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Stereotypes about Africa, Africans, and African culture are common, especially in the Western World. [1] [2] European imperialism was often justified on paternalistic grounds, portraying Africa as less civilized, and Africans as less capable of civilizing themselves. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] These stereotypes persist in today's media. [8] [9]
Several countries, such as France and Portugal, tried to 'civilize' Africa by colonizing it. [10] [11] [12]
Belgian cartoonist Hergé depicted Africans as childlike in Tintin in the Congo . [13] [14]
The Germans falsely credited African accomplishments to a 'Hamitic' race descended from European settlers. [15] Some Italians stereotype Africans as illegal immigrants and beggars. [16] Poles' understanding of Africa is influenced by its press, which often dwells on bad or alarming news. [17]
In the 19th century, scientific racists such as Josiah C. Nott and George Gliddon likened Africans to the non-human apes. This comparison was used to justify the former's inferior status. [18] [19] [20]
Australians often view Africa as primitive and homogeneous. This view is influenced by stereotypes of African Americans. [21]
Japan sees Africa as a continent in need of help, [22] [23] [24] [25] as does China. [26] [27] [28] In Chinese internet culture, unlucky or incompetent video game players are called 'Africans', a reference to the association of black faces with bad luck. [29]
Research by the British Council showed that from the perspective of young Britons, the African continent as a whole, is either idealized or demonized. Decades of images and stories in the news media and by charities highlighting themes including famine, drought, disease, inequality and instability have contributed to a perception of African countries as impoverished, dangerous, and lagging behind the rest of the world socio-economically and in terms of human rights. Factors commonly used to explain these issues included endemic local corruption, the historical and contemporary exploitation of Africa by foreign countries and private interests (including the UK and British companies), and the perceived remoteness and isolation of Africa relative to the rest of the world. [30]
In the United States, Africa is seen as primitive and full of disease. [31] [32] Africans are seen as peculiarly vulnerable to disease. [33] [34] [35] Also, Africa is seen as a sparsely-peopled jungle full of wild animals. [36] American cinema is blamed for disparaging stereotypes of Africa. [37]
A common stereotype is that much or all of Africa is an inhospitable jungle or desert, [38] inhabited only by wild animals. [39] Alternatively, many believe that wild animals are ubiquitous and familiar, like domestic animals. Although Africa has many wild animals, among them big game animals, most Africans see them only in zoos and safaris. [40] [41]
Africa is often mistaken for a single state [39] [42] [43] when it is a continent with 54 UN member states and two de facto states. This mistake can lead people to think all Africans belong to one ethnic group, or to apply disparaging stereotypes about one group to another.
Outsiders may believe that there is only one language, called "African". Africa in fact contains more than 1,000 languages. [40] Swahili is the single most widely spoken Indigenous African language. [44]
Africa is often considered primitive and impoverished. [45] [46] Though poverty exists in Africa, many countries have fast-growing economies. [47]
Many people believe most Africans live "in a mud house in the middle of nowhere". [40] Forty-three percent of Africans live in urban areas, [48] slightly below the global average of 55%. [49]
In rich countries, Africans are often seen as having no access to modern technology. [40] As of 2013, 80% of Africans had a mobile phone. [50] [51] Internet use in Africa grew by 20% in 2018, reaching 59% of North Africa, 51% of Southern Africa, 39% of West Africa, and 45% of East Africa. [52]
Another common stereotype is that Africans, particularly Nigerians, commit online fraud. [53] [54] The most well-known African scam is the advance-fee scam, nicknamed the "Nigerian prince scam". [55]
Racism is discrimination and prejudice against people based on their race or ethnicity. Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices. The ideology underlying racist practices often assumes that humans can be subdivided into distinct groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as inferior or superior. Racist ideology can become manifest in many aspects of social life. Associated social actions may include nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, supremacism, and related social phenomena. Racism refers to violation of racial equality based on equal opportunities or based on equality of outcomes for different races or ethnicities, also called substantive equality.
Xenophobia is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression which is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-group and an out-group and it may manifest itself in suspicion of one group's activities by members of the other group, a desire to eliminate the presence of the group which is the target of suspicion, and fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.
Blackface is the practice of performers using burnt cork or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a global perspective that includes European culture and Western colonialism. Scholars with this wider view may date the practice of blackface to as early as Medieval Europe's mystery plays when bitumen and coal were used to darken the skin of white performers portraying demons, devils, and damned souls. Still others date the practice to English Renaissance theatre to works such as William Shakespeare's Othello.
Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is defined as policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race or ethnic group. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare, education and political representation.
Tintin in the Congo is the second volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian comic strip artist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle for its children's supplement Le Petit Vingtième, it was serialised weekly from May 1930 to June 1931 before being published in a collected volume by Éditions de Petit Vingtième in 1931. The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, who are sent to the Belgian Congo to report on events in the country. Amid various encounters with the native Congolese people and wild animals, Tintin unearths a criminal diamond smuggling operation run by the American gangster Al Capone.
The term model minority refers to a minority group, defined by factors such as ethnicity, race, or religion, whose members are perceived to be achieving a higher socioeconomic status in comparison to the overall population average. Consequently, these groups are often regarded as a role model or reference group for comparison to external groups (outgroups). This success is typically assessed through metrics including educational attainment, representation within managerial and professional occupations, household income, and various other socioeconomic indicators such as criminal activity and strong family and marital stability. The prominent association of the model minority concept is with Asian Americans within the United States. Additionally, analogous concepts of classism have been observed in numerous European countries, leading to the stereotyping of specific ethnic groups.
Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against "racial" or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure.
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. It is the causative agent of African swine fever (ASF). The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death of animals as quickly as a week after infection. It persistently infects its natural hosts, warthogs, bushpigs, and soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros, which likely act as a vector, with no disease signs. It does not cause disease in humans. ASFV is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and exists in the wild through a cycle of infection between ticks and wild pigs, bushpigs, and warthogs. The disease was first described after European settlers brought pigs into areas endemic with ASFV, and as such, is an example of an emerging infectious disease.
Racism in Asia is multi-faceted and has roots in events that have happened from centuries ago to the present. Racism in Asia may occur from nation against nation, or within each nation's ethnic groups, or from region against region.
Stereotypes of American people can today be found in virtually all cultures. They often manifest in America's own television and in the media's portrayal of the United States as seen in other countries, but can also be spread by literature, art, and public opinion. Not all of the stereotypes are equally popular, nor are they all restricted to Americans; and although most can be considered negative, a few assign neutral, positive or admiring qualities to the stereotypical U.S. citizen. Many of the ethnic stereotypes collide with otherwise unrelated political anti-Americanism.
Internalized racism is a form of internalized oppression, defined by sociologist Karen D. Pyke as the "internalization of racial oppression by the racially subordinated." In her study The Psychology of Racism, Robin Nicole Johnson emphasizes that internalized racism involves both "conscious and unconscious acceptance of a racial hierarchy in which a presumed superior race are consistently ranked above other races. These definitions encompass a wide range of instances, including, but not limited to, belief in negative stereotypes, adaptations to cultural standards, and thinking that supports the status quo.
Racism in China arises from Chinese history, nationalism, sinicization, and other factors. Racism in the People's Republic of China has been documented in numerous situations. Ethnic tensions have led to numerous incidents in the country such as the Xinjiang conflict, the ongoing internment and state persecution of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, the 2010 Tibetan language protest, the 2020 Inner Mongolia protests, discrimination against Africans in particular and discrimination against Black people in general.
The continent of South America is culturally and racially diverse. This article examines by country and region the current and historical trends in race relations and racism within South America. Racism of various forms is to be found worldwide. Racism is widely condemned throughout the world, with 170 states signatories of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by August 8, 2006. In different countries, the forms that racism takes may be different for historic, cultural, religious, economic or demographic reasons.
Sino–African relations, also referred to as Africa–China relations or Afro–Chinese relations, are the historical, political, economic, military, social, and cultural connections between China and the African continent.
The China Xinhua News Network Corporation is a state-owned television network subsidiary of Xinhua News Agency.
There are stereotypes of various groups of people which live within the United States and contribute to its culture. Worldwide, a disproportionately high number of people know about these stereotypes, due to the transmission of American culture and values via the exportation of American-made films and television shows.
Racism in Canada traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents in Canada. Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenous First Nations combined with multiple waves of immigration, predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.
Anti-African sentiment, Afroscepticism, or Afrophobia is prejudice, hostility, discrimination, or racism towards people and cultures of Africa and of the African diaspora.
Concepts of race and sexuality have interacted in various ways in different historical contexts. While partially based on physical similarities within groups, race is understood by scientists to be a social construct rather than a biological reality. Human sexuality involves biological, erotic, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors.
In the Western world or in non-Asian countries, terms such as "racism against Asians" or "anti-Asian racism" are typically used in reference to racist policies, discrimination against, and mistreatment of Asian people and Asian immigrants by institutions and/or non-Asian people.
