Stereotypes of a Foreign Land
Today is election day in Chad, and we already know who will be the winner. So far, all is quiet. This in itself is a bit worrisome, as no one is certain what will happen next. For the moment, many UN staff are still here in Cameroon and waiting for some sort of sign that might tell us what will come next. Not much has changed in our status since a last wrote.
Currently, Chad is doing a good job of living up to one of Africa’s primary stereotypes – a war-torn country with a power-hungry and corrupt leader. Unfortunately, there are many stereotypes of Africa, many that I remember growing up with. I remember the associations of Africa to poverty and starving children, to wild animals, to naked people with weird objects in their lips, and of course to war. Then, there is the image of the white guy standing in the giant cooking pot surrounded by African village people (I like this one!). These types of generalizations are being unfairly applied to a diverse continent four times the size of the continental US and are far from representative of the whole of Africa (particularly the cooking pot!)
Through my experience, my own stereotypes have changed. How could they not? In Guinea alone, I lived two years in a small village, two years in a regional capital, and two years in the country’s capital city. In addition, I have visited 11 of the 52 African countries, and I have lived in four.
I have seen historical lands like Ethiopia (albeit very briefly), and former slavery centers like Goree Island in Senegal (many times). I have lived in oil-rich Chad, and I have lived in the musically and culturally rich land of the Mandingo. I witnessed too the UN nation-building in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, a nation created by former US slaves and now led by Africa’s first female president. And this is just a hint of my experiences.
It has been almost eight years since I first came to the African continent and since then, I have spent little time away. When I share my experiences, I sometimes wonder “What are they thinking?” By “they,” I mean you - you who read what I write; you who listen to my stories; you who see Africa as a completely alien world. And I hope that my experiences somehow aid others’ perceptions of the world, and particularly of Africa.
If all one does is watch TV to learn about Africa and the world, you might learn something, but it will likely be very narrow in scope and not tell you the whole story. It is like this picture I saw of a young girl in the Disneyland Haunted House who is carrying her umbrella; it is not until the room physically stretches to a larger dimension that you see the tightrope upon which she treads lightly and the crocodiles below ready to have lunch!
If American television portrays Africa as somewhat of a living hell, then TV in Africa leads people to believe that America is a paradise. Only the very few Africans that are lucky enough to get to the US find out that TV did not tell them the whole story.
Many young African men that you meet want to go to America. When I talk to them, they ask about America and how they can get there. They would love to play their part as an illegal immigrant if they could. The images on TV are too convincing. Often, African people tend to block out the other information – that of a cousin or friend who returns from a US visit and tries to explain that in the US, people work hard, people must work hard to survive, to lodge themselves, to put food on the table. This seems ludicrous to many people here. It must be that this person returning from the treasured land must just be jealous and want to keep the secrets of the golden fruit hidden from the others!
It is human to generalize others that we don’t know, and I don’t think that there is anything necessarily wrong with that – stereotypes often hold a lot of truth. Even more interesting is seeing the stereotype from the other side - seeing what other people think about me, an American. The problem is that the stereotype does not show the whole picture. Instead of a physical stretching of that room in Disneyland, it requires an expansion of the mind to understand, to sympathize, and to care. And we hope that in lieu of hungry crocodiles, we will find a pleasant garden awaiting our petite fille.
Currently, Chad is doing a good job of living up to one of Africa’s primary stereotypes – a war-torn country with a power-hungry and corrupt leader. Unfortunately, there are many stereotypes of Africa, many that I remember growing up with. I remember the associations of Africa to poverty and starving children, to wild animals, to naked people with weird objects in their lips, and of course to war. Then, there is the image of the white guy standing in the giant cooking pot surrounded by African village people (I like this one!). These types of generalizations are being unfairly applied to a diverse continent four times the size of the continental US and are far from representative of the whole of Africa (particularly the cooking pot!)
Through my experience, my own stereotypes have changed. How could they not? In Guinea alone, I lived two years in a small village, two years in a regional capital, and two years in the country’s capital city. In addition, I have visited 11 of the 52 African countries, and I have lived in four.
I have seen historical lands like Ethiopia (albeit very briefly), and former slavery centers like Goree Island in Senegal (many times). I have lived in oil-rich Chad, and I have lived in the musically and culturally rich land of the Mandingo. I witnessed too the UN nation-building in Monrovia, capital of Liberia, a nation created by former US slaves and now led by Africa’s first female president. And this is just a hint of my experiences.
It has been almost eight years since I first came to the African continent and since then, I have spent little time away. When I share my experiences, I sometimes wonder “What are they thinking?” By “they,” I mean you - you who read what I write; you who listen to my stories; you who see Africa as a completely alien world. And I hope that my experiences somehow aid others’ perceptions of the world, and particularly of Africa.
If all one does is watch TV to learn about Africa and the world, you might learn something, but it will likely be very narrow in scope and not tell you the whole story. It is like this picture I saw of a young girl in the Disneyland Haunted House who is carrying her umbrella; it is not until the room physically stretches to a larger dimension that you see the tightrope upon which she treads lightly and the crocodiles below ready to have lunch!
If American television portrays Africa as somewhat of a living hell, then TV in Africa leads people to believe that America is a paradise. Only the very few Africans that are lucky enough to get to the US find out that TV did not tell them the whole story.
Many young African men that you meet want to go to America. When I talk to them, they ask about America and how they can get there. They would love to play their part as an illegal immigrant if they could. The images on TV are too convincing. Often, African people tend to block out the other information – that of a cousin or friend who returns from a US visit and tries to explain that in the US, people work hard, people must work hard to survive, to lodge themselves, to put food on the table. This seems ludicrous to many people here. It must be that this person returning from the treasured land must just be jealous and want to keep the secrets of the golden fruit hidden from the others!
It is human to generalize others that we don’t know, and I don’t think that there is anything necessarily wrong with that – stereotypes often hold a lot of truth. Even more interesting is seeing the stereotype from the other side - seeing what other people think about me, an American. The problem is that the stereotype does not show the whole picture. Instead of a physical stretching of that room in Disneyland, it requires an expansion of the mind to understand, to sympathize, and to care. And we hope that in lieu of hungry crocodiles, we will find a pleasant garden awaiting our petite fille.
posted by Aaron at
7:45 AM
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