In a recent opinion piece, a political commentator argues that the African continent is too often stereotyped as being filled with violence and poverty. He believes that most people are under the wrong impression about the current state of the continent and that the overall well-being of Africa is much better than people think. He further argues that Africa is ready for an economic boom, much like India and China. He points out how modern many African countries have become and that there are growing industries and productivity. Countries like Nigeria and Tanzania are doing well because of democracy and capitalism. The violence and poverty that we so often associate with Africa only is in a very small portion of the continent, according to the author.
This short opinion article offers a refreshing and optimistic viewpoint on the current state of Africa. But is the author being realistic? Are we under the wrong impression because we only hear about the negative aspects and events within the continent or is Africa as bad as it seems?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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7 comments:
I have problems with articles like this because I think they fail to give a whole picture of what Africa is really like. First, I would like to start with a discussion of the word "Africa." This word, of European origin was first used by the explorers and colonists to refer to the entire continent. What frequently happens is that people say "Africa" when in reality they actually are refering to a much smaller part. For example, Nigeria and Ghana. These two countries are only a fraction of Africa and in no way represent the ENTIRE continent. There is no one African culture or African language. There is no one African style of government or way of doing things. In fact there are thousands of languages and many countries. What the author of this article does, really bothers me. He uses the word Africa ambiguously and thus takes some progress in specific areas and projects it onto the entire continent. It is great that these countries are growing and developing, I am not negating this is any way. But this type of projection of one part of Africa onto the continent as a whole is a problem which is seen around the world. Africa is not one place, but many places which are as diverse as they are numerous. To say that Africa is improving and there's nothing to worry about is absolute melarchy.
After reading the original article, I have to disagree with this comment. The author was in no way suggesting that improvements were happening EVERYWHERE in Africa. Rather, he is actually doing the opposite. He recognizes the vast differences between the many countries on the continent. He simply points out that it is not fair to extend some countries' violence and unrest to all countries, just like it wouldn't be right to extend some countries' prosperity to all. He never says "Africa is improving." Rather, he points out specific areas that are showing marked progress, including Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso. Given the extensive evidence the author references, including IMF articles and personal experience, I found this article to be both well-written and convincing.
Read the original article and Megan's comment; anyone else see the irony in Elle's comment?
Thanks Ryan, I tried to start a discussion on a similar topic and failed woefully (O comments, but I'm hoping Dr. D doesn't award points based on these)....Anyway, let me try to set up what is probably a very weak analogy: You live in a Ghanaian (where else) city, and happen to be somewhat of a news buff. Anytime there's news from the USA on TV, it's either about drive-by's in Philadelphia or the plight of the homeless in New York City; on the good days someone holds up a bank in Detroit and no one is injured, but sometimes it can get really bad, and a seemingly normal teenager shoots up his entire high school with the same gun his father keeps hidden with the white cape that has two holes cut into it.
Just as I was horrified by the absolute evil that birthed and carried out the Rwandan genocide, I was amazed at the courage of the heroes and the feats of humanity that they managed to pull off. Point is, don't just tell a part of the story, and I think that's the major issue that this article gets at. Biased reportage about our continent means that the first things that jump to most people's minds are famine, war, disease and outright misery...For me, this article was a breath of fresh air
I agree completly with Pierre that this article was a breath of fresh air. I also agree with the point that negative coverage is not just unique to africa. It is part of human nature to focus on the negative, its like the car crash you can't look away from. The new is flooded with violence and horrors because that is what draws people's attention. The postive and goodness of people often gets pushed to the side. Although Africa might be an extreme case of this, I think that it is really important to keep in mind all the great things that are happening in Africa that often get forgetten about.
We definitely have to stop stereotyping from Africa, a continent that is considerate like that dark side of the world for the violence and poorness, and if we don't help them is difficult watch a change.
I am doing a research on this and i thank you guys for all of your opinions, it helped alot.
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