Not Out of Africa: How ""Afrocentrism"" Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History

Title: Not Out of Africa: How ""Afrocentrism"" Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History
Author: Mary Lefkowitz
ISBN: 9780465098378
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 1996
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: First Edition
Number of Pages: 240
Publisher Description: Were Africans the true inventors of democracy, philosophy and science, rather than the ancient Greeks? Were Socrates and Cleopatra really of African descent? Was Greek philosophy stolen from Egypt? So Afrocentrist writers from Malcolm X to Leonard Jeffries have claimed. Most recently, in his book "Black Athena," Martin Bernal suggests that European scholars have refused to acknowledge the full extent of the Greeks' debt to Egyptian civilization.

In "Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History" distinguished classicist Mary Lefkowitz surveys the historical evidence in this fascinating and incisive discussion and shows why there is no reason to think that the Greeks stole their civilization from Africa. Lastly, she provides a rational approach to a debate that has been dominated by emotional exchanges in the past.

Should myth be taught as history in order to raise self-esteem or define a culture's identity? Lefkowitz shows why it should not, why teaching "feel-good history" is dangerous. She explains why these myths keep students from learning about real ancient Egypt and the real ancient Africa. Lefkowitz also reveals that most of the assertions made by the Afrocentrists are historical fictions stemming from old European misconceptions of Egypt.