Rating: 
Summary: Brave Scholar Defies PC "History"
Review: These are tough times for honest scholarship, as Mary Lefkowitz admits early on in her book. As she says in her Preface, "There is a current tendency...to regard history as a form of fiction that can and should be written by each nation or ethnic group." In that way, cultural relativism achieves its aim: to make certain groups of people feel good about themselves at the expense of the truth. History, she argues, has been hijacked by political action groups (in this case, Afrocentrist racicals), and the disservice has been the greatest at the point of the endgame: students are being taught, in the name of ethnic pride, things that are false or at least groundless. Thus, the great error of Afrocentrism is that it passes off political indoctrination as fact to impressionable students who have to (1) carry a false view of history into their public lives; and (2) choose whether or not they are to become anti-white racists. This skillfully argued, carefully documented book is a must-read for those who respect honest scholarship and responsible teaching in these PC times, and wish to know the motives behind Afrocentrist claims of black cultural and racial superiority, and the conspiracy theories that support it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not attacking Africentrists
Review: I am not sure if she wants to be extreme to get her point in or if she really believes the things she has written. I say this because the people she are attacking, aren't advocating the things she is claiming they are. Was Socrates black? How about Cleopatra? Was Greece colonized by Egypt? Which Africentrists have made these claims? Did Plato visit Egypt, yes. Was he most likely influenced? Yes. The only person who she attacked with some logic is Mr. James and his book Stolen Legacy. She attacks him saying his work is based on masonic falsehoods. Instead of attacking him, she should have attacked the Caucasians who are teaching the same thing. To say Greece wasn't influenced by Africa is a big bold 'black' lie. That is akin to those saying Christianity wasn't plagerized from Africa. She refutes James' claims as if they are not possibly true. The truth is, the Masonic knowledge may or may not be true. It could be a myth. She refutes it as if she knows it is a myth. The other claims she attacks aren't even made by most African scholars, I don't know of any teaching that Socrates was Black. I am not even convinced that Socartes existed. Ancient writers have named Africa the source of Greek art, philosophy, science, etc. The author mentions Herodotus, Strabo, Diadorus, Eudoxos, Aristobulus and others as tracing Greek cultural achievements to Egyptian sources. She says that her book isn't about race, but it is. She doesn't want to claim that Egypt was a Black civilization? Why not? She claims it was African but never Black. The Egyptians are the offspring of an Ethiopian civilization. The Egyptians are Black, from Blacks. The Egyptian hieroglyphs AREN'T MENTIONED. Why? Is it because they depict Egyptians as Black men and women? Robert Carroll sides with the author but he asks and admits: Have (Western) scholars been fair, accurate and honest in their treatment of people of color? No. Most of the sins of traditional scholarship may have been sins of omission, but they were grievous nonetheless. Have respected historians falsified facts, twisted evidence, or jumped to grand conclusions on the basis of mere possibilities, in order to serve some political purpose? Yes.
Rating:
Summary: Afrocentics Misguided
Review: Book is excellent but What really startles me is the fact how many naive individuals there are out there, especially the ones who written negative reviews here about this book.
First off, DNA testing was conducted 20 years ago on a dozen dug up Egyptian mummified corpses and determined that the Egyptian had genetic traces of Nordic, Semetic and Indo-European, so this theory about Egyptians being black thing was squashed a long time ago.
There has been 6000 written novels and articles in the past 200 years detailing Ancient Greece's culture and history. How could you ignore that when the only evidence that the Afrocentics have is written from one book "Stolen Legacy"?
Rating: 
Summary: Not out of Africa: Baseless and hysterical.
Review: Mary Lefkowitz's book was written to massage White fears about the "dreaded Negro."
She has made many mistakes in her book. She tells us that Hannibal was not Black but a "Semite," when the term "Semitic," is more of a lingustic and cultural rather than a racial term.
Hannibal was Black as his coins indicate. Mary Lefkowitz does not mention these coins. Some say the coins represents mahouts (elephant drivers). However, this is wrong as the Carthaginians mostly depicted aristocrats and gods and goddesses in statues etc.
Her book beats about the bush and does not really thrust into the depths of 'Afrocentrism."
She does not tells us that the Sphinx of Egypt depicts the face of a "Negro," and she does not tell us why the face is Black.
There is a statue of Socrates indicating he was a "Negro."
Before the Library of Alexandria was built, the ancient Black Egyptians had Libraries and Unversities even before the city was renamed "Alexandria."
I recommend "Retake Your Fame," by Aylmer von Fleischer as well as the works of J.A. Rogers and Ivan Van Sertima instead of this hysterical work.
Rating:
Summary: This Deserves 0 Stars.
Review: Mary Lefkowitz' Not Out of Africa opens with a comment that makes one wonder: "Hardly week goes by when an article does not appear by an Afrocentrist writer observing that the discoveries attributed to the Greeks rightly belong to the Ancient Egyptians." In this long painstaking attack against Afrocentrism the reader wonders whether Lefkowitz herself has a few dollops of Greek blood. Someone needs to talk about these charges against the Greeks! And what about their poor descendants? Her entire attack on Afrocentrism as a scholarly discipline, way of thinking and analytic tool is based solely on criticisms of Bernalesque thought. Bordering on ethnocentrism in her own right, in her self-righteous defense of the `integrity' of Greeks and of white people in general, she is worried more about who's been maligned by Afrocentrists pointing fingers than the fact that Eurocentric scholarship has had exclusionary practises for centuries (or that most jingoistic scholarship does, generally): "It is from the Greeks," she argues, "and not from any other ancient society, that we derive our interest in history and our belief that events in the past have relevance for the present." Not Out of Africa is quite obviously an emotionally-charged book.
None of the scholars attacked in Not Out of Africa have ever made the outrageous claims she uses as her main premise, nor have any of them denigrated the role of Greece as a major ancient civilization. Many of them have simply pointed out that black civilizations existed on the African continent prior to the rise of the Greeks, and contributed substantially to the knowledge base of today's world. Lefkowitz claims to attempt to debunk the purpose of Afrocentrism through a pointless analysis of Mozart's The Magic Flute. The reason for Cleopatra's light skin (and therefore white race)? Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra originally featured a white woman and therefore Elizabeth Taylor was suited for her later rendition of the role. She claims that Afrocentrists cling to Egypt and don't even investigate the possible majesties of Sub-Saharan Africa, as if to say, let us white folks have Egypt and leave Greece alone, scrounge around in the rest of the continent for something exciting to put in your history books. Oh, and only read them to yourselves because the rest of us don't care.
Without truly understanding the meaning of the term `cultural history', she lumps `cultural history' and the `myth history' together. She means to use the term cultural particularism but instead insults an entire field of historical inquiry with her misnomer. Lefkowitz also attacks `neo-historicism', a term usually used to describe historical inquiry that happily uses alternative, new sources such as literature and literary critiques to look at the past. By providing no evidence of this, we are later informed that what she really meant to say is that she cannot stand to read history that uses stories, myths and old wives' tales. Her conclusion? Lock Afrocentrists and as many black people as we can up (as if that wasn't already on the agenda)! Instead of actually engaging in intellectual banter with Afrocentric claims and providing the reader with her understanding of why Afrocentrism has been so appealing and scary at the same time, Lefkowitz believes that `censorship and ridicule' should be used to curb the crazy black people from influencing the world any further.
Rating: 
Summary: Is truth a racist?
Review: I have just finished reading "Not Out of Africa". I'm a student of classics and have always been interested in the history of the ancient greek world.
A while ago it came to my attention that some africans and black americans claim that the modern civilization, especially the greek one, was infact invented by the egyptians and was therefore african in origin. Not only that, the ancient greeks had actually stolen (!) their entire body of knowledge about science and philosophy from the africans.
Obviously, this contradicts almost everything I have ever learned about the greek world. How can someone steal a culture from somebody else? Did the greeks really not have any creative powers of their own? I decided to find some litterature on the subject and I came across this book.
I suspected before reading the book that it would be very emotional in tone. The author is american and I am aware of the fact that black americans and white americans do not get along so well with eachother. However I was pleasently surprised by the moderate tone of the book. I don't understand how some of the other reviewers can call it 'emotional'. Have they read the book at all? Lefkowitz is very careful about being balanced in her analysis.
The book is extremely well written for a piece of academic litterature. It's a fast read and her engagement in the subject is like taking part in a academic detective story. However it was with mixed feeling that I finished the book. In it, she had with great ease been able to debunk many of the claims that ave been made by so-called 'afrocentrists'. At times it seems almost too easy; After all, thousands of archeologists, historians and scientists, who have produced the present view of that period in time, can't have been completely wrong about
everything. Lefkowitz' view of greek and egyptian history corresponds well with what I already know; but new and important details have been added. For example, I didn't know that a fiction about an egypt as the cradle of all civilization existed in the 18. century in Europe. The history of masonry and how it influenced the western world, has also been new to me.
Overall this book is a fine example of how you can refute the kind of unscientific vies that afrocentrism represents, with detailed and hard facts. The reason why I can't give it five stars is because I wonder how much relevance this book has for you if you are not american or if you don't live in a country with serious racial tensions. Lefkowitz has been called a racist for writing things that outside the US are obvious for anyone with any insight into the classical world. But she is just referring what established science is telling us. So perhaps truth is a racist?
The real issue here is one of self esteem. Many black people are willing to believe that famous historical figures like Cleopatra, Jesus or even Socrates were black. This is because it gives them a feeling of pride, to 'know' that some prominent figures in history were black. We know for certain that Cleopatra wasn't black from portraits on coins, sculptures and so on. Jesus and Socrates weren't black either, in the accounts that tells us about their physical appearence, there is nothing to indicate that they were 'unusual' (i.e. not white as their
contrymen).
You can laugh at these ludicrous claims, but I find it more tragic than funny that a lot of black people deem it necessary to create a sort of 'black fantasy vs. white reality' world view.
On balance, this a good book, well written and effectively debunking some not scientifically based claims about the ancient world. It does, however, indirectly tell a lot about the american society aswell.
Rating:
Summary: ONE WORD
Review: GARBAGE!!
THIS BOOK SUCKS BIG TIME. IT'S FULL OF BIASED UNTRUTHS. THIS AUTHOR NEEDS TO JUST COME OUT AND ADMIT THE TRUTH THAT SHE'S RACIST TOWARDS AFRICANS AND EUROPEANS ARE SUPERIOR. THE ONLY MYTHS ARE THE ONES IN THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: A load of crap!
Review: I'd like to know how does the author think a people(Europeans) who were notorious throughout history for stealing, lying and killing other races of people should be taken seriously?! Give me a break! Your track record is not trustworthy at all! You have given all non-Caucasian peoples every reason in the book not to trust you! This book is just another attempt to promote white supremacy. I read the book the author is attacking, "Stolen Legacy" and that book was right on point. Maybe those who are attacking it are just in denial? The author of Stolen Legacy says that if the truth were known that the racist thought that Africa is a dark continent that has contributed nothing to the world and that it's people are backwards, would no longer be viewed as such. Well it has been proven many times over all what Africa has contributed to the world and it's people are not as backwards as you might think, the authors of books like Stolen Legacy, The Isis Papers and The Miseducation of the Negro all prove the negative effects of white supremacy on Black minds. The white mind will NEVER fully understand the Black mind. How can you when you think that no matter what others say, you are superior?! And yes I've actually seen the plan laid out by whites to discredit Blacks who challenge them no matter what! I also found it amazing how this Black Ethiopian scientist who got recognition from former President Clinton, Eamegwali(sp), had his skin color "lightened up" in a magazine to show that he must have European blood in him to be so highly intelligent!
As for Greek Philosophers, Alexander The Fake doesn't impress me any. What was so "great" about someone who managed to conquer many nations? More proof that whites consider those who conquer, kill and destroy are "great"! Had Alexander the Fake and his army not destroyed the library at Alexandria, people of African descent would know more about who they are. And that's why many Black Americans are in the dark as to their TRUE history. Has the author forgotten that Africa's people were stolen out of Africa and exploited to the fullest? The fact that they name the library after Alexander is a slap in the face to peoples of African descent! Whites can NOT deny that they've purposely mis-educated non-white peoples and that they teach American and World History from a White perspective in schools and this author is complaining!! I say again, how do they expect us to blindly believe things that the author says in this book when the "author's people" have a track history of promoting white supremacy and discrediting all those who challenge it? Sorry but speaking for me personally and other intelligent Blacks, we're not that naive and are no longer falling for your lies and deceit! I'd like all you who rated this book high to ask yourselves why did Dr. Carter G. Woodson make the book, "The Mis-education of the Negro"? And that book came out way before this one! The point I'm trying to make is that if you whites feel others are teaching lies, how in the world do you think we feel when we're constantly learning new things about our history where you've lied to us? You all can deny it all you want, but that IS what your history is all about: lying, killing, cheating and stealing and one of you have the nerve to make this book and attack a Black author for expressing his views and whom of which did give evidence to back up his claims. The only thing this author proves is ignorance and denial! Wish I could've rated this book 0 stars! Stolen Legacy gets 5 stars from me!
Rating:
Summary: What a load of racist garbage!
Review: This has to be the most ridiculous book that ever came out! I have read scientific evidence that proves that the ancient Egyptians had Black features. The Greeks themselves describe the ancient Egytians as dark skinned peoples with coarse hair. The description of Jesus was even "short, dark with an underdeveloped beard." That sure don't sound like Caucasian! I think Whites need to accept the FACT that Black Africans contributed a lot to the ancient world just like Blacks in America has contributed a lot. Whites love to discredit Black accomplishments. I even saw a plan where they said how to discredit Blacks at all costs. Is it just a coincidence that the nose of the Sphinx has been damaged? Any fool can see that it was a Black African woman! About what the author says about the Egyptians didn't want to associate themselves with Blacks, well if that's true, who do you think is responsible for that? Like Whites use of "divide and conquer" couldn't have been used back then!! Whites have been using that trick for the longest! That's why there's much division amongst Blacks in America! We're not fools! This book is nothing but racist garbage!!
Rating:
Summary: Not attacking Africentrists
Review: A word to the wary; this book is another chapter in the not so-subtle series of attacks against scholars in several related fields - anthropology, archaeology, history and art, who have sought to expand the narrow Euro-centric view presented as the "History of Civilization". Ms. Fitzgerald's lament and diatribe couched in academic rhetoric has attracted attention and acclaim from a right-wing cadre of racial supremacists, who are struggling to maintain an outdated theory of Greece as the only founding pillar of Western civilizations. None of the scholars attacked in her book have ever made the outrageous claims she uses as her main premise, nor have any of them denigrated the role of Greece as a major ancient civilization. They have simply pointed out that black civilizations existed on the African continent prior to the rise of the Greeks, and contributed substantially to the knowledge base of the West. Suggest that readers who may want a broader and more balanced view of African contributions to world culture and its place in history, read the works of Cheikh Anta Diop, Martin Bernal, Professor Emeritus Frank Snowden, or refer to original source materials in Strabo, Herodotus, Homer, Diogenes, Laertius, and Plutarch.
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