ABSTRACT
In July 1976 the Foreign Affairs Task Force of the Democratic Party's platform drafting committee accepted most of the recommendations of its Study Group on Africa. Candidate Jimmy Carter was aware of black Americans' interest in US policy toward Africa. The notion that Afro-Americans should play an important role in shaping US Africa policy can be found in the writings of one of Carter's main Africa advisors. The high profile given to African affairs by the Carter team was related to the backgrounds of key staff members. The Carter team's opposition to white supremacy was part of a general trend that was transforming the foreign policy establishment. The administration's early policy on southern Africa was dominated by the regionalists. The leaders in Pretoria knew that if instability in Namibia reached regime-threatening proportions the West would be willing to dump the white supremacists if a viable ruling class of black moderates could be eased into place.
