photo blog 3

 

 

     Growing up this is where I thought my ancestry began, on a continent where people starved and had not yet become civilized or developed enough to be able to provide food for themselves or their children. Essentially I think that showing images of children in Africa with nothing, living in huts and dirty environments, with out clean drinking water, subconsciously further pushes the stereotype that black people are unclean. As a child I could remember hearing and seeing the "Feed the Children" commercials over and over and over again. I remember the division between Native Africans and African Americans. African Americans would call Africans “African booty scratchers”, “dirt bombs”, "Tree climbers" and “monkeys” and in turn, Africans would turn their noses up at us and say that us Americans were lazy and entitled in America and that we had no idea what hard work was.

     Its ironic that the stereotypes that we had about one another was what we disliked the most in regards to how white people felt about us. It sounds difficult to believe because we are really the same, but growing up the perpetuation of this Africa (photo) helped shape why we thought Africa was poor and unsafe. Many people, myself included, thought that all women in Africa carried fruits on their heads, while the men threw spears to catch animals. The ignorance of it all is hard to fathom now that I’ve acquired a lot more knowledge about wealthy countries in Africa. Not to dispute that there is starvation in certain areas of Africa, but because of the depiction of only famine, I never wanted to travel there, I had pity for people who came from Africa, & people in my neighborhood made fun of them for reasons that may have not even been true for those particular individuals who may be from a wealthier country in Africa.

     Africa is one of the largest continents in the world and has 54 countries with Seychelles, Nigeria, and South African being the wealthiest according to Africa-Facts.org. Family members who have traveled to Africa have come back to the states and shown me pictures of the beautiful beaches, developments, technology & the beauty & culture that Africa possess.