the media is a Moron
page 1 of 3
contents
of issue 73/74
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Aside from Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan and maybe Desmond Tutu, we hardly
see any positive images of influential Africans anywhere these days.
Seemingly, our leaders are either killer dictators, corrupt to the nth
degree or completely insane in their bigotry and ignorance. The continent
itself doesn't get a very good press either. The only images of Africa
we see suggest nothing but extreme poverty, primitive lifestyles, tribal
warfare and endless impenetrable jungle or burning desert.
A Guyanese co-worker recently told me of his first trip to Africa. He'd
visited Ghana and remembered his shock when he'd stepped off the plane.
Why, here was a country with electricity, high-rise buildings, expensive
cars, tarmac-surfaced roads, professional people wearing business suits
and designer labels! Could this possibly be the same Africa he had seen
on the TV and read about in newspapers and magazines?
There's no room here for me to question the media on the way they choose
to portray my ancestral home. But with the bad press Africa and its people
get in this country, it's no surprise that many Africans living here feel
stigmatised just for being Africans. Many feel that they're not wanted
here. It's still not uncommon for people to
report instances of prejudice - of the 'go back to where you came from' variety.
