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resolution of the Darfur conflict. Does the fact that this book deals with Darfur mean
that just about anyone can write anything they like about ‘Negro Africans’ (p. 78), and
not only get away with it, but also be rewarded for it? Where are the Darfuri voices?
The Darfuri do not need denial; they need prompt and decisive action to stop the
senseless killings, which one Sudanese observer, Sharif Harir, describes as being ‘completely out of character with the people of Dar Fur’ (p. 235). In spite of the fact that
he dedicated his book ‘to those who seek to make an independent African Union, and
. . . dare to pursue a path of reform’ (p. v), all available evidence seems to suggest that
Mamdani—a reformed Marxist—has, regrettably, chosen to become a successful academic entrepreneur, exploiting his privileged academic position and access to top
African Union policy makers for his personal aggrandizement to the detriment of the
African peoples in general and the Darfuri people in particular. While some anxiously
await the emergence of academics able and willing to articulate the interests and priorities of the people of Darfur, they can be sure of one thing: Mahmood Mamdani is
not one of them.
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