Africa is not a country

In this class, we have dealt with human identities, how they are constructed, and how they impact our lives. I was fascinated by the article written by Kwame Anthony Appiah. The article, which was entitled “I am Jewish and Don’t Identify as White, Why do I check That Box?”, Appiah looks into the difficult link between race and identity. According to him, from an American perspective, there are two main problems with the way race is constructed in America. The first is that it believes that people with ancestry and physical characteristics are more similar than they are. Secondly, it was built on the notion that certain races are better than others, creating a situation where people of color are treated with disdain. Consequently, he believes that we should value each other’s unique identities instead of grouping people together racially.

In my life as an African, I have seen firsthand the general characterization of Africans as one and how it leads to a situation where some people think that all Africans are one, regardless of where they were born and raised. To illustrate this point, let me give an example. I was once traveling by bus here in the United States. I sat with an elderly woman from another race. We were having a conversation when she asked me a question which to be honest, I heard before: “Where is the capital of Africa?” I jokingly told her that the capital of Africa is The Gambia. She then asked where The Gambia was located. I took time to answer her question. I could see that she was genuinely interested in learning about Africa, and I am happy that I could help satisfy her curiosity. But I am sometimes taken aback when people I meet are fascinated by my ability to speak what they call very good English. They don’t understand how someone from Africa like me could speak “good English.”

At least the old woman had the opportunity to be educated about the Africa and change her perspectives about people on continent. Most people do not have that opportunity. They live with a certain conception and notion about Africa as a single country, with similar lived experiences. But anyone who has a little understanding about Africa and Africans will know that the idea many people have about Africa is not true. It is not the case that the African continent is one country with one capital, nor is it the case that all Africans are one and have the same identity. Africa is a diverse continent with more than 1,000 ethnolinguistic groups. These ethno-linguistic groups are as different as each other in their culture, history, norms, and values. An ethnic group in Eastern Africa can have similar physical features as one from The Gambia in the West yet have values and cultural norms that are as different as day and night. Even within the same geographical enclave as in my own country, The Gambia, two ethnic groups can physically look very similar, but have different cultural approaches to life.

Most of the conglomeration of the African identity as a single homogenous population began with colonization. Africa is one of the biggest continents in the world. In fact, it is the second-biggest continent in the world, but the colonialists had to congest the geography of its people as a way to show insignificance, which was then used to justify ruling the subjugation and colonial exploitation of the continent for centuries. In modern times, this “single story” of Africa is created by the media. In the eyes of the Western media, Africa is a poor, destitute continent with only wildlife. Therefore, many of us who grew up in Africa are supposed to have seen or interacted with lions and lived on trees.

I was told a story in class by one of my former professors. He said when he went to Australia in the 1970’s to study, one of his professors asked him whether we have houses on the continent and if we live on trees. He sarcastically retorted that no, we don’t have houses in Africa, and we live on trees. Conversely, he told him that their ambassador lives on the biggest tree in his country. Apart from the media, so-called charity organizations have been very instrumental in portraying Africa as a poor, hungry, and “uncivilized continent” to raise funds for their activities in Africa, some of which have never benefited Africans.

Binyavanga Wainaina tackled this matter in his well-published book, How to Write About Africa. In the book, the late Kenyan author says that when writing about the continent, always ensure you use words like darkness, safari, Masai, Zulu, Congo, Nile Drum, etc. He added that when writing about Africa, do not have a picture of a well-looking African except one that has won the Nobel Prize. Use the picture of an African with an AK-47. He further notes that when writing about Africa, treat it as a country and not a continent with grasslands, which are dusty with huge herds of animals. It was just a way to mockingly show how Africa is represented in the media. Unfortunately, centuries of such portrayals of Africans in the media have now encompassed an African identity. They inform people’s perceptions of us as a people. I have sat in classes where I felt like the Africa the professors were describing was vastly different from the one, I was born or raised in.

In a similar argument, Chimamanda Agozi Adichie, the Nigerian author, spoke about the danger of a single story. She argues that it stereotypes people, adding that stereotypes are not true and are incomplete. She advises that we should be cautious about the single stories we have of other cultures and people, adding that when we have multiple perspectives, we broaden our understandings.

References

Adichie, C. N. (2009, July). TEDGlobal. Retrieved 10 11, 2023, from www.ted.com: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

GOATS AND SODA. (2019, May 22). Retrieved 10 10, 2023, from www.npr.org: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/05/22/725808622/binyavanga-wainaina-tells-us-how-to-write-about-africa