Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2021
What is called the “conflict” seems to be very old right now, in view of all that has happened between 1968, when the conflict began to surface at the Eleventh Annual Convention of the African Studies Association in Los Angeles, and the present. The conflict is older than its formal beginning, and we are no closer to a solution now than we were in 1968. The conflict is over who will interpret African history. White scholars, more than blacks, have always understood the importance of controlling history and social thought. The best way to control a people is to control what they think about themselves.