The Graves Are Not Yet Full: Race, Tribe and Power in Modern America - Exploring Racial Dynamics & Social Issues in Contemporary US Society
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Product Description
Since 1983 journalist Bill Berkeley has traveled through Africa's most troubled lands to seek out the tyrants and military leaders who orchestrate these nations' seemingly intractable wars. Shattering once and for all the myth that ancient tribal hatreds lay at the heart of the continent's troubles, Berkeley instead holds accountable the "Big Men" who came to power during this period, describing the very rational methods behind their apparent madness. Weaving together insightful historical analysis and his own keen observations of ordinary men, women, and children struggling in the midst of terrible violence, Berkeley insists that what the world often sees as uniquely "African" interethnic troubles are in fact rooted in the international politics of colonialism and the Cold War. The Graves Are Not Yet Full provides a convincing explanation for the last half-century's cycle of revolution and genocide in Africa, detailing the stirring history of these nations' quests for peace and independence over the last seventeen years. Berkeley's incisive analysis does much to bring recent African history into sharp focus while at the same time illuminating just what it is that allows societies-wherever they may be-to accept, and sometimes embrace, violence.
Customer Reviews
To the casual observer Africa looks to be the "heart of darkness' or the "dark continent" found in Joseph Conrad. From the bits of news and information gleaned from the Western press, it would appear that the entire continent is a cauldron of ethnic diversity simmering under the heat of individual quasi-nation states that could erupt for any reason at any time. "Tribalism" becomes a codeword for inaction, since it would appear to be useless to act with all the ancient hatreds.This quick diagnoses and prescriptions for non-action have allowed Africa to flounder in a disconnection from the global economic, political and social revolutions of the twentieth century. Bill Berkeley operates on the crazy notion that one should look into the issues facing Africa before making such judgments. Instead he meets individuals in and connected with Africa. In six chapters he finds two basic theses: first, the individual actions are affected by what he terms, the "big man"; second, the individual actors seek their own ends through means that may hurt or help other actorsOne example is Zaire. In Zaire, Berkeley's Big Man is Mobutu who uses the idea of anarchy and instability to maintain his own tyranny, a theme throughout through out the work. Mobutu uses the ethnic differences as a "wedge issue" to divide his subjects and through a slight of hand pitting Kaisans against Katagans. This divide and rule allowed Mobutu to continue his kleptocracy long after it had outlived its Cold War uses.Berkeley reports his experiences in Africa. Further, he analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the "oh, it's Tribal" attitude. While not letting the US or the Soviets completely off the hook, Berkeley sees a larger picture in each case. In Rwanda he sums it as "the rule of the gun over the rule of law." While at times he tends to under-analyze, such as whether Museveni's point on ethnicity versus class is valid, Berkeley is still open to interpretations and does not see anything as the good guys versus the bad guys. (His look into the Tutsi rebels in Rwanda and the violence perpetrated by the ANC bares this out). The fact is that problems in Africa are not "just tribal." Instead, he tries to look to qui bono. If the Zulus are fighting with the ANC instead of the Apartheid regime; qui bono? This is a must read for anybody interested in Africa or political movements in the world in general.
