AN AFRIGnH VIEWS AÍ2RIC.A
Popular interest in African affairs is beginning to register in
peopleTs minds, and history has something to say about this delayed
arrival. America shares with much the rest of the-world in.brining
to Africa an attitude which reflects an awareness, often lacking in
compliments, of this relatively under-developed status that characterizes present day Africa.  The by-product of this African status is an
absence on the part of the African of widespread knowledge about the
rest of the world coupled, nevertheless, with deliberate determination
on the part of the enlightened few to realize development which sets a
pace adecuate to make up for lost time
The inter-relation of views between the African an<i the American
is to be examined: -    '-"
Let us point out the difference between the African attitudes on
the one hand, and the American attitudes on the other.  This difference
lies in their cultural goals, and gets strongly evidenced in the
manner auestions are asked. The American will ask "How". Most
ouestions by the African begin with "Why".
I do not find this difference to be insignificant, it brings out
in sharp relief the fundamental patterns of thought in the two sets
of peoples.  Inadequate knowledge about the patterns of thought of a
people increases the chances of.misunderstanding, which in turn may
lead to frictional relations. Our world today seems genuine in its
intentions to bring these frictions to a minimum.  And there can be
little doubt that enlarging our knowledge of the patterns of thought
of the different peoples enhances-our chances of success in this
endeavor.
Let us take two items that are much in our minds:(1) the relative
low incomes that characterizes many African economies are an open
index of the under-developed status of Africa.  Africa is acutely a-
ware of America's knowledge of these conditions. Yet in the process
of increasing the levels of these incomes, the efforts of the African
are not always supplemented by American contributions in a manner
and to the magnitude that America is known to have done elsewhere,
The result is that the African is left to believe th-^t the premium
which America has placed on his welfare f-^lls at the low end of the
scale of American priorities.  And the outcome of this conclusion has
ramifications whose consequences it is not even proper to conjecture.
(2)From the American point of view, private enterprise and democracy
are synonymous. What many Africans are doing with their economies,
on the other hand, does not succeed in persuading the American into
the belief that "free" institutions are taking root.  In consecuence
the already widespread American view that Africa is not with the West
is Strengthened, leading , in turn, to hesitant relations.
Environmental differences between America and Africa are fundamental.  These differences work in the direction of reducing the scope
of cooperation between the two countries. Yet it is realized that
cooperation is mutually beneficial.  To extend this cooperation thus
becomes a matter of deliberate concert, and the logical point of
start is with calling on research workers to clarify the relative
importance of the existing media of communication.