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FREEDOMWAYS FIRST QUARTER 1968

confines of the United States suffers from many flaws, the most serious of which is the fact that it does not offer convincing evidence that this small, essentially non-viable, black nation could pursue an independent course of action and still survive. While the wholesale migration of Afro-Americans to Africa is not feasible, as an ideology it could serve as a useful point of departure in the search for alternatives.

From the earliest days of the infamous Middle Passage to the present, black men in the Western world and particularly those in the Americas have formulated numerous "return to Africa" programs. Often, these programs were fanciful and poorly managed. In other cases, the programs or the leaders (and usually both) were maligned and vilified. The inevitable result was that these programs foundered after achievement limited success because the required enthusiasm and tenacity could not be sustained to continue this most difficult economic, social, and psychological process of shifting a population. In each of these programs, a most important political ingredient was lacking. The parties concerned in the program were not absolutely convinced that their respective interests were threatened to the point where only this form of collective action would permit continued national tranquility. It is this fact in the final analysis which will occupy the position of pre-eminence because, in the words of Lord Chesterfield, "Politicians neither love nor hate. Interests, not sentiment, direct them."

Before repatriation is to be accepted as an alternative approach to the long standing "American dilemma," it must show conclusively that, short of a "final solution" it offers the only means of ameliorating the situation while still satisfying the self interests of the parties concerned. In this context, compassion, humanitarianism, and ethics are meaningless abstractions. Contemporary history is replete with situations showing that not even racial pride is enough to decide the outcome of such deliberations. It is imperative for us to explore the interests of Africa, Afro-America, and white America in the light of repatriation. 

Africa desperately needs a low cost, massive input of trained human resources if it intends to generate a reasonably rapid take-off in economic and social development. The African continent could absorb the influx of many millions without the risk of overcrowding. Because the United States is a racist society, no African, whether he is a high ranking diplomat or a humble student, can ever feel totally secure that
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