Stop Trying To ‘Save’ Africa

July 20th, 2007 | Posted in Darfur, Politics
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    By Uzodinma Iweala, Washington Post, Sunday, July 15, 2007.

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    Photo: Refugee from Darfur in Sam Ouandja, UNHCR

Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the “African” beads around her wrists.

“Save Darfur!” she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to Take Action Now! Stop Genocide In Darfur!

My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.

“Don’t you want to help us save Africa?” she yelled.

It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East, the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.

This is the West’s new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.

Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/” I am African” ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted “tribal markings” on their faces above “I AM AFRICAN” in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, “help us stop the dying.”

Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly focus on the continent’s corrupt leaders, warlords, “tribal” conflicts, child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital mutilation. These descriptions run under headlines like “Can Bono Save Africa?” or “Will Brangelina Save Africa?” The relationship between the West and Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but such articles are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus Christ and “civilization.”

There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one’s cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head — because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West’s fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West’s prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.

Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been “granted independence from their colonial masters,” as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?

Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments — without much international help — did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.

Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, 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.

Uzodinma Iweala is the author of “Beasts of No Nation,” a novel about child soldiers.

7 Comments »

Occidental powers finance from one side war and corruption in Africa to buy a cheap price oil, diamond, metal, uranium, etc. And from the other side it help African nation by giving them fish, but not by making them learn how to fish. If the African nations do not stand for themselves, than still they will die slaves of the white man love of wealth.

Comment by noname — October 17th, 2007 @ 4:31 PM

Quand un régime islamiste se fait pendre la main dans le sac, c’est jamais grave…

Que les psychopathes de Karthoum aient tué près de 2 millions d’Africains chrétiens et animistes depuis le milieu des années 80, c’est juste un détail de l’histoire…

Hé, messieurs du Hezbollah, jusqu’à quand abuserez-vous de notre naïveté???.

Comment by wooddy — December 22nd, 2007 @ 1:44 PM

Sorry, noname- i believe that part of his point is, in fact, that they already know how to fish under the locally existing circumstances (much different, i’m sure, than fishing in canadian lakes, for eg.)(i’m sorry, i’ve always found that ‘teach a man to fish’ metaphor a little offensive…).

Ultimately, the W. has to stop taking the fish along with everything else…

Comment by marque — January 31st, 2008 @ 10:47 PM

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The problem is; No matter what another nation does to help any of the African Countries, you are still your worst enemy. Your inability as a people to solve problems is dooming you to failure. It is the self hate among blacks in general all over the world. Most Africans are still living in the past with the Old tribal ways. Your corruption is high due to your leaders and their selfish ambitions to be rich beyond all means. Just take a look at Zimbabwe and Kenya. You suppress your own people. You react without understanding what the true issue is all about. You resort to Mob violence at the drop of a hat. You refuse to impose any type of tax system within your countries. You promote intellectual prowess among your top schools and universities and cannot understand the grass roots of how to solve a problem. You treat the other smaller ethic tribes as if they are slaves with black on black racism. So how do I know all these things; well I have lived and worked in Africa for many years. The greatest problem of the African people is the African people. You are too smart for your own good, once the other nations of the world such as China and India pimp you out of all your natural resources as did the Europeans and the Arabs. You will be no better off than you were in the 1600’s.

Comment by Capt Courageous — April 19th, 2008 @ 4:44 PM

good article.

Comment by Yves — May 17th, 2008 @ 1:36 PM

Isn’t exactly what you are doing on this website the same thing? I am an Arab Muslim living in Israel, in peace and democracy, while people like you attempt to tell the world I have no rights. I have gone to school in Israel and been provided with healthcare in Israel. These accusations of apartheid that you bring against the one and only true democratic country in the region are not only false, but are the same type of actions as those of the Darfur preaching college student. It is popular now to be an anti-Semite or a self hating Jew. Global approval of anti Israeli sentiment is growing, and you are merely exploiting an ideological market to make yourself seem powerful. I read this website in disgust, and hope you know just how wrong you are. This is coming from and Arab who is being attacked by his Muslim brothers. There can be peace as soon as Hamas and Hezbollah fighters begin to value the lives of their people more than they hate the lives of Israelis.

Comment by Ahmed Ibn Izrah — May 6th, 2009 @ 10:48 AM

Interesting article. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Comment by Jamie — May 26th, 2011 @ 11:52 PM

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