diamond was interested in african-americans' civil rights at a young age, writing about the topic as early as age fourteen. as a young man, he befriended an african-american artist whom he admired, and they remained close. while he was serving with the british army in north africa, he met soldiers who had been sold by their tribal chiefs to the south african military. diamond attributes his social justice values to his early experiences: "being a jew i always tie the two things together, that is, the persecution of jews and the persecution of africans and african-americans were twin horrors of civilization. i suppose it goes back, then, to the question of social conscientiousness and social conscience."