Stereotypical Africa vs. Real Africa

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As a prelude to writing this essay, I would like to admit that I have never been to Africa. Further, my opinion about the “black continent” has been shaped by what I have seen or read in media. When I think about Africa, the images that first come to mind are; various wildlife programs on National Geographic channel; Michael Jackson’s music video “Black or White”; various campaigns by world leaders to eradicate poverty; and dictators and ethnic strife. And off course the campaign against apartheid in South Africa. I don’t know for what reason, but the image I get does not include the northern Arabic influenced part of Africa. As if that was a separate continent. Maybe it has got to do with how media perceives that region.

With this background, I will go through Curtis Keim’s book, the Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the African Mind. While reading this book, I plan to explore my own biases as against what has been written in this book about Africa. The key words that come to my mind while thinking about Africa aren’t very different from those quoted by Curtis’s students. I too think of the place as the native world thanks to Darwin’s theory of evolution and subsequent research work that makes to textbooks and television program. However, it does not resonate with me as much a native land should. I believe that could be because of different physical features Africans have as compared to ordinary Americans. More so, we don’t know about the historical link as Africans moved out to rest of the world. The historical link between America and modern day Europe is well documented and studied. But, very little is known about such historical links between Africa and Europe. I believe it is because of thi...

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...ly high number of women in parliament. Still the stories that come out in media are generally of oppression and poverty (Pietsch). More recently, a woman from Kenya had won Nobel Prize for Peace.

Fortunately, with each passing decade, Americans have been treating Africans with less prejudice. Perhaps we are in the process of deep introspection. We cannot to have myths about Africa because of its size, population, resources and modernization. Against this background, it is expected to play a leading role in the world for good. Therefore, it is destined to its rightful place in the world, and been taken seriously.

What we should strive for is a view of Africa as a continent full of real people, both like us and not like us. It may be, however, the only thing that will make our home – the planet – a safe place to live.

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