the book to read.

Richburg gets a bad rap. He gets a bad rap from reviewers and then he gets a bad rap from people who opine on the book after only reading the reviews.

This is a wonderful book---a page turner---one that won't let you go to bed at night. Read it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid This One
Keith Richburg goes to some pains throughout this book to paint himself as being an honest and conscientious reporter who should not be defined by the color of his skin. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Blusuede

3.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking but ultimately and tragically blinkered
I do have mixed feelings about the book - hence the rating. I completely laud Richberg's honesty, courage and willingness to dive headlong into what is a metaphoric minefield... Read more
Published 4 months ago by C. Doan

5.0 out of 5 stars a real eye opener
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.
Published 13 months ago by regular user

4.0 out of 5 stars Out of America
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. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Cwn_Annwn

4.0 out of 5 stars I worthy read, but realize you're only hearing one extreme viewpoint
I've lived in Africa for four years and have always been interested in the African American perspectives of Africa. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jeremy Casterson

1.0 out of 5 stars False Journalism
It is not simply a narrative of what he saw. The controversy arises when the writer constantly speaks in absolutes about Africa being hopeless. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Derick Pearson

1.0 out of 5 stars Neither offended nor moved, just sorry
"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". Read more
Published 19 months ago by C. H. Toomer

2.0 out of 5 stars disturbing
this is a very disturbing and frightening account. While I agree with the authors premise of "straight talk", I do not agree with the pessimism. Read more
Published on March 28, 2007 by John Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
I read this book when it first came out. It is a fascinating, gripping and honest portrayal of the author's experiences in Africa. Read more
Published on March 1, 2007 by Jerry W. Pettit

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly-written book that bravely bucks conventional wisdom
Richburg's book is both immensely important and immensely readable. His command is majesterial. He marshalls facts and personal experiences to substantiate the twin arguments that... Read more
Published on January 16, 2007 by Peter Fuhrman

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