Sorry. You sounded a little paternalistic, to say the least. I understand--sort of--where you're coming from, but it's not that simple. Look, I know it's hard to fight the stereotypes. The evidence demands serious examination of some uncomfortable areas about African history and civilization that are never even discussed in this country, much less seriously examined.

Why is Africa seemingly stuck in the backwater of civilization except where civilization has been dropped on its head by European colonists?* There's no easy answer. Much as some people would like to think so, it's not race--black people who leave there do just fine elsewhere for the most part. In fact, black immigrants to America typically outdo native black Americans in many fields, which opens up a whole new can of unpleasant worms.

It has to be something else. Is it culture? What do Asian and European cultures have that helps breed advanced civilizations? Or is it something as simple as weather? Do equatorial climates suppress civilization somehow? Does having a climate that tries to freeze you solid for half the year encourage development?

And why is Africa dying in droves from AIDS? Americans aren't. If you are an adult, AIDS in America practically has to be caught on purpose. Is it more contagious there? A more virulent strain? Are there sexual customs involved? Believe it or not, I have not been able to find much that even addresses this question. They are dying of AIDS, and we have to help them, is the only thing that is ever said. I assume scientists are looking into this. Why is it so hard to find?

I tried to find a shot of a modern, skyscrapered African city to prove a point about Africa being more civilized than the stereotypes. I can find millions of such shots in Asia, even in Red China. The first image of a modern African city I could find after discarding dozens of images of large, modern cities in South Africa, was this one:

Kampala, Uganda.

This was the paragraph next to it on the site:

Back in the bustling modern African city of Kampala, there's a living reminder of this country's more recent violent history. Throughout the city you'll find storks, not the pretty pink birds you see delivering babies on the front of greetings cards, but awful, dirty, mangy things as big as dogs, scavenging in the rubbish. Legend has it that they arrived in the 70s during Idi Amin's regime. Over the eight years of his rule 300,000 Ugandans were murdered. It's said the storks fed off the bodies, and they've never left.

Delightful.

*Even asking that question can get your throat torn out by a liberal. And no, Egypt doesn't count. Nice try, though. And it's not like Egypt developed much beyond the pyramids for thousands of years.