Growing up in Senegal in the 1960s, Ousmane Drame envisioned America as a hip, socially enlightened land of plenty where black people enjoyed the wealth and social prominence of pop stars such as Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye.

Drame, 42, and his friends dreamed of the day they would cross the Atlantic and meet up with their American counterparts, who would no doubt greet them with black power salutes, discuss the philosophies of their mutual hero, Malcolm X, sport the same Afro hairstyles they had adopted and embrace them as brothers.

But when Drame finally came to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue an education in flight instruction, he was rudely awakened. Not only was he not wholly embraced by black Americans, he was frequently stung by remarks about his French accent and inane questions about whether he carried a spear or if the town he grew up in had plumbing.

"Americans are brought up with a great ignorance of Africa," said Drame, who lives with his sister in the Mid-City area. "The things some black people say about it--even educated, professional people--upset me at one time. But not any more. I'm used to it."

Drame's experiences are shared by many African immigrants in Los Angeles' black community. Despite the popularity of African hairstyles, dress, art and music on the streets and in the shops of Crenshaw and South-Central, Africans and black Americans remain divided by vastly different cultures, history and persistent misconceptions about each other.

Though a growing number of groups are working to bridge the gap, Africans say most Americans either romanticize Africa as a monolithic motherland or--more commonly--think of it as an interesting but faraway place too physically and culturally remote to relate to their lives.

"How could it be otherwise?" said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, an author and lecturer on the socioeconomic conditions of blacks in America. "Other than the basic trappings--the \o7 kente \f7 cloth, \o7 kufi \f7 hats and hairstyles--we're American. In spite of the mystical thing a lot of black people have about Africa, there really is no connection."

Drame, though he says he enjoys good relationships with his American neighbors and acquaintances, agrees. "Many blacks here don't want to admit it, but they are much more American than they are African," he said.