Race and US Foreign Policy: Reflections on West Africa (Report‪)‬

RACE IS A SALIENT FACTOR in US foreign policy (Shepherd, Jr., 1970; Gardiner, 1968). The birth of this nation was shrouded in white supremacy even as the words of the Declaration of Independence were penned and the US Constitution was adopted. The Constitution established a system of governance that identified African slaves as only three-fifths of a person (Art. 1, Sec. 2). Persons of African descent were denied citizenship. This reflected a foreign policy toward Africa that brutally deprived West Africa of her most valued resources, human beings and their labor. This trade policy was unjust, unfair, and immoral. It bequeathed a legacy that still impairs US relations with Africa. The slave trade was a free market trade. However, it impoverished Africa and enriched America. Historically, free market policies pursued toward African countries by Europeans or Euro-Americans have been used as instruments of plunder or control (Rodney, 1972). These policies deprived Africans of their resources without either paying any price or a fair price. Free trade may not be fair trade. Indeed, the masses of African people were victims rather than beneficiaries of such a free market.