loans could cure. By the 1980’s, most African coun-
tries were so sunk in debt that the entire continent
could be said to be steeped in a debt crisis. As the
Third World nations gained more clout in the United
Nations in the 1970’s, they assumed that their
strength in numbers would translate into greater au-
thority and control over the dynamics of global eco-
nomics. The debts that most countries had inherited
in the 1960’s and 1970’s they erroneously believed
could be glossed over by lending institutions in the
developed nations of the world. As most of these
countries had also assumed membership in the Inter-
national Monetary Fund (IMF), a subsidiary of the
United Nations, they also mistakenly thought that
they could sway the course of events in their direction
and demand fairer treatment on their loans. The
United States, with its budget increasingly devoted to
military buildup and the containment of commu-
nism, could not have proven to be a worse ally to Af-
rica on this subject in the 1980’s.
In addition to the ravages of debt, broken in-
frastructure, and unfavorable trade relations with
developed nations, Africa was hit by the AIDS pan-
demic. Whole communities were wiped out; gov-
ernments were in chaos as the continent was left to
grapple with the interminable effects of the deadly
disease. Looking to the United States, African na-
tions expected help but instead received the well-
rehearsed message of self-help that was the mantra
of social conservatism. When in their desperation
they turned to the United Nations for help, they
again met with stiff resistance and came to realize
that the multinational institution was largely manip-
ulated by the key players in the international com-
munity.
Impact As Africa rapidly became the theater of ex-
tremely difficult problems during the decade, it con-
stantly looked beyond its boundaries for aid and
assistance from the United States and the rest of the
developed world but was met with a unfavorable
dynamic still dominated by the Cold War.
Further Reading
Berkeley, Bill.The Graves Are Not Yet Full: Race, Tribe,
and Power in the Heart of Africa. New York: Basic
Books, 2001. The book draws an uncanny parallel
between the evil intentions that motivated Adolf
Hitler to kill six million Jews to outrageous atroci-
ties in Zaire, Rwanda, and South Africa under rac-
ist regimes.
Duignan, Peter, and Lewis H. Gann.The United States
and Africa: A Histor y. New York: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1984. Traces more than four centu-
ries of relations between Africa and North Amer-
ica. Challenges prevalent assumptions of the
benefits of colonialism, stressing instead the valu-
able contributions of Africa to North America in
the course of the relationship.
Gordon, David F., David C. Miller, Jr., and Howard
Wolpe.The United States and Africa: A Post-Cold War
Perspective. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998. Offers
a penetrating look at the moral and practical as-
pects of U.S. relations with nations of Africa and
calls for a fresh approach to fill what appears to be
an ideological void.
Huband, Mark.The Skull Beneath the Skin: Africa After
the Cold War. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 2001.
The author contends that the West from the colo-
nial times has maintained a negative and debili-
tating effect on most of Africa and urges the West
to “leave Africa alone.”
Mokoena, Kenneth, ed.South Africa and the United
States: The Declassified Histor y. New York: New Press,- A piercing review of the secret relations be-
tween the South African apartheid regime and
the United States.
Schraeder, Peter J.United States Foreign Policy Toward
Africa: Incrementalism, Crisis, and Change. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1994. A theoretical
analysis of U.S. foreign policy toward Africa in the
post-World War II era.
Austin Ogunsuyi
See also Cold War; Foreign policy of the United
States; Reagan, Ronald; Reagan Doctrine.African Americans
Definition U.S. citizens of African descent
As a result of affirmative action programs and legislation
passed prior to the 1980’s, some African Americans experi-
enced greater access to education and employment during
the decade. However, African Americans as a group still re-
mained at a disadvantage economically, educationally,
and socially relative to their white counterparts.
The affirmative action programs and legislation put
into place in the 1960’s and 1970’s finally began tak-
ing root in the 1980’s. African Americans’ educa-The Eighties in America African Americans 27