THEY WERE NOT HERE BEFORE COLUMBUS - AFROCENTRIC HYPERDIFFUSIONISM INTHE 1990S

This essay responds to a theory that has been aggressively promoted as fact by an influential group of Afrocentrists in recent years - that New World civilizations were created or were influenced by African vis itors at key points in the centuries that preceded the European discov ery of the Americas. As discussed in this essay, the theory is shown t o have no support in the evidence that has been analyzed by specialist s in various fields. The essay focuses on the methodological approache s employed by Afrocentrists in their study of linguistics, terracotta figurines, technological development, and monumental sculpture. A conc luding section briefly discusses the repercussions of this theory on e thnic relations in schools, on college campuses, and in North American society as a whole.