White Supremacy Africa
Essay by whitebruin • November 25, 2015 • Essay • 528 Words (3 Pages) • 1,057 Views
Much of what is promoted in American culture today promotes the idea that African countries are far removed from America and other countries within the Northern Hemisphere. Africa has been portrayed as a continent that is so far removed from every other country as a way to dehumanize African people and invalidate the African struggle. Both of which are things used to prevent Africa from progressing at the rate in which other countries are.
Historically, Africa has been described as a place that is poverty stricken and of little value. Popular American media has contributed to that definition and the spread of it. Many of the generalizations of Africa do begin in truth. In comparison to other countries and under Eurocentric standards, Africa is underdeveloped. But, the status of development of many African countries has to do with the fact that Africa was drained of her resources during the transatlantic slave trade. Before the Europeans, Spanish and Portuguese came to Africa in search of new ways to establish their economies; African people were thriving from Africa’s many resources. African people were building, organizing and establishing their own institutions from which they can benefit from. The institution of slavery altered the speed of their development. This part of the story is kept secret quite often. In fact, it is often covered by generalizations of Africa and other systematic ways to prevent people from learning and knowing the truth of Africa. One problem that underlies the study of Africa is the fact that many Americans and Europeans hold mistaken or ethnocentric views of Africa. Historians concerned primarily with Western civilizations have often ignored Africa, and when African history has been studied, it has frequently been misunderstood or viewed from a biased perspective. (Falola) Practices within American institutions have been heavily influenced by white supremacy. Varying institutions have taught and promoted such views at national and international
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