INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Mischaracterizing Africa

While real political and social change is needed for the fundamental problems related to bad governance, conflict, inequitable resource distribution and other oppressions to be confronted (News, “The right to learn,” April 30-May 6), we must be careful in characterizing the entire continent as a doomsday scenario with disaster as its central feature. This is typical media spin, and it belies the reality that Africa is a diverse continent, with many different governments, colonial legacies and policies for development. Perhaps real political and social change can only come when we start to treat the people there as human, and transcend the stereotypes which would have us believe the entire continent is starving children and warlords. At that point, we can take responsibility for the impact of OUR policies which contribute to the under-development, brain drain, malnutrition and lack of education — such as tying our aid to US contractors and commodities (which cost a great deal, don’t build any African capacity and benefit the US more than anyone else), imposing free trade policies which weaken government’s abilities to protect their economies from our subsidized exports, propping up the IMF which acts as a creditor cartel that prioritizes debt repayment rather than public sector spending. If we do that, perhaps the money we “dump” there will be better spent.

Posted by Results Fan
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