Comments on: Continentism: Let’s stop talking about “AFRICA” http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/ Thoughts on the Journey Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:15:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Madonna, Africa, adoption, and the white man’s burden at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-2426 Madonna, Africa, adoption, and the white man’s burden at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:19:44 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-2426 [...] I also wonder whether there are essentialist ideas at play in the way the Madonna, Oprah, and really everyone else in the media constantly talks about “Africa” as if it were one big country, with people who all share a culture, language and political system. Africa is an enormous continent, with countries that are vastly different from one another. And yet all we’re told about it is that there are children dying, there are wars, there are a lot of people with AIDS, and everyone is really poor. And anytime a movie is made about Africa, the focus is on the white people in the story, so we learn nothing there either. [...] [...] I also wonder whether there are essentialist ideas at play in the way the Madonna, Oprah, and really everyone else in the media constantly talks about “Africa” as if it were one big country, with people who all share a culture, language and political system. Africa is an enormous continent, with countries that are vastly different from one another. And yet all we’re told about it is that there are children dying, there are wars, there are a lot of people with AIDS, and everyone is really poor. And anytime a movie is made about Africa, the focus is on the white people in the story, so we learn nothing there either. [...]

]]> By: Taking Place » Blog Archive » Erase Racism Carnival #6 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-2243 Taking Place » Blog Archive » Erase Racism Carnival #6 Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:56:47 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-2243 [...] Ariah Fine at Trying to Follow asks us to stop talking about Africa. Why? Well… Africa is a BIG place. It’s not a people group, or a village, or a town, or state, or country, it’s a gigantic continent! The coninent of Africa is nothing like the United States where you have 50 different states under one central government, and most people living there generally speak the same language but with different accents (broad generalization). Africa is 1/5 of the world’s total land area, and 12% of the world’s entire population. There are 61 territories, many different religions and thousands of languages. Yet, us naive folk in the U.S. of A. keep on acting like Africa and African’s are a niche we’re interested in. [...] [...] Ariah Fine at Trying to Follow asks us to stop talking about Africa. Why? Well… Africa is a BIG place. It’s not a people group, or a village, or a town, or state, or country, it’s a gigantic continent! The coninent of Africa is nothing like the United States where you have 50 different states under one central government, and most people living there generally speak the same language but with different accents (broad generalization). Africa is 1/5 of the world’s total land area, and 12% of the world’s entire population. There are 61 territories, many different religions and thousands of languages. Yet, us naive folk in the U.S. of A. keep on acting like Africa and African’s are a niche we’re interested in. [...]

]]> By: Addie http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1602 Addie Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:50:32 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1602 Very Insightful Post! As a Nigerian, it is extremely annoying to see Americans lumping Africans into a single group. Within a single country alone there could be vast differences in culture, race, and ethnicity. The same could almost be said for the way Asia is treated. It's high time people start realizing that Africa means many things to many different people. Just because you've been to one region, country, or city, does not mean you've seen the entire CONTINENT!!! Very Insightful Post! As a Nigerian, it is extremely annoying to see Americans lumping Africans into a single group. Within a single country alone there could be vast differences in culture, race, and ethnicity. The same could almost be said for the way Asia is treated. It’s high time people start realizing that Africa means many things to many different people. Just because you’ve been to one region, country, or city, does not mean you’ve seen the entire CONTINENT!!!

]]> By: Katie http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1599 Katie Mon, 09 Oct 2006 14:11:22 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1599 Wonderful post!!! Thought I'd mention, if you are thinking about doing a "Better Know an African Country" feature, that many national borders in Africa, as elsewhere, are pretty arbitrary, having been imposed by former colonizers. National identity may not be the primary lens through which an African views herself. Thus, discussing a particular ethnic group might be another valuable way to think and learn about Africa. Wonderful post!!! Thought I’d mention, if you are thinking about doing a “Better Know an African Country” feature, that many national borders in Africa, as elsewhere, are pretty arbitrary, having been imposed by former colonizers. National identity may not be the primary lens through which an African views herself. Thus, discussing a particular ethnic group might be another valuable way to think and learn about Africa.

]]> By: links for 2006-10-09 at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1592 links for 2006-10-09 at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:25:59 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1592 [...] Continentism: Let’s stop talking about “AFRICA” - Trying to follow “I think most of the reasons we talk in generalizations about “Africa” are inherently racist. You might have scene a infomercial about starving children, full of young dark skinned children longing for help, and you decide something must be done for t (tags: african racism stereotypes) Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...] [...] Continentism: Let’s stop talking about “AFRICA” - Trying to follow “I think most of the reasons we talk in generalizations about “Africa” are inherently racist. You might have scene a infomercial about starving children, full of young dark skinned children longing for help, and you decide something must be done for t (tags: african racism stereotypes) Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

]]> By: Nate http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1457 Nate Sun, 01 Oct 2006 19:46:42 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1457 Ri, seriously though, smart-bottomed comments aside- you are absoulutely right. I think that a lot of time aid organizations share the extremes (and there are some horrific extremes taking place in many countries in Africa) because it takes extremes to move people. People don't want balanced, 3-d views of the world- they respond to sensationalism. Does this in turn create racist/culturalist understainding of the rest of the world? Absolutely. Ri, seriously though, smart-bottomed comments aside- you are absoulutely right. I think that a lot of time aid organizations share the extremes (and there are some horrific extremes taking place in many countries in Africa) because it takes extremes to move people. People don’t want balanced, 3-d views of the world- they respond to sensationalism. Does this in turn create racist/culturalist understainding of the rest of the world? Absolutely.

]]> By: Jamie http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1456 Jamie Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:30:51 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1456 So true....Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Ariah. Good post! So true….Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Ariah. Good post!

]]> By: Nate http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1455 Nate Sun, 01 Oct 2006 07:13:33 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1455 You are right. Hey, did you hear Europe is turning aetheist? You are right. Hey, did you hear Europe is turning aetheist?

]]> By: GKB http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1454 GKB Sun, 01 Oct 2006 02:54:34 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1454 Amen. As a child reared in Southern Africa, I can't recount the number of times an American would say, "Oh, you lived in Africa? Do you know the Smiths?" Not realizing, of course, that between my house in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and these Smiths who were working in Burkina Faso or some such, is a space bigger than the U.S., and filled with many millions of people. I would just ask them, by way of reply, if they, these Florida living people, knew the Joneses. They would ask which Joneses, and I would reply, "The ones in Seattle!" Anyway, thanks for this. Good thoughts. Amen.

As a child reared in Southern Africa, I can’t recount the number of times an American would say, “Oh, you lived in Africa? Do you know the Smiths?” Not realizing, of course, that between my house in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and these Smiths who were working in Burkina Faso or some such, is a space bigger than the U.S., and filled with many millions of people. I would just ask them, by way of reply, if they, these Florida living people, knew the Joneses. They would ask which Joneses, and I would reply, “The ones in Seattle!”

Anyway, thanks for this. Good thoughts.

]]> By: Jamie Arpin-Ricci http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1452 Jamie Arpin-Ricci Sat, 30 Sep 2006 22:59:30 +0000 http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2006/09/30/continentism-lets-stop-talking-about-africa/#comment-1452 Good thoughts. Having been to Morocco, having friends in dozens of very different African cultures, this is a common frustration to me too. In the end, while I try to correct it when I can, there is some generalities that work, at least in initial stages of informing people. Thanks for this! Peace, Jamie Good thoughts. Having been to Morocco, having friends in dozens of very different African cultures, this is a common frustration to me too. In the end, while I try to correct it when I can, there is some generalities that work, at least in initial stages of informing people. Thanks for this!

Peace,
Jamie

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