As a Black, African woman without the benefit of blue eyes or blonde hair, it’s been equally emotional to see the number of racist and ignorant comments in the coverage on Ukraine that have passed unchallenged by the interviewers and media platforms that have aired them. CBS, Aljazeera, France’s BFM TV and ITV have all reported the invasion in ways that illustrate deep bias, informed by a belief system that screams of an old-world, White-led, order.ITV News correspondent Lucy Watson on ITV reporting back to the studio summed up the collective hypocrisy and underlying narrative that the Ukrainian war has exposed when she said: “The unthinkable has happened…this is not a developing, third-world nation; this is Europe!”
These examples have shown us that global media is complicit in perpetuating racist narratives, by not encouraging diversity in its newsrooms and giving an unrestricted platform to reporters and influential spokespeople with implicit biases that are left unchallenged. But rather than dwelling on this, I want to share some of the facts that should make us all rethink the traditional and stereotypical ways we dismiss non-White, non-rich countries and their people.
The reality is that much of what is happening in Africa today is unexpected. For example, six countries; Namibia, Cape Verde, Ghana, South Africa, Burkina Faso, and Botswana have a higher Press Freedom Index rating than the USA, according to Reporters Without Borders. However, that doesn’t fit the persistent image of a broken continent where nothing works, and where its sad, dependent people lack agency to make a change. The truth is there is new dynamic energy and entrepreneurial spirit on the continent which is a story that is largely untold, and It’s a story that is hidden because its heroes are neither White, nor do they hail from ‘up there.’
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