In 1955 Richard Wright, an American writer who wanted to hear the human race speaking, traveled to Bandung, Indonesia to cover the unprecedented gathering of Asianand a few Africanleaders that has become known as the Bandung Conference. The Color Curtain, Wrights book about the conference, is among other things an appeal for altruism, a call for the West to nurture the new-born countries represented at Bandungeven if that would mean grooming potential rivals.