White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa
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- Create Date：2021-10-25 06:51:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Susan Williams
- ISBN：1541768299
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Summary
A revelatory new history of post-colonial African independence movements shows how they were systematically undermined by one nation: the US。 This is the untold story of how， over a few vital years， African Independence was strangled at birth。
In 1958 in Accra， Ghana， the Hands Off Africa conference brought together the leading figures of African independence in a public show of political strength and purpose。 It was inspired by the example of Ghana itself which， under the charismatic leadership of Kwame Nkrumah， had just thrown off the British colonial yoke - the first African nation to do so。 It was moment heady with promise for independence movements across Africa， and for all those who believed colonialism was a moral aberration。
Among the supporters of African independence were some of the leading figures of the American Civil Rights movement。 Malcolm X was in Accra and Martin Luther King used Nkrumah's speech as the basis for his own "Free At Last" speech， so clear were the parallels between their own struggle for political equality in the US with that of the African nations。 W。 E。 B。 Du Bois moved to Ghana， inspired by the future of independent Africa。 Yet among the many official messages of support received by the conference the United States was conspicuously quiet， despite its historic and public opposition to colonialism。 Vice President Nixon did attend the celebrations in Ghana and asked a group of black people， "How does it feel to be free？"They answered: "We wouldn't know。 We're from Alabama"。
The conference was also attended by a slew of strange societies， many of which were fronts， and behind them was the CIA。 The CIA was in favor of the end of the British Empire but a pan-African independence movement， one susceptible to Soviet entreaties， looked like a security threat。 Through original research and unparalleled insight， Susan Williams reveals how the CIA's baleful influence was felt from South Africa to the Congo as the agency prepared to move in as Africa's colonizers moved out。
In 1958 in Accra， Ghana， the Hands Off Africa conference brought together the leading figures of African independence in a public show of political strength and purpose。 It was inspired by the example of Ghana itself which， under the charismatic leadership of Kwame Nkrumah， had just thrown off the British colonial yoke - the first African nation to do so。 It was moment heady with promise for independence movements across Africa， and for all those who believed colonialism was a moral aberration。
Among the supporters of African independence were some of the leading figures of the American Civil Rights movement。 Malcolm X was in Accra and Martin Luther King used Nkrumah's speech as the basis for his own "Free At Last" speech， so clear were the parallels between their own struggle for political equality in the US with that of the African nations。 W。 E。 B。 Du Bois moved to Ghana， inspired by the future of independent Africa。 Yet among the many official messages of support received by the conference the United States was conspicuously quiet， despite its historic and public opposition to colonialism。 Vice President Nixon did attend the celebrations in Ghana and asked a group of black people， "How does it feel to be free？"They answered: "We wouldn't know。 We're from Alabama"。
The conference was also attended by a slew of strange societies， many of which were fronts， and behind them was the CIA。 The CIA was in favor of the end of the British Empire but a pan-African independence movement， one susceptible to Soviet entreaties， looked like a security threat。 Through original research and unparalleled insight， Susan Williams reveals how the CIA's baleful influence was felt from South Africa to the Congo as the agency prepared to move in as Africa's colonizers moved out。
Reviews
Jeff Schauer
，
Williams' book focuses in particular on the last few years of the 1950s and first half of the 1960s， examining the attempts of the CIA to manipulate the politics and frustrate the liberation movements in Ghana and Congo。 Williams' narrative--some of it new primarily in the level of detail and layers of evidence she brings to the discussion--is an indictment of U。S。 policy， but also captures the spirit of decolonization and the liberation movements associated with it。The book lacks a conventional Williams' book focuses in particular on the last few years of the 1950s and first half of the 1960s， examining the attempts of the CIA to manipulate the politics and frustrate the liberation movements in Ghana and Congo。 Williams' narrative--some of it new primarily in the level of detail and layers of evidence she brings to the discussion--is an indictment of U。S。 policy， but also captures the spirit of decolonization and the liberation movements associated with it。The book lacks a conventional introduction， and includes layers of detail that make for interesting reading but that take the reader down ultimately distracting paths。 The level of detail about evidence from the intelligence world included in the text is overdone--some extended footnotes， or a section on methods and sources would have contained much of this content and made for a smoother read。 I would love to assign this book for a class， but the lack of an introduction and more analytic apparatus in the book's organisation， plus the extraordinarily rich but also distracting level of detail， discourage me。 It is， however， very much worth reading。 。。。more
Sam Wade
，
The broad strokes will be familiar to most - the fingerprints of the CIA were on the kidnapping and murder of Lumumba， the overthrow of Nkrumah， and the war in Angola。 Williams details the aforementioned along with less sensational US machinations in post-colonial African societies。 The subject and the overwhelming amount of evidence cited in the book make it an important piece of history （and current events）。 But， at the same time， the volume of evidence， however significant， makes for a labori The broad strokes will be familiar to most - the fingerprints of the CIA were on the kidnapping and murder of Lumumba， the overthrow of Nkrumah， and the war in Angola。 Williams details the aforementioned along with less sensational US machinations in post-colonial African societies。 The subject and the overwhelming amount of evidence cited in the book make it an important piece of history （and current events）。 But， at the same time， the volume of evidence， however significant， makes for a laborious read。 。。。more
R。J。Cicisly Jr。
，
Very through and full of Minutiae。 Feels like reading an adventure crime novel in some parts， full of numerous real life characters 。 I’ve read numerous other books dealing with CIA， which mention Lumumba & the Congo in a chapter or two。 This book fills in the gaps and connects the dots to other areas of African resistance。
Sarah Cavar
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However fucked up you think the CIA is， they’re actually exponentially worse。
Marie
，
Thank you to NetGalley， Perseus Books， and PublicAffairs for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review。 Since I don’t feel comfortable tanking the rating of this book just because I couldn’t get into it， （which is a shame， I was really interested in this subject！） I’m going to leave it alone， but I probably would have given it one or two stars。 To start， there’s a truly excessive number of quotations and initialisms。 For the quotations， Williams quotes from dozens and dozens o Thank you to NetGalley， Perseus Books， and PublicAffairs for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review。 Since I don’t feel comfortable tanking the rating of this book just because I couldn’t get into it， （which is a shame， I was really interested in this subject！） I’m going to leave it alone， but I probably would have given it one or two stars。 To start， there’s a truly excessive number of quotations and initialisms。 For the quotations， Williams quotes from dozens and dozens of people， and it’s hard to keep up with。 And the initialisms！ On every page there’s probably two or three different ones， and I had to keep going back to see what they stood for。 I get why you can’t keep spelling out “All African People’s Conference” every time， but I personally could not keep up with them all。 I ended up skipping around until about halfway through and then I DNF’d。 Williams was incredibly thorough in her research but this reads more like a research paper， and it was hard to get into。 。。。more
Zeb Kantrowitz
，
When all of the French and British African colonies gained independence in the 1960s， Ghana was the first and most looking to make the continent free from Europe。 The Congo （Leopoldville） didn't get off to the best start （Nkrumah wanted to help get rid of the Belgians） ending up with four different governments （in four places） and UN mission troops to try and help sort things out。 These are the two countries that Williams focuses on。Ghana， unlike many new African nations， had a competent governm When all of the French and British African colonies gained independence in the 1960s， Ghana was the first and most looking to make the continent free from Europe。 The Congo （Leopoldville） didn't get off to the best start （Nkrumah wanted to help get rid of the Belgians） ending up with four different governments （in four places） and UN mission troops to try and help sort things out。 These are the two countries that Williams focuses on。Ghana， unlike many new African nations， had a competent government and was able to convert over to independence without a civil war breaking out。 The British had worked hard to help train the bureaucracy， but not so well the military。 Almost all of the Officers of the Army were ex-Brits and did not always agree with how Nkrumah wanted to rule。 Ghana was one of the countries who contributed troops to the Congolese mission。The Congo on the other hand was trying to get started with very little help from Belgium， which withdrew all of the colonial administration after independence。 But unlike the Brits， few locals had been trained at management （and above levels）。 So there were real questions as to who was going to run the country， Kasavubu was the choice of the Belgians and Lumumba the choice of the voters。 At the same time the CIA was worried about the Soviets getting their hands on the premium uranium mine in Katanga province， which has announced it was breaking away as well as South Kasai （where the civil war is still raging）。 But the CIA wanted to get rid of Nkrumah who had the idea to united Africa as a "United States of Africa" with everyone working together to improve their countries without ending up in the West or Red Camps。So the CIA had a two pronged strategy， get rid of Nkrumah and place some one more amenable and compliant in his place who wouldn't insist on "helping" the other new nations create real government and cooperation across Africa。 In the Congo they wanted to put Kasavubu in power so as to have a better chance of controlling the resources of Katanga province （uranium and diamonds）。In the end they were able to create enough trouble for Nkrumah so that he had to give up power。 They also were involved in the assassination of Lumumba， which let to the government of Mobuto and decades of misrule and dictatorship which has left the country in permanent civil war。 。。。more
Janet
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