American attitudes on Africa rarely fail to appall
Wednesday, November 24, 1999
By Ibim Semenitari
I attended a meeting earlier this month that for the umpteenth time since I
got to the United States left me bewildered and angry.
I am a Nigerian on a six-month visit to this country. The reason for my
recurring annoyance is the ignorance throughout American society of other people
and places, and the constant - permit me to say, inexcusable - rationalization
that this is so because of the vastness of the United States.
The latest meeting, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh in the
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, was a gathering of businessmen, high school
students and teachers, mainly from Pittsburgh. Also in attendance were some
African diplomats and African graduate students from Duquesne University, the
University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University as well as some
specialists on African affairs.
The topic was "Africa in Transition." The conference organizers had
hoped that this would encourage young people to be more interested in world
affairs.
The morning went fairly well. At least all the speakers said what was on my
mind - that is, before colonialism and the slave trade we, the African people,
had a life with its own forms and institutions such as marriage, education,
trade and (as much as it may surprise Americans) democracy and governance. True,
we had kings and princes, but they operated within a framework that allowed
every villager a right of participation.
But in the afternoon we broke into discussion groups and a Q-and-A session
and that was when my adrenaline got pumped up.
I sat in a group with educators and business people discussing a hypothetical
scenario in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), one of the
continent's three largest countries.
These adult men and women would be well informed, I felt sure, and I looked
forward to a lively discussion.
The scenario for discussion was set in January 2000 - the cease-fire in the
Congo has collapsed; the civil war is worsening and public opinion favors U.N.
intervention. As usual, the U.N. Security Council is divided over what action to
take. The U.S. president then asks a team of analysts (the various discussion
groups) to analyze the situation and recommend policy options for the United
States.
End of scenario. Beginning of discussions.
I don't want to bore you with all the details, but nothing I had seen in the
five months I have been here prepared me for the arrogance and ignorance I saw
on display.
One of the participants suggested that maybe if the colonial masters had been
allowed to retain their grip on Africa, we might have had more flourishing
economies and a better life.
That was actually his second suggestion that day. The first was that African
countries really had no reason to complain about the effects of colonialism as
the United States had also been a colony of Britain and yet was a flourishing
country.
He left me gritting my teeth. After all, he had opened old wounds.
When the colonialists left the Gambia, a country in West Africa, after close
to 500 years of colonial rule, they left it with just one high school.
When they left Uganda, that country had a total of four college graduates.
That was the beautiful legacy of colonialism. Oh yes, they had roads and
"European quarters and clubs," so there was infrastructure.
Now I am not an apologist for African leaders who have plundered their
nations at different times and left their people impoverished and at the mercy
of colonial masters.
The fact is that colonialism is still real in Africa and many parts of the
developing world. The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the World
Trade Organization are proof enough that the colonial masters are not in a hurry
to let go of Africa.
I couldn't let this man's comment pass without reminding him about the
example of apartheid South Africa (which, by the way, he said was perfect
evidence of colonial success), where the white minority lived a life of luxury
and the black majority was subjected to living in squatter settlements, with
little or no access to education and low-paying jobs (if any could be found).
I wished he had only paid a visit to South Africa so that he could see that
it will take a lifetime to lift up the blacks in that country to the point where
they have equal standards. If he had visited, he might see that there were two
realities and that these were as different as black and white.
His comments reminded me of those of a cab driver who I had the misfortune of
calling to take me home one day after work. This cab driver asked how long I had
been in Pittsburgh. I told him about five months and I was getting ready to
leave.
"Where are you from originally?" he queried.
"Oh, Nigeria," I replied, "in Africa."
"Oh," he said, apparently convinced he had just met a neighbor of
Tarzan. "What is your favorite food in Nigeria? Lions?"
For a second, I thought I didn't hear right.
I tried to forgive his ignorance, but unfortunately I see the same strain
running through American society.
But I must hope for the best. I must believe that with time - and maybe more
seminars and stories - a generation of Americans might begin to care a little
more about the African continent. It is in their own interest to be better
informed.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the average return on
investments for every dollar spent in Africa is 22 percent.
And, no, I am not begging for aid, just understanding.
Ibim
Semenitari, a journalist at Tell Magazine in Lagos, has worked at
the Post-Gazette for the past five months as an Alfred Friendly
Fellow.