the needs of newly established democratic regimes
in the former Soviet bloc. Thus, the 1990’s proved to
be a period of great turmoil and change, with the
United States largely staying on the sidelines, prefer-
ring to let Africans find regional solutions to their
problems.
Impact U.S. influence on developments in Africa
during the 1990’s was minimal, as demands in
other parts of the world preoccupied U.S. adminis-
trations. Africa took a backseat to developments in
Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Bal-
kans, Asia, and the Middle East. This lack of U.S.
engagement in Africa came at a time when African
governments began a process of democratization
and efforts at regional resolution of conflicts. The
lack of sustained U.S. and European attention to
Africa, coupled with stubborn local problems, con-
tributed to the continent’s marginalization as
much of the rest of the world began marching to-
ward greater prosperity owing to the rapidly glob-
alizing economy. Although parts of Africa benefited,
many other parts continued to suffer.
Further Reading
Gordon, David, David Miller, and Howard Wolpe.
The United States and Africa: A Post-Cold War Perspec-
tive. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998. A policy as-
sessment of Africa in light of U.S. interests in the
region during a decade of transition.
Taylor, Ian, and Paul Williams.Africa in International
Politics: External Involvement on the Continent. Lon-
don: Routledge, 2004. Examines great power in-
volvement in Africa during the post-Cold War era
and includes an assessment of U.S. policy.
Wright, Stephen, ed.African Foreign Policies. Boulder,
Colo.: Westview Press, 1998. A collection of ten es-
says exploring various aspects of African country
foreign policies, including toward the United
States and Western powers and institutions.
Robert F. Gorman
See also AIDS epidemic; Bush, George H. W.;
Clinton, Bill; Cold War, end of; Foreign policy of the
United States; Somalia conflict; Terrorism; United
Nations; U.S. embassy bombings in Africa.
African Americans
Definition U.S. citizens or residents of African
descentDespite some progress in economic conditions and signifi-
cant cultural achievements, African Americans continued
to experience discriminator y treatment and to have dispro-
portionately high rates of poverty, criminal prosecutions,
and female-headed families.In 1990, the Bureau of the Census reported that per-
sons of African ancestry in the United States totaled
slightly less than thirty million (or 13.2 percent of
the total U.S. population). By 2000, their numbers
had grown to 36.4 million persons (or 12.9 percent
of the population). In 1990, 4.9 percent of African
Americans were foreign-born, compared with 6.3
percent in 2000. Although African Americans con-
tinued to constitute the nation’s largest minority,
the Hispanic population was growing more rapidly
and would constitute the largest minority early in
the twenty-first century.
The census of 2000 indicated that approximately
54 percent of African Americans were living in the
South, compared with 19 percent in the Midwest, 18
percent in the Northeast, and only 10 percent in the
West. They tended to be concentrated in particular
places. In 64 percent of U.S. counties, they repre-
sented less than 6 percent of the population, in con-
trast to ninety-six counties, where they comprised
more than 50 percent of the population. Among cit-
ies, New York City, with 2.3 million blacks, had the
largest concentration, and Chicago, with 1.1 million
blacks, was second in size. Three cities—Detroit,
Philadelphia, and Houston—had between 500,000
and one million African Americans.African American Culture African American writ-
ers during the decade produced an impressive num-
ber of literary works of high quality. In 1993, Toni
Morrison became the first African American woman
to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Rita Dove
served as U.S. poet laureate from 1993 to 1995. Addi-
tional black writers of significance included Maya
Angelou, Alice Walker, Charles Johnson, Cyrus
Cassells, and John Edgar Wideman. Harvard profes-
sor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., an outstanding literary
critic, wrote numerous works and helped edit the
popularNorton Anthology of African American Literature
(1996), which introduced many students to the field.The Nineties in America African Americans 9