ABSTRACT
Iode Mbunza easily imagined a white man reading a book in a flying machine. Writing and machines were at the heart of the white man's power in colonial Africa. Iode also imagined that white colonizers had been cannibals and that whites in general had magic that made them powerful. Most Americans have been more like Iode when it comes to thoughts about Africa. Many Americans now say that African cultures are "not inferior, just different." After learning to avoid Dark Continent and Wise Africa images of Africa, we still might imagine Africans to be equal, just different. We might be "objective" and seriously study Africa to learn about its various environments, histories, customs, politics, and economics. In learning about Africa, we might even become sympathetic toward African problems and act to be helpful. The reality is that the cultures of Africa are neither separate from our own nor equal in power to control their own destinies.
