In the 19th century, black Americans dreamed of a utopian African homeland in Liberia. The American establishment, fearful of the emergence of a free black class, encouraged this dream. None of the former slaves who sailed there so eagerly could have foreseen the anarchy that would tragically engulf their new homeland.

Period photographs and films show how these former black Americans developed a luxurious life style, which came to be despised by the impoverished local Africans. This anger erupted in 1980 when the African underclass led by Samuel Doe staged a shocking coup, culminating in the execution of ex-President William Tolbert and his supporters before television cameras. The U.S. threw its support behind Doe until his excesses became too obvious to ignore, when they helped depose him. Then it supported the next dictator, Prince Johnson.

Narrated by Richard Tolbert,the son of the slain president, the documentary shows the sad and savage state into which the country has fallen. On the streets of Monrovia the capital, gun-draped youths casually commit murder and display the remains of their victims. America's role in both the foundation and eventual disintegration of Liberian society cannot be underestimated.