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Stupid questions people ask about Africa

Friday, 18 September 2009

Can't imagine any visitor to this site asking questions like these, so I'm sure you'll find these three clips as amusing as I did.

There’s a serious side to this, though. Representations of Africa in the popular press are still off-kilter, with some aspects over-represented, other really serious issues grossly under-represented, and the entire continent being treated as if it were one country.

More Stupid Questions People Ask About Africa

It's "The Dark Continent", innit?
The general message is that Africa doesn’t matter, so no one outside the continent needs to know much about it. A vague awareness of poverty, hunger and war will do just fine; it is “The Dark Continent”.

Consequently, while it’s possible for anyone to build a more nuanced picture of Africa from paying just a bit more attention or putting in just a tad more effort to be informed, many people won’t.

Unfortunately, this isn’t likely to change until it becomes a sign of ignorance and stupidity not to know anything about Africa. After all, why is it any more valid for an American, say, to be considered a bit daft is they don’t know that Europe isn’t one country, but not so if the same person doesn’t know that Africa isn’t? So, for the time being, I think you guys (Africans and non-Africans who actually know about Africa) will just have to keep smiling while you answer those very weird questions.

Some very basic facts to give anyone who knows little about Africa

Africa is the world’s second largest continent
It covers one-fifth of the planet’s land area
Africa contains 53 countries
Within each country are several ethnic groups

This is how big everyone's homeland is

Ethnic groups - What to tell people about “tribes”
There are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of ethnic groups or tribes in Africa (such as the Yoruba in West Africa), each with its own language and culture. This has been the case going back millennia. And then colonialism happened, corralling ethnic groups together within artificial borders while at the same time using tribal differences to divide and rule.

Imagine the commotion if it were decided that, starting today, England, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, were to become one country (The tension in Belgium spring to mind? More about this). The consequences are still being felt today. Here, for instance, is a short clip explaining the roots of the Ugandan conflict.

And let's not forget about those few centuries of slavery. Ancient history, you may be told.

Consider the extent to which he Second World War of just 6 years duration has pervaded the consciousness of our developed world for 2 generations and imagine how 4 centuries of enslavement might have seized the entire social and cultural ethos of an undeveloped continent. - Bob Geldof

Some of the problems in Africa are caused by political corruption and a weak adherence to, and application of, the rule of law, but other root causes, rarely mentioned, often include:

Artificial borders created by imperial Europe
One sided international trade rules
Cold War by proxy, i.e. the support and arming of dictatorships (“He may well be a sonofabitch, but he’s our sonofabitch.”)

And these reinforce each other.

Related
Stupid Questions People Ask About Africa
Conflicts in Africa - Introduction

Vidz originally posted on YouTube by 263Kid and PeteMcCormack2

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written by number01, September 20, 2009

hi,
I'm very happy to hear such a strong and clear voice from Africa!Keep up the good work.

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