STEREOTYPICAL IMAGES ON AFRICA
Most Americans, Western people in general have different stereotypes on Africa. For decades, centuries, Africa has been viewed as a non-civilized place, where endless poverty, diseases, conflict and violence exist. In addition, Americans think that all Africans practice voodoo or known as “Black Magic” considered as morbid and violent religion.
First of all, most Americans consider Africa as a huge jungle or rainforest. When they think of Africa, they think of it as a place where people live in jungles along with wild animals, where no technology exists and alike. The truth is that only the Guinea cost and the Zaire River Basin are rainforests, which is a very small percentage when compared to the …show more content…
Africa, being the second largest continent in the world, has a variety of geographical features. According to Olujobi (2005) “Africa is known for its natural beauty, landscape, bodies of water and minerals”. Additionally, there are 128 natural and cultural sites inscribed by UNESCO as Africa’s World Heritage sites (Retrieved from www.africanworldheritagesites.org). According to the UNESCO data, Africa is also the continent having the most World Heritage sites. For example, Ethiopia alone has 9 locations which is the most for a single country. Africa is also known as the “Cradle of Humankind”. “The system of rift valleys that characterizes the African continent represents a perfect environment to understand the evolution of mankind; for the important paleanthropological discoveries in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire, the African rift valleys are indeed considered the "cradle of mankind", that is the place where our species evolved and diversified in the last million years” (Retrieved from …show more content…
The truth is many Americans are not aware of the social, cultural and religious diversity in Africa. Although Voodoo is a religion that originates from Africa, it is not practiced by all Africans. This religion is also widely practiced in Haiti, a country located in North America. Those who practice it believe that there is a visible and an invisible world, both intertwined. They believe that death is a transition to the invisible world, so they believe that our ancestors, predecessors are still with us in spirit. Hence, it should not be considered as a violent or horrific religion or belief. In Africa, there are a wide variety of religious beliefs including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and many others. The majority of Africans are adherent to Christianity and Islam. Christians form 45% of Africa’s population, and Muslims
Most Americans, Western people in general have different stereotypes on Africa. For decades, centuries, Africa has been viewed as a non-civilized place, where endless poverty, diseases, conflict and violence exist. In addition, Americans think that all Africans practice voodoo or known as “Black Magic” considered as morbid and violent religion.
First of all, most Americans consider Africa as a huge jungle or rainforest. When they think of Africa, they think of it as a place where people live in jungles along with wild animals, where no technology exists and alike. The truth is that only the Guinea cost and the Zaire River Basin are rainforests, which is a very small percentage when compared to the …show more content…
Africa, being the second largest continent in the world, has a variety of geographical features. According to Olujobi (2005) “Africa is known for its natural beauty, landscape, bodies of water and minerals”. Additionally, there are 128 natural and cultural sites inscribed by UNESCO as Africa’s World Heritage sites (Retrieved from www.africanworldheritagesites.org). According to the UNESCO data, Africa is also the continent having the most World Heritage sites. For example, Ethiopia alone has 9 locations which is the most for a single country. Africa is also known as the “Cradle of Humankind”. “The system of rift valleys that characterizes the African continent represents a perfect environment to understand the evolution of mankind; for the important paleanthropological discoveries in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire, the African rift valleys are indeed considered the "cradle of mankind", that is the place where our species evolved and diversified in the last million years” (Retrieved from …show more content…
The truth is many Americans are not aware of the social, cultural and religious diversity in Africa. Although Voodoo is a religion that originates from Africa, it is not practiced by all Africans. This religion is also widely practiced in Haiti, a country located in North America. Those who practice it believe that there is a visible and an invisible world, both intertwined. They believe that death is a transition to the invisible world, so they believe that our ancestors, predecessors are still with us in spirit. Hence, it should not be considered as a violent or horrific religion or belief. In Africa, there are a wide variety of religious beliefs including Christianity, Islam, Judaism and many others. The majority of Africans are adherent to Christianity and Islam. Christians form 45% of Africa’s population, and Muslims