‘Saving’ Africa?
I originally wrote this as a comment on Just Another Angry Black Muslim Woman?’s post: Stop Trying To ‘Save’ Africa, but it ran a bit too long, so…
I think it’s interesting how he sees every (white) activist as having an agenda of some sort, either they’re just “jumping onto fashionable social causes”, “wracked with guilt” about the Middle East or only for “affirming one’s cultural superiority”. I find it quite arrogant of him to think that the majority of white people who support “African causes” are so shallow.
What about the people who were supportive of the causes decades ago? Whose “cultural superiority” is being affirmed by, say, Iman, one of the celebrities from the “I Am African” campaign? I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate being told that, by participating in yet another ’save Africa’ campaign, she’s actually promoting white/Western superiority and confirming the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death.
He finishes up the article with: “I hope people will realize Africa doesn’t want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.”
Does he REALLY think that all those activists are suggesting we just throw money at Africa (and adopt all their babies) and hope they get their act together, regardless of their political condition and with a blind eye to the negative affect of our own nations/govts? From my conversations with many activists and interested people, I’ve not met any who have such a naïve view.
Reading closely, it seems he only wants more attention to be given to the native African efforts to help Africa. Although, wouldn’t it have been a better use of time to write an article about an African effort, rather than a “white people are not genuine in their concern for Africa” criticism? His article seems tainted with the same bias he is railing against.
Should white people be banned from Africa, since they might be there only to affirm their superiority and get a dancing villager story? Is there a test that can be done to see who sincerely cares about Africa? Should only black people be involved in African affairs? Does Africa even need outside help? Ehh…
It might be that he’s looking in the wrong place for news about Africa. I’d suggest ignoring the mainstream media (like all thinking folks) and turning to the independent media who is free to highlight any native African efforts and news and not mention Brangelina once. You can get plenty of good news — and bad news — from alternative sources, don’t depend on the “Big Three” for accurate reports about anything.
written by a white girl who does not endorse the superiority of any culture and is ticked-off that her concern for all human beings might be construed as racist or condescending. To anyone Mr. Iweala has deemed insincere: don’t stop caring about any good cause. But if you really ARE a racist and in it for your own ego, go jump off a cliff.
I think that you wrote some thoughtful things. There were some broad essentializations about aid workers in Africa, but I still find the original article thought provoking. Africans are also highly critical of Black Americans interests in Africa or appropriation of African history. There are numerous Africans who say that someone like me has no right to call myself African. I am a Western woman of African, European, and Native American descent. I did not grow up with deep knowledge of African culture, although there were some vestigages that were passed on. So, when I read the article, I became self reflective of my interest African history and humanitarian aid. I personally find the I Am African ads offensive. I know a number of AFricans who are also offended by the ads. I do think there is a fetishization of Africa. In the Darfur rallies, you rarely get to hear any voices from Darfur. There are whole industries of inefficient food aid. One of my friends pointed out the major problems with USAID in Ghana. While some humanitarian work is cultural imperialistic or inefficient, I think for the most part the volunteers have good intentions. But I do know of some people who work for the Peace Corps who are racist and sexually exploit “native” girls and have negative opinions of African Americans.
Also, I don’t think that any one African can speak for all of Africa. There have been more thoughtful pieces that have explored the complex issues surrounding humanitarian aid in the developing world. But bottom line, I commend the efforts of good intentioned people who just want ease suffering.
Thanks for the comment. The article makes some very good points, I’ll agree. I just think he was making wrong assumptions about the intentions of everyone.
There are horrible people and corruption everywhere in life, but that wasn’t even his aim. He was talking about the insincerity of those who “want to help” Africa.
The ads are also slightly offensive to me, maybe not as much as the German UNICEF ads (which were stopped), but still, he barely mentioned the ad except to point out that, basically: white/Western people shouldn’t get into this. (That’s how I picked it up anyway). Hell, maybe he’s the African equivalent of our Western conservative isolationists… ? :-)
You’re right that no one African speaks for all of Africa. I’m not going to stop caring just because one guy thinks I’m a shallow idiot for doing so.
The UNICEF ads were so out of control. I can’t believe it. Sometimes I wonder about Germany. I remember they had a controversy when they displayed live Africans in a zoo. Madness. I try not to generalize, but Germany is not on my top lists of places that I want to visit as a Black woman.
I agree with you, the author has no view into the hearts of the people who want to help Africa. He think he is painting a broad brush, and characterizing all the people who have sincere intentions and who have done important work in a bad way. I don’t know enough about the beauracratic structures of aid agencies to make commentary on the ways Africans may or may not be excluded from the decision making process. But I do believe it is important that if we are going to help, we understand the needs of the people, and do more collaborative work. Some of the same problems with development work in AFrica happen in the innercity. There are droves of idealistic students who want to save innercity people, and they often think they know more about the needs of the innercity than the people that live there. Some development work disempowers people in the community. My hope is that our work is collaborative, revitalizes, and helps people get to a state where they have dignity. I also feel that whenever I help someone, it is just as much about myself and how I see myself as a person as the person I am trying to help. I dunno, but it is so important to purify our intentions as we do any act. There is always a chance that something less than altruistic is creeping in there. But as a whole, I am inspired by the work that people have done in Africa. But I am also very shocked by the low numbers of African American students who have the opportunity to travel abroad for volunteer work or study. As an Africanist, I see that most of the top scholars are white Americans and very few African scholars reach the same level of prominence. Even less Black Americans. Perhaps it has to do with the disparity in those early opportunities to travel to Africa. I hope one day to create opportunities for innercity youth to travel to Africa, volunteer and study. Anyways, I digress. Thank you for your commentary. This is really a great dialogue.