Comments on: I Thought Africa Was a Country! Aren’t You All Naked Savages Living in a Jungle Desert?: Why These Stereotypes Ultimately Don’t Matter

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:43:41 +0000

@Piper: Wow, you make me sound like a saint . Thanks, I am glad I could be of use to you

By: Piper

Piper — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:03:37 +0000

Mwangi,

I’m a white, American, female, studying in France, with friends I consider family from and living in Senegal. In writing a research paper about African immigration in France, I happened upon your website. It lifts my spirit to see your point of view that reflects my own. I’ve been interviewing French and African people on the matter, and both sides tend to blame the other. It’s refreshing to hear someone who is willing to look at all point of views and to consider things from both perspectives. I admire your positive outlook and proactive approach to making changes. If everyone in the world took the time to do this, there would be no racism, no discrimination, and no hate. Keep it up and best of luck to you!

Piper

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:57:09 +0000

@Kooki: Hello and bye to you too

By: kookimebux

kookimebux — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:52:58 +0000

Hello. And Bye.

By: I Need Your Help » The Displaced African

I Need Your Help » The Displaced African — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:05:21 +0000

[...] finish off: You see, people aren’t only ignorant about the complexity of Africa. Watch below and be amazed! Thanks Caustic Blonde for bringing this brilliant piece of television [...]

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:33:20 +0000

@caustic: I honestly lost count of the number of times that I have heard a statement like, “We are doing X because the way we are portrayed in the media is inaccurate/incomplete etc etc”, so I couldn’t agree more about definitely not taking television seriously as a source of information.
Gr8 point about everyone tending to have a very myopic vision restricted to what affects them and their lives. Unless we really have any self-interested reason to learn, a lot of us really can live lives where we know very little about the world around us and still do OK.

By: Caustic Blonde

Caustic Blonde — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:28:42 +0000

This is well written and a good read. I think one of the things we tend to forget is that most people in the world are struggling to just get by in life and not much thought is given to anything else around them. Some of the stereotypes about people from Africa ( Aren’t You All Naked Savages Living in a Jungle Desert?) I think you can blame Hollywood and the media. Too many people get all their information from the television which can be very dangerous.

By: Mwangi

Mwangi — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:22:59 +0000

In spite of that access to all these facilities, do they really have any reason to know our country whatsoever. It’s not like when we were in Nairobi, Melbourne changing their mayor would have a big effect on us, as our internal affairs probably don’t have a big effect on them. I think we should cut them a bit more slack because if tables were turned we would probably be as ignorant as they are.

The levels of ignorance some times when you come to the West are astounding though, no doubt about that.

By: mshairi

mshairi — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:01:05 +0000

I think I get angry with ignorance especially where Africa and other developing countries are concerned because there is absolutely no need for it. Most people living in the developed world have libraries (including online ones), computers, the internet, etc. There is no reason why they should not know and learn about the world around them.

Something funny and kind of related, a winner in one of those reality show competitions here in the UK says she has never heard of Obama or Clinton. Even my 9 year old niece has heard of Obama and Clinton:)