america discovers africa

The Royal African Society

America Discovers AfricaAuthor(s): George BakerSource: African Affairs, Vol. 57, No. 227 (Apr., 1958), pp. 110-119Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/719307 .

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110

America Discovers Africa By GEORGE BAKER

The address that folZows zs given before a joint meeting of fhe Royal African Society and the Royal kmpire Society on February 6, 1958. Mr. B. F. Macdona, vice-chairmax of the Coxncil, presided.

TN recent years a second continent has begun to be included in the American 1 map of the world. A country which had always been looked upon as a kind of annexe, containing a National Park on the grand scale, seldom seen by any but the wealthy sportsmen, has suddenly been recognised as a new continent with peoples of its own, a weighty influence in world affairs and not least a great mineral and international trade potential. With the spate of momentous happenings in Africa since the war Americans have been somewhat startled, some of them I think even a little incredulous, to find that across the water from them lies a vast land-mass almost four times the size of their own country with a population, already a third larger than that of the United States, which in another generation is likely to be twice as large as theils.

As always with new continents, voyages of discovery are being made, but they are voyages with a dlfference. They are not being made by the professional explorers of 17th century pattern but by politicians, business- men, writers, serious students and teenage tourists of Twentieth-Century America. Some of them are voyages in the realms of academic study or light reading only but many are actual travels in Africa. Even about these too there is a difference, for in contrast with the unhurried progress of the early explorers these are journeys in the modern idiom, by air on the " city- a-day", " country-a-week " system. One often hears the story over there of the journalist describing his work who said " Stayin a place a day you write a newspaper article; stay two days you write a book; but stay three you've seen too much and can't write a thing".

A handful of Amencans are employed professionally in Africa and a privileged few receive grants from bodies like the Ford Foundation to pursue lengthy studies in the field, but in general I think we must face the fact that most of them who are " discovering" Africa must inevitably see it by means of these racy tours festooned with Leicas, movie cameras and curios. This applies equally to politicians and men of affairs. Whilst in Washington I attended a meeting at which a very distinguished public figure, in speaking of his own travels, described hov race discrimination still persisted in East Africa, although he had previously admitted that he had only flown over Tanganyika and that much of his contact with the ground had been limited to tarrnac runways at the airports. Let us not mention any names, but on some things about Africa he was certainly a little " green".



lll AMERICA DISCOWSS AFRICA

There may be something in our fnend the journalist's " theory of obser- vation" if we can call it that, but colonial affairs are as importallt as any in Angl>American relations and until the speed of American observers on the scene slours down a bit, I believe we llave a real responsibllity to fill in the detailed knowledge from our own practical expenence of colonial problems which their brief tours cannot give them. If this new-found Amencan public opinion is to be based on adequate study of the facts we must keep them well supplied with infortnation from the field, that is to say, at what they caIl " working level "; and it was information at that level which I found them most anxious to be given. By contrast I think with what one would find in England this means being in contact with a very varied cross-section of the American public.

A few weeks ago I was among some typical boy and girl students at a college in Los Angeles. A party of them was planning to visit Afnca this summer and in our conversations after the taLk they explained that their reason for getting me to the college, and the purpose of their future voyage of discovery this yearJ was to find out in what ways the Amencan people could by personal effort play a part in solving the great problems of Africa, of which they had only so recently become conscious. A little earlier we had been discussing Vice-President Nixon's report on his tour, a state document which had attracted considerable attention atnongst all sorts of Americans. In it Mr. Nixon summed up his comments by saying " . . . the emergerlce of a free and independent A?rica is of as much importance to us in the long run as it is to the people of that continent".

I think these two rather different expressions of the American outlook on Afnca illustrate the wide range, from young to old, from ordinary citizens to national figures, of this explosion of interest in the continent which is spreading through the United States as fast as nationalism is spreading through Africa. I call it an explosion because it is suddenJ it releases powerful pent-up forcesJ its reverberations m11 affect people far beyond those in immediate contact with it, and aIso I think because if it is to be beneficial its energy must be studied and harnessed to certain definite purposes. We have all grown accustomed to hearing of the speed with which events have moved in Africa in the last decade; yet how little on the other hand has one heard of the American march on Africa which is moving with equal speed and may prove in the end to be of equal importance, late though it is. If we may allow ourselves to summarise this talk at the begirlning instead of the end I think we can start off with something like this as an impression of where Amenca stands now in relation to what she has hitherto known aLs " the dark continent ":

1. {' We have got to learn more about Afnca, and do more about it."

2. " What can we do; and what will it cost ? J}

3. " What are the Communists dolng about it ? " I want to try to describe to you how this overall American public opinion

emerges from the views of the people, as irdividuaIs and collectively, and



112 AF1tICAN AFFAIRS

how it is a?fected by their emotions and prejudices. The excuse for my

doing so is that I have just retlltned from eight months in that great country

where, in the capatity of assistant to the Colonial Attache in the Bntish

Embassy in Washington, my job was to study these opinions and try in a

smS way to influence tllem. I emphasise my status as a seconded District

Offic.er because when we spent a day at Harford University near San

Francisco it was a surprise to find that I had beerl billed in the University

newspaper as " a former Govemor of Tanganyika". An uncomfodable

five minutes are in store for me, I think, if a copy of that paper ever gets

tnto S11 Edward Tvnning's haIlds ! The Government of Tanganyika released

me from work in a Distnct for this assigmnent, which was a happy arrange

snent (a;t least, I was very happy about it) because it enabled me to attend

the Trusteeship CouncilJs debates on Tmganyika iIl June and July and

thereby see something also of the Unlted Nations at; work. Apart from the

contact with the people which went with workmg arud livirlg in the courltry

this all-too-short assignment was rounded off by a two-months' spealiing

tour of the States extending olrer some ten thousand miles. My wife went

with me on this tour, and was slightly shaken I think to find that she

had to " do her stuff " alznost as much as I did because there was so much

interest in the woman's angle orl life in a colonial territory. We drove the

whole way by car and spoke with a very representative cross-section of the

American public irl our meetings with Chambers of Conlmerce, Foreign

Policy Associatio:ns, World Affairs Cou:ncils, Women's Clubs, Rotary Clubs,

Liorls} KiwanisJ students atld Faculty members in colleges and universities}

the Press, radio and television, and, of course, individual people in their

homes whe entertained us with al1 the warmth of the celebrated American

hospitality. As a nerve tonic and form of mental exercise I can recommend

speaking touxs in the States. If you can survtive then you can face anythingZ

The first engagement of our tour was to address a gathering of some three

hundred at a service club luncheon in Cincilmati, only to find that I was

preceded on the programme by the original Aunt Jemima of pancake fameS

a worthy coloured lady sponsored by some flour millers who gave us twenty

minlltes of delightful music-hall SOIlgS accompanied by an accordion. Not

being able to reach her histrionic flights I found it quite a task to get the

audience down to the level of colonialism after that.

Newspaper interviews were a constant problem. Although you might take

care what went into their notebooks you could nelrer tell what would come

out. In the same city an hour was spent in serious discussion of colonial

problems with three newspaperrnen, one of whom would keep bringing the

conversation back to African tribal dancings His contribution in his next

edition bore the headline " Tanganyika or U.S. it's the sa,me Rock 'n Roll".

At a women's college in Ohio the students' newspaper had an advailce

write-up in which it was said " Since 1926 Baker has been aided by a nomi-

nated legislatixre council, formerly called the executive council". In 1926

I was nine years old !



113 AMERICA DISCOVE RS AFR1CA

In a Kansas newspaper a long article was the outcome of an interview the women's page editor had xth my wife. The photograph prsnted with it was of a totally different woman. We nerrer found out what the good lady, whoever she was, thought on seeing her picture alongside an article describing her exploits in Africa.

Criticisms and evidence of misunderstalldings were not lacklng amongst the people we met; it would have been disappointing, and probably a sigr of a badly-planned tour, if they had been, but on the whole our reception was one of the utmost charm, courtesy and friendliness. Only once did I come across a man who was clearly bent on sticking to his prejudices come what may. Taking the people as a whole the dominant impressions they gave me were of a deeply sincere interest in the progress of dependent territories and the future of Africa as issues of the greatest importance to the world, alld of a real determination to be better informed about them. I doubt if one could as easily find audiences in England with the same eagerness for knowXedge and the same strength of convictions, especially amongst those sections of the comrnunity not engaged in academic work or public affairs. If these experiences were in any way typical, and I believe they were, it is hard not to believe that the bogy of anti-British feeling in the traditional American anti-colonialism has perhaps been a little exaggerated and that if it derives from nothing more than their lack of knowledge of our doings then the remedy lies with us.

As far as understanding of Africa goes there seem, not surprisingly, to be extremes amongst Americalls. The people, both men arld women, who are well-informed on world affairs, amongst whom the Mvrmons rank high, are more numerous proportionately than in England alld perhaps at times we are inclined to under-estimate the tremendous energy and relish which such people devote to seeking out knowledge and keeping themselves well- informed. Sometirlles, even in the most out-of-the-way places, folks in an audience would reveal in discussion an almost disconcertingly detailed personal knowledge of palts of Africa and comprehension of its problems. Talking practical administratioll to them uras a most stimulating and reward- ing experience, fruitful of a number of new friendships.

On the other hand, of course, there were a great many whose enthusiasm for Afnca was not matched by their knowledge of the continent, whom one occasionally suspected, in fact, of having only a hazy idea of its precise whereabouts Let me tell you a little story to illustrate that side of the picture. It is entirely true and I can vouch for that because I know the infonnation officer who features in the story.

The scene is in the Bntish Consulate-General at Houston, Texas: the telephone operator nngs the infolllwation officer and says: " Can you take this call ? This woman wants a map of Afnca." She agrees to do so, picks up the phone and answers " Good morning. I understand you want a map of Africa. We'll certainly help if we can but the one we have here may not serve your purpose awfully well because only the British temtories in

8 Vol. 57



114 AFRICAN AFFAIRS

Africa are shown in detail. What part are you interested in ? " The voice at the other end replies " The bit around the Holy Land." After that the discussion went on something like this:-

InformSion Officer: " Oh that's a bit fllrther up, and to the right. Perhaps another map might help ? " The Foice: " Well, I don't know. I want that bit around the Ganges." Informtion Officer: " I see. That was last heard of pursuing an easterly course across India." Voice: " That's where the oil troubles are, isn't it ? " Information Officer: " Er Iran or Persia, I think." Voice: " VVhere's that ? " Information Officer, after s2zpp1yits the required geographicai posiGion: " Well, to return to your original request, do you still want a map of Afnca ? " Voice, in a huff: " Well, if you haven't got one of course . . . " and slams down the phone.

The infonnation officer asks the switchboard " VVho on earth was that ? " and the operator replies " Don't know. She said she was a school-teacher." Well, Texans are rather a law unto themselves so maybe that isn't typical. Nevertheless, leaving aside the well-informed people who in spite of their growing numbers are still very much a minority, there are certain general characteristics about American public opinion In which it is possible to trace the ongins of their attitude on colonialism. One clear example I think of the working of this procets was their reaction as a nation to Suez. For that and other reasons these general characteristics are worthy of study. The first thing is that when they think of colonialism they think of Africa, and instinctively of the British in Africa. Their great interest in that continent is thus reflected in their treating Africa and colonialism as synonymous subjects. The ironical part of it is that it is the area about which they know just about the least. About the West Indies, which are close on their own doorstep, they know more. The second thir.g is that much of their opinion is founded on prejudice, particularly against colonialism as an institution. Many of them will argue automatically from the prernise that " colonialism as an institution is inherently bad>" therefore nothing the British can say about their record or objectives in the colonies will justify it. It is often said that this prejudice springs from the early history of the United States. It is true that the Boston Tea Party is not yet forgotten (they have made several new films about that era recently) but r think that view can be given too much emphasis. I do not believe that these things are rooted in past history. It was conspicuous that the fixed ideas derived from a prejudiced emotional outlook on such things as adult suffrage, racial tolerance, and self-determination were more common amongst the young people, whose memories do not go so far back into history, than among the older folk. It seemed to me that a more powerful influence than history in that direction was the fervour with which educated American youth seizes upon problems of human equality and the almost missionary faith in the United States as a champion of that cause.



115 AMERICA DISCOVERS MRICA

The third general characteristic is lack of knowledge. This may have been prompted in the past by prejudice but it is certainly the biggest barrier to mutual understanding at the present time, alld whatever its origin there is no doubt that its consequence is to gve American public opinion in the mass a hopelessly out-of-date conception of empire upon which to base its view of colonialism. Adlai Stevenson says in a magazine article published a few weeks ago that the American attitude " springs more from our revolutionary history as a colony than any extensive understanding of con- temporary coloIlialism.'' From my own experiences I believe that is true. One always finds with an American audience whether they are present, whether it is a newspaper audience or television, that the question is ' what is your message " and if I had to boil down ollr message into one thought it would be " You are out of date, get yourselves up to date, you are basing your estimation of colonialism on something which is entirely in the past and you are not aware of what is going on in the preseIlt. Few of the ordinary people I met seened to be aware of the change that has come over " colonialism " in the last decade, or to realise the pace at which we have been forcing things in the steps towards self-government. It is significant that it should take a man of the calibre and standing of Mr. Stevenson to " discover " the main features of British Colonial administration which he lists in his article as three virtues; first the handing on of western humanities and government to people who had never had them, secondly the provision of capital arBd tcchnical assistance to their countries and the safeguarding by armed power of the peace necessary for their full employment, and, thirdly, arising from all this, the development of world trade and the creation of a global economy from which America derived much of the benefit for little of the cost. To us those ght seem to be glimpses of the obvious but it is interesting that he should corsider thenl importarlt enough to warrant public enunciatlon as though they might otherwise be overlooked

These common characteristics in American public opinion result in people having certain standard reactions to some of the things more com- monly said about Afuca, and as they are of obvious importance ill our approach to Americans, I think I should state them briefly. These are some of the arguments or viewpoints which they are disinclined by instinct to accept if anyone tries to put them to them, and are therefore lines to avoid. The first, particularly in relation to the harnessing of natural resources, is the remark " It cannot be done at present in Africa." They believe aLnything can be done if we try hard enough, quoting their own country as an example. They telescope history by forgetting that it has taken the United States three hundred and fifty years to get where they are now, and they pay scant attention to the problem of where the capital is to be found. On the other hand, this cuts both ways. The American way of life is a form of evolution all to itself} not found anywhere but in America, and we have to understand their viewpoint. I was standirlg takirlg photographs one day on the Aurora bridge, a very high structure over the Union Lake



116 AFRICAN AFFAIRS

in Seattle, when a police car tore up to investigate me. As a pedestnall I was a suspicious character and someone had reported me to the police, xho promptly sent a patrol car along by radio to find out what I was doing on my flat feet when the normal method of propulsion over that bridge was on wheels at something like 50 m.p.h. People who live that sort of life are bound to think that others can, and should, move as fast also; and we must allow for it.

The second standard reaction is " paternalism " in colonial administration which they still seem to treat as the hallmark of colonialism, rather than the partnership conception. They have a fierce conviction that peoples know best what is good for themselves and have an inalienable right to choose their own destiny, for better or worse.

This is akin to the third point, that " universal suffrage is not yet possible." They quote India, and claim that everyone should have the right to vote, whether literate or not and whether capable or incapable of understanding the issues in an election. They cheerfully ignore history, including their own.

The fourth is the argument " the country is not yet ready for self-government." They claim that any dependent territory is ready for self-government when it asks for it, and tend to look upon the attainment of nationhood as simply involving the pronouncement, abracadabra-fashion, of a political formula which cuts the colonial knot at one stroke. A good deal of effort has to be concentrated on connncing them that there are many complex practical considerations irl the life of a country which govern its readiness for independence. It is in this respect that I believe the administrator from the field can be of most use in talking to them.

The fifth is that Britain makes nothing out of the colonies. The conviction of " capitalist exploitation " goes deep, and I came across many who believed that the British Treasury imposes a levy on colonial peoples. They put the clock back two or three hundred years and find it hard to believe that we are not motivated solely by mercantile advantage.

There is also, if not prejudice, at least a critical interest in the subject of settlers, who are too readily assumed to be the same as they are depicted in the somewhat sensationalist novels and films which appear to be the American public's stock diet on Africa. Almost everywhere I went I was asked if I had read a certain recent book on East Africa and if I had did I agree that it was a true picture of East Africa. Perhaps this concern with the problems of multi-racial society arises from the large number of white settlers to be found in the United States r

This talk would not be complete without reference to two factors which tower above all others in their influence on current American opinion about Africa, namely the independence of Ghana and the spread of Communism. I was in the United States to see their reactions to the birth of Ghana, the Nigenan Constitutional Conference in London and the independence of the liederation of Malaya. They were events of profound significance to Americans and there is no doubt that the effect was heightened by the senti- ments of Commonwealth students in the United States who now number



117 AMERICA DISCOVERS AFRICA

thousands. No longer can the cynics stand up and cry perfidious Albion.

No longer can we be accused of delaying tactics, in fact I ink some

Americans are even beginning to tluink that it is possible to go too fast.

In spite of the extra work placed on the State Department by the creation

of thesenew Nations (thenumberof Commonwealth Embassies in Washington

has doubled in the last ten years) this living proof of our good faith has set

the seal on their conviction that colonialism, as a phase of histoIy, will soon

have come to an end. They realise too that the thdrawal of impenal

power will see the emergence from under the protecting colonial umbrella

of all sorts of issues which will become intemational problems for the free

world instead of the private headache of Great Britain. As they stretch out

a hand to the new Africa they ponder the thought that if ever it wvere to

become the United States of Africa, both in size and numbers it would dwarf

the United States of America.

Inevitably this adds piquancy to their speculation on which way the

continent will lean as it gains coherence and cohesion. I cannot remember

a single meeting at which I was not asked what signs there were of Com-

munism gaining a hold in Africa, and it was also interesting to note that the

only occasion when we had American support for what would otherwise

almost certainly have been criticised as " repressive colonialism " was the

suspension of the constitution in British Guiana, on account, of course, of

the Communist threat on the American continent.

This concern with Communism is very real, pervading public opinion

and official policy alike. Mr. Nixon sums up its influence when he writes in

his report: " The Communist threat underlines the urisdom and necessity

of our assisting the countries of Africa to maintain their independence and

to alleviate the conditions of want and instability on which Canmunism

breeds." The outcome of all this then is that hardly anywhere in the United States

does one find a lack of interest in Africa. Almost anything wtitten about

it will be widely read; schools and colleges make voluntary collections of

text books to send there; conferences, seminars and research studies are

sponsored, exchange prograrnmes organised; African sections are created m

libraries; and the State Department is setting up a new Bureau of African

Affairs. May I be petted finally to draw a conclusion or two ? Americans

are fnendly, warm-hearted and alive. Those we met and talked to about

colonies could not have been more stimulating or likeable. If they seem

sometimes to be critical of us and uninformed we must remember that hitherto

they have not played much of a part in Africa. If an audience does not under-

stand the plot they soon get irritated veth the antics of the players. Now,

however, Americans have seen us keeping our promises> confidence is estab-

lished and this is the time for us to " get across to them" to use their own

idiom. I would like to emphasise, however, that they themselves want this

done by people from what they call " working level " in Africa. They believe



118 AFRICAN AFEAIRS

in the " people-to-people " approach. They are a great nation for studpg techniques in any form of work. They are, therefore, more interested in the details of how a job is done than in the reasons why, and I often heard them say that what they wanted was the chance to learn from those who could speak freely with the authority of having held personal responsibility in the field. We have been holding the ball: now they want it passed out to the wing a bit.

h h

SJ18CU88101l MR. BAKER was asked if he would agree that as long as people of standing such as Mr. Nixon and Mr. Stevenson spoke in terms of a free and independent Africa they were doing more than anything else to encourage the atmosphere in Africa which would be of benefit only to the Conunuxiist8. MR. BAKER saidthathecould onlyatlswerthat as an official, but he thoughtitcould be aBwered obliquely in this way, that Afncans who were conscious of their own political progress were paying a lot of attention to what people like Mr. Nixon were saying. VVhether it had any influence on the actual speed at which they were workiw he would not like to say. A MEMBER, referring to Mr. Stevenson's remark that the American people's position

baed on revolutionary history as a colony, asked if the Amencan school textbooks

had in any way been altered in the last 20 years in relation to a basic act of colonialism which 20 years ago was the common method of teaching history in the American schools. He would agree with what Mr. Baker said with regard to information services, they could be improved to put over the message which one would like them to receive. MR. BAKER said that he could not answer the question abut the content of textbooks used in American schools, he could only judge by the attitude and opinions of the students whom he met and would repeat that they were the ones who seemed to have these fixed ideas so that even if the textbooks had been altered the effect of the change had Ilot been felt. With regard to the second question, he wou}d hesitate to create the impression that British information services were laclring. If there was any suggestion of that in his script he must cross it out because he was not trying to say that at all, what he was ttying to convey was the information, given to htim lananilnously, that what the Americans wanted was to talk to people who had been doing the job. Perhaps he could say that there were many who said they did not nvant to be talked at on general prin- ciples and policies of colonialism, what they wanted was to discuss the actual job with the chap on the ground. He was not putting forward any personal suggestions here at all he thought that would be out of place, but he was trying to relate what the American people themselves wanted. If the question was directed to them their answer would be " Let us have the chaps from the ground, they are the orles we want to meet". A MEMBER asked i? Mr. Baker had contacts with mixed audiences coloured and white. ME. BAKER replied that he did. He could illustrate that by a question asked hirrl at the University of Colorado where there were some 250 students present, one of whom was a Kikllyu, and they had a gralld set-to but he found himself being aided by an American whose father had worked on the West Coast and who had strong views on the United Africa Company. They had quite an interesting half an hour and at the exId the Kikeyu came over to him and shook hands and they carried on aa animated conversation in Swahili which made a great impression on the American people present. The Kikuyu said honr much he and his people valued the work of the administration and education departments, the two departments which they regarded asthe mostimportant and con8tructive, and he asked that it should be clearly understood that he was not knocking at the adnlinistration or education. LORD HAILEY thanked Mr. Baker for his very interesting and very personal account of his experiences in the United States. They differed from his own because he first went to the States to talk about some of these questions in 1941 and 1942 at the height of the anti-imperial campaign directed at Frtglanfl for which there were 8pecial



AMERICA DISCOVERS AFRICA 119

reasons into which he would not now go. He found there were prejudices without any great knowledge but at the same time there was an enormous interest and not a mere cunosity about British coloxiial affairs or about Africa in particular which had a genuine altruistic dnve behind it, a genuine and kindly people who would be a little better if they were more instructed and a people with whom one could feel oneself in accord. How far the kind of talks given to them then went he did not know, but the new demand for the presence of people who had actually worked in Africa and other places was al3 to the good, and he did not think they had much to learn from people like himself who had ody experience of other parts of the world. The thing which appealed to everyone was personal knowledge and personal contact with these problems. Lord Halifax related in his recent book that when he was in Washington as Ambassador he had gone to a distant area of America and had delivered at a well-known club what he thought was a con- vincing axld moving account of what Great Britain had been doing in the war. As he left his secretary heard one member say to another " I think it is a very great triumph indeed to have got the British Ambassador here tonight, " and the other replied, " Yes a very good thing indeed, why we have not had a steak like we had at dinnex tonight for a fortnight I "



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