SO WERE THERE AFRICANS IN NORTH AMERICA BEFORE COLUMBUS--THE WASHITAW NATION, FOR EXAMPLE

According To the book, Black Indians by William Loren Katz, 1986--

No.

In his history of Black Indians, he does not report any African presence in the New World until after Columbus. He does place Africans in a Spanish colony in 1526. This is before a number of Spanish explorers went into the New World.

But this is not a blog about the history of the New World. This is a blog about Nubia and its influence.

So I go back to an earlier statement:

Until someone can offer conclusive proof of an African presence in the New World, I will have to believe contact may have been made by Africans, Africans may have even set up settlements in the New World, but for the most part they were trading partners--nothing more.

The blogs above say it the best--if there is no genetic link found, for example, it's hard to believe they stayed around to develop great empires. Empires like the The Washitaw Nation. This nation may exist, but I doubt very strongly that it existed before Columbus arrived.