...his hair and his clothes. So excuse me if I sound cynical, jaded. I'm beaten down, and I'll admit it. And it's Africa that has made me this way. I feel...because, now, I am not one of them. In short, thank God that I am an American. Out of America On Native Ground "When I was at home, I was in a better place,...

...ancestor survived that voyage." He then proceeds to summarize his reaction to the entire experience: "But most of all I think: Thank God my ancestor got...because, now, I am not one of them. In short, thank God that I am an American."32 Of course, in giving voice to these emotions and in reporting this vision...

...the Caribbean and thence to South Carolina, but does not lament his deracination. He writes, rather, "Thank God my ancestor got out because now I am not one of them." This isolated viewpoint among black American writers is an unusual mixture of intellectual dissent...

...or finally journalist Keith Richburg ("The very term 'African' offends him. 'Thank God', he writes, 'my ancestor got out, because, now, I am not one of them... In short, thank God I am an American").12 His assessment of Africa is not negative, but he believes Africa and African problems...

...attitudes, my sensibilities, loves, and desires - derives from that one simple and irrefutable truth Thank God my ancestor got out, because, now, I am not one of them. In 19 short, thank God that I am an American. It is important to understand the context in which he articulated...