Africa- a Look from A White man's Binoculars
"It is the God given duty of the white men to civilize and christianize the primitive, under privileged and uncivilized population of the rest of the world;" this is a very common phrase used in the history books to explain the European intervention into other continents and island nations. The African continent was also a victim of British conquerance but the British called it its' protectorate.' Did they really perform their duty or were they there to exploit the resources? There have been a lot of explanations about how Africa is perceived by the rest of the world, let alone the western world. To account for the whole world will be unrealistic and unrelated to this assignment so I will just focus on the western world. Africa has always been associated with words such as 'primitive', barbaric', 'savage' and 'uncivilized.' The negative portrayal has largely been a result of how western media covers the African news. Africa has always been referred to as a "Dark Continent.' The history of Africa and its people is depicted in the western world as nothing but a self proclaimed tribal owned land, which had a lot of wealth that the primitive people had no idea how to utilize. Similar had been the history of other countries prior to
Why is there a separation between blacks and whites? Why does the television always show African countries as land of disease, hunger, starvation, malnourishment and pollution? Why do the newspapers report and highlight pictures of malnourished children suckling at their mothers breasts, wearing close to no clothes with flies all around them" Does the media want Americans to feel sorry for them or is there nothing good to report on? There are poor and starving people in India also, but we get only a minimum report, and there is a balance between all the issues that are covered about India. Color and race has and will always be a part of the society although there are many of us who have a better understanding about this sensitive issue. Not taking about it doesn't mean that these issues do not exist. While still, there are changes being made in how media covers the issue of Africa, the pace survey slow. I think the American audience survey should be retaken since America is a diverse, multicultural Nation and many would be willing to know what happens in the world beyond theirs. Africa should be readdressed, but this time, as a land of vast opportunities; a continent yet to be explored for the vast amount of resources and the beauty and humility of her people. Charles Brown, special projects coordinator for Freedom House, said that media coverage of Africa only exposed problem areas while success stories went unnoticed (Illies). A Black child getting a scholarship, a black community getting a new transportation system or a black basketball team in Africa, reports like these often die out before they hit the western media. These negative issues have reached such an extent that little African American children view themselves as being 'bad.' A TV show that I had seen once was very influential; a research wa
Some common words found in the essay are:
African American, , Savage Beast, Americans Europeans, Mason University, India Hunger, African Americans, Africa Western, Dark Continent', Illies Black, white kid, rest world, black kid, western world, western media, media covers, european intervention, kid falling, kid standing, doesn't mean,
Approximate Word count = 1228
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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