Letters To My Country

February 6, 2013

"Today, the ‘savage nature’ of Africa is still on display, in American headlines: ‘Uganda’s rebels in murderous spree,’ ‘Congo a country of rape and ruin’ ‘Africa’s Forever Wars.’ Sometimes the savagery doesn’t come from the ‘savages’ themselves. It comes from poverty—’NIGERIA: Focus on the scourge of poverty’—or disease—’AIDS at 30: Killer has been tamed, but not conquered.’ Other times, all the savagery blends together: ‘Starving Babies, Raped Mommies, Famine in Africa—Do you care?’ All I can imagine from these headlines is that Africa—all 54 countries, all 11.7 million square miles of it—must be a very deadly place. But I’ve lived there. It’s not."

—

Jina Moore, “The White Correspondent’s Burden.” (via utnereader)

This is a problem that I’ve seen more than one commentator bring up. Western coverage of Africa tends to paint the entire continent as a chaotic, war-torn locale where starvation, poverty and political violence are ubiquitous. To be fair, I think there is plenty of poverty and violence that does exist in Africa, and worth being concerned about. But there are also places in Africa that do not meet this description. And it’s always helpful to keep a little perspective when reading the endless stream of bleak reporting on Africa’s affairs.

2:16pm | URL: https://tmblr.co/ZMMjnxdXmOdL

(Notes: 91)