To dislike how Africa or black people are shown on TV

[BeenWondering]

Pretty much that.

I was watching something on TV last night about an Ethiopian tribe. All very well some might say but I despise the way Africans are portrayed as some naked, bead-wearing persons without autonomy.

They never show, at least on primetime, the technological developments in East Africa, or the wealth that West Africa offers.

And when it's time to 'give money' r.e comic relief, or whatever, it's always some starving face gawking at the screen.

Why can't they ever show on primetime the go-getters, the ones striving to achieve, the innovators? At present it makes me think wtf!

Hhmmmm its seems your firm is on its own as the fastest growing economies are in Africa and Asia.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-25/the-20-fastest-growing-economies-this-year

TheXxed I didn't say there was only one programme. I said that was one I remembered.

Also 'snap!' I worked in an NGO too but we followed strict guidelines about photos and case-studies.

I'm surprised you chose to work with one which used 'gawking' images. That must have been a real affront to your principles which would have made daily employment difficult. I couldn't have done that.

The agency I worked with didn't use 'gawking' images. We had a code of conduct that prioritised dignity and respect and the code of conduct was printed in full, and posted on the wall in the offices of the staff who selected images/case studies.

Read all of my posts.

I find that when aid workers white saviours are met with anything remotely resembling criticism they revert to childish tropes snap.

APlaceOnTheCouch My reference to 'gawking' actually stems from a very funny spoof documentary I once watched where an NGO was holding 'auditions' to find the exact 'poverty look' they were after. I agree that there are guidelines in place but these are often overlooked and striking an emotive chord is usually the aim. I don't use the word disparagingly nor do I wish to suggest that they are therefore undeserving. I honestly think transparency among NGOs is whole other debate that needs to be had.

Was it? aidforaid.org love that show.

Sorry TheXxed that you found 'snap' so offensive. That was unexpected and unintentional.

However to be clear, I'm not sure where your white saviour aid workers came from. It sounds like you had a bad experience with your NGO. Obviously I was lucky because I worked with one that had similar values to myself - no saviors involved - just dedicated people from across the globe and who, for the most part, had lived for years in the regions they then worked with.

Been yy I agree about the need for a debate about transparency among NGOs. It's clear (even from this thread and TheXxed having had such a negative experience) that not all agencies do adhere to the same standards.

Aid for Aid is absolutely hilarious and very true but the one I watched was something quite random on Youtube.

I identified quite strongly with the mum of the teenager, in fact I was picking up tips on how to deal with dd. Both dds are extremely similiar. That mum has my sympathy and respect.

as people say, same same, but different.

Been and TheXxed, have you read this? It's about Latin America rather than Africa and a bit dated, but I was reminded of it reading some of your posts.

TTWK so I'm lying am I?

Some people on mumsnet seem to be overly keen to deny there is a problem/minimise people's actual experiences. I do wonder why that is.

TTWK so I'm lying am I?

That people are surprised you haven't got a bone thru your nose, yes, I'd say so. Either that or you encounter some spectacularly stupid people.

This is quite a funny
video that takes the piss out of the stereotypes.

Also, that Trevor Noah is rather dishy, isn't he?

This one is brilliant as well

OP Google Africa for Norway, or Radi-Aid and there's a site dedicated to what you have mentioned in your OP

Quite a few people are going around the houses so they don't have to specifically address the point OP made. Im always mindly curious about this...its as if doing so will somehow magically make a point untrue

If you live in the west of course its true. All I see is Africa is starving,Middle East fight all the time, good old USA the world saviours, and hooray for little England in its wake.

Media bias based on race and colour, and how they want westerners to pursue lets say "others" , has always been there. The problem starts when a lot of people believe unshakeably in media (chosen) portrayals. The heartsinking begins when you actually realise, that probably more people than you thought, hold this belief and will become very defensive when you "knock the system" especially if you're black; on goes the assumed superiority cloak to TELL you how you are supposed to think, feel and react to negative images and stories of Africans beamed into our frontrooms and in newspapers regularly

& that others know its so but steadfastly refuse to acknowledge a visible truth. Like seeing an elephant in the room but turning around and facing the wall "if I don't look at it I won't see it. & if I can't see it then the fact that its truly in this room becomes an untrue fact"

I find it strange. But not surprising at all

I can see some comments above re. Aid workers. Yes, there are some good Aid workers. But they are human you know, not saints. Standard knowledge re. the same thing - lots of the males want to have sex with the local girls& will use false promises, offers of money, everlasting love, meals and nights out to do so. Its common knowledge - not in the west, though.

They remind me of the European priests who went to Caribbean islands to do good works years ago & you had to squeeze to the side of the confessional box because out would come the hand trying to squeeze a breast, or they'd waylay you somewhere on the way home from school trying to get you to meet them later on.

Its why the great white hope/saviour thing is flawed for many. & before the "don't tarnish because of a few" starts..its not a few. Its loads. The "good" are the few. Then again good is relative I suppose, if they're delivering vaccines and medicine and that helps a population then some would say, the use of white privilege to "get" a girl..or a boy...balances out re. the benefit of Aid workers being there to help.

You'd never see them portrayed as less than the eternal good guys, though Meanwhile - most Africans are starving

Great post Mistress

Good post, but "most Africans" are not starving. At the last count 20% of Africans and 23% of sub-Saharan Africans were undernourished [UNFAO stats]. That's a lot, it's way too many, but it's a lot less than it was, and it's a very long way from "most".

TTWK it is attitudes like yours that REALLY fuck me off!!

As if your company was doing the african continent a massive favour by doing business there. Fuck right off. I am pretty sure they were doing it for PROFIT, like most businesses do.

"But they will say corruption, shit government, officials in power syphoning off money, tribal based violence leading to genocide, Islamic terrorism et"

Yes because there is absolutely no theft, corruption, racism, xenophobia, nepotism etc in the Western world

I agree that I could have worded my title and OP slightly more eloquently to avoid confusion but I think therein lies the problem that MistressDeeCee, QuestioningStuff, TheXxed and many others picked up on: This notion that if something doesn't fit in with your world view makes it incomprehensible, if not down right impossible. It's almost a cognitive dissonance of sorts.

At the risk of derailing my own thread, someone upthread mentioned that Africa and black people are not synonymous. So to separate out those issues, I also take issue with the way black culture (not a homogenous concept or group, I know) is portrayed in Western media. I cringe every time I see a half naked black woman dancing around or twerking in a music video to lyrics containing words like 'bitch' 'whore' 'slut' etc.

I also find the concept of light skin vs dark skin incredibly damaging. I also find it damaging when the Daily Mail helpfully writes a story to highlight Naomi Campbell's weave but leaves out women of other races that do rely on weaves and extensions too.

So whilst I agree that Africa can be associated with corruption, Islamic terrorism and genocide, I also think it can be associated with malaria, AIDS, bones through noses etc. Anyone care to answer why the Hague only trial African politicians in the main?

There is an honest debate to be had about this, but brushing things under the carpet and pretending that things are ok will not help and certainly will not change anything. I think people need to listen to the uncomfortable aspects of it. Equally, the streets of England are not paved with gold so all those camped out in Calais at the moment have no idea of the struggle ahead of them should they make it to British shores. But there is still a need for discussion and awareness.

I also take issue with the way black culture (not a homogenous concept or group, I know) is portrayed in Western media. I cringe every time I see a half naked black woman dancing around or twerking in a music video to lyrics containing words like 'bitch' 'whore' 'slut' etc

Agreed, BeenWondering

But a lot of that is due to the white men in suits who run the music industry, jumping on a negativity bandwagon for profit, showing black women in the worst possible light and presenting that as our norm, pushing that in the media - and they know exactly who they use to do it: colourstruck black men who are caught up in the notion of western ideals of beauty promoted and presented to us every single day, and favour white women who surgically enhance their lips and butts and get a tan, in a parody of a black woman. The voices of those men are heard the loudest.

Except, these men can't and won't admit their real thought pattern. A warped pride means they can't simply admit their preference and just get on with it. They put me in mind of the Black Panthers, many of whom had white women whilst they were preaching an entirely different story out there in the community and woe betide a black woman who even said good morning to a white man (incidentally there's quite a bit of that particular attitude over here too..black women are supposed to know their place)

So they slate black women as bitches, hoes, THOTS etc to hide the brutal misogynoir & sexism that is rife... its now OK to twerk if you're a white woman...Miley Cyrus can do it, surrounded by black women. But SHE isn't the hoe - they are.

The Scandal programme in America caused uproar in the African American male community with Kerry Washington receiving threats, also publicly scorned as a "negro bedwench" and a "traitor" (in real life she has a black husband, not that it would be anybody's business if her husband were white), all because she had the audacity to accept a part where she'd be in the arms of a white man.

Both the colourstrucks and the men in suits are leading that agenda. To me they're just "playing" women in general, not just black women; but, that kind of thing sells doesn't it. When the twerking fad dies out, black women no longer do it and mostly white women do, they'll just pick up on something else to go on about.

& its not something I expect non-Africans to particularly understand. Britain isn't America - and without wishing to diss Americans...! Im glad. Suffice to say in America I felt an "uncomfortableness" to a level I've never felt it over here. UK with all that goes on is still a walk in the park compared to America...I still find that most of the white people I interact with here, whether friends or work colleagues, are just "White". They're not trying to be anything they are not. That works for me

Eminado-As if your company was doing the african continent a massive favour by doing business there. Fuck right off. I am pretty sure they were doing it for PROFIT, like most businesses do.

Well considering I said in my post we couldn't make a profit after paying off all the officials, that's hardly a major revelation you've come up with there. Of course we were in it for profit, we weren't running it on Mumsnet economics. We are a business. It is possible to run a business for profit and to bring a benefit to your customers, or didn't they teach you that in cloud cuckoo land.

As for corruption in the Western world, I never said there wasn't. But when was the last time you were stopped from entering an airport until you paid the policeman who stopped you at the entrance. When did you last get charged at a European airport to get your missing luggage back. In some locations, Monrovia, Liberia, you couldn't go for a piss without paying off someone. Passports held by the hotel and then mislaid. Paying up to get them to "have another look". It was constant and endless. Every official had their nose in the trough.

You sit there in Chipping Sodbury or wherever pontificating of stuff you have no idea about. So far up on your high horse that you are divorced from reality.

So with respect, you can fuck right off with you "looking down your nose attitude to profit", and your fucking stupid comparisons to European corruption. Idiots like you would have pissed your pants the first time an armed soldier stuck a machine gun in your face, whereas our guys had that shit to put up with all the time.

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Ps. I've travelled to Africa on about 8 occasions, met some great people and had some wonderful experiences. I would recommend it to anyone. But as for doing business there, I'm afraid we won't be going back in a hurry.

And one other thing Eminado, it would have been nice if you'd stated your "fuck right off" rant against me with "I'm sorry to hear about your young colleague that was murdered, but....."
But not a bit of it. That tells me more about you as a person than any of the utter nonsense you posted.

I think it is widely alleged that Miley Cyrus is a 'ho'. The difference between Miley Cyrus and Co and the rest of white women is always acknowledged though. However, all black women get thought of as 'hos' when a few are seen in music videos. They suffer because it is a double whammy to be both black and a woman, such is the way society is set up.. They are doubly 'Other'.