Synopses & Reviews
Bestselling author Randall Robinson, one of our nation's most distinguished African-American leaders, returns with a book certain to be as important and controversial as his classic book on reparations,
The Debt. The man hailed by Cornel West as "the greatest pro-Africa freedom fighter of his generation in America" makes a striking departure, figuratively and literally: He leaves America for a life in the Caribbean.
Randall Robinson is quitting America, and this book charts his journey from the most powerful nation on earth to the tiny tropical island where his wife was born. His search for a more peaceful and hospitable place grew out of the disappointment and increasing sense of abandonment he felt in the land of his own birth an America that has sapped the creative energies of his race and "transfigured humanity."
Here, in a culture that is as different from America as black is from white, Robinson shares his feelings about the need to escape the racism he has fought all his life. Yet even while he lives among his wife's people, America is never far from his mind. He discusses the current state of political and socioeconomic affairs in our country, and why the leadership we have put in place will continue to fall short of our expectations.
Another stirring example of the astonishing breadth and scope of Randall Robinson's vision, Quitting America demonstrates once again why he is one of the most profound and provocative thinkers of our time.
Review
"Robinson sees the difference between the status of blacks in America and blacks he sees in St. Kitts as the result of the 'post-slavery American experience.' Readers will find it difficult to disagree." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Some may argue with his reasoning but few can fault his passion and zeal." Library Journal
Review
"[Robinson's] continued critique and analysis...though often painful, can only enhance an America willing to realize its ideals." Booklist
About the Author
Randall Robinson is the founder and former president of TransAfrica, the African-American advocacy organization he established to promote constructive and enlightened U.S. policies towards Africa and the Caribbean. The author of the national bestsellers The Reckoning, The Debt, and Defending the Spirit, Mr. Robinson's views on foreign policy and race in America are widely discussed in the American print and television media.
Table of Contents
Contents PART ONE: FIVE HUNDRED YEARS OF WHITE CRIMES AND SELF-ABSOLUTION IN THE AMERICAS
Chapter One: Jewel 3
Chapter Two: Man-Boy 19
Chapter Three: Progress 32
Chapter Four: Theft 36
Chapter Five: Extermination 46
Chapter Six: Race 49
Chapter Seven: Money 58
Chapter Eight: Courtesy 64
PART TWO: THE UNREMARKED DISINTEGRATION OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
Chapter Nine: Leader 75
Chapter Ten: Insiders 79
Chapter Eleven: Deal 94
Chapter Twelve: War 97
Chapter Thirteen: Iraq 106
PART THREE: THE INNOCENCE OF GUILTLESS SMALL PLACES
Chapter Fourteen: Hubris 127
Chapter Fifteen: Frauds 131
Chapter Sixteen: Leaving 138
Chapter Seventeen: Decline 147
Chapter Eighteen: Culture 159
Chapter Nineteen: Callousness 171
Chapter Twenty: Friend 178
Chapter Twenty-one: Morality 216
Chapter Twenty-two: Arrival 223
Afterword 244