Jack D. Forbes's monumental Africans and Native Americans has become a canonical text in the study of relations between the two groups. Forbes explores key issues relating to the evolution of racial terminology and European colonialists' perceptions of color, analyzing the development of color classification systems and the specific evolution of key terms such as black, mulatto, and mestizo--terms that no longer carry their original meanings. Forbes also presents strong evidence that Native American and African contacts began in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.  "A great piece of scholarship, a refreshing analysis of race in the Americas, and a significant advance in the understanding of Africans and Americans in the ethnic make-up of this country."--Molefi K. Asante, author of Historical and Cultural Atlas of African Americans   Africans and Native Americans (the book) explores key issues relating to the evolution of racial terminology and European colonialists' perceptions of color, analyzing the development of color classification systems and the specific evolution of key terms such as black, mulatto, and mestizo, which no longer carry their original meanings. Jack Forbes presents strong evidence that Native American and African contacts began in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean and that Native Americans may have crossed the Atlantic long before Columbus. Jack D. Forbes (d. 2011) was a professor emeritus and the director of Native American studies at the University of California-Davis. He was the author of Columbus and Other Cannibals: The Wetiko Disease of Exploitation, Imperialism and Terrorism.