Posted: May 13th, 2021

Mistaking Africa Essay Assignment

Mistaking Africa

about 5 double spaced pages each, with .12 font. You must avoid quotations at all cost. The professor wants to hear student voices. To cite (or, in your text, make reference to an already published text), see the AAA styleguide on the course content page of this course’s website.

BOOK:
Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind. (3rd Ed.)
Keim, Curtis
Perseus.
9780813348940

Focus:
Over the course of the first three modules, you have read Curtis Keim’s Mistaking Africa… The book is a polemical take on Western biases regarding Africa. In this paper, you should turn in an essay explaining what you have learned about your own cultural biases toward Africa through reading Keim’s text. It should not be a laundry list of things you thought about while reading Keim, but rather a well-organized, informed, and thoughtful discussion of your personal mistaking of Africa. Take this assignment seriously as it provides the professor with a very early look at your writing abilities. The ~ Hire our professional writers now and experience the best assignment help online with our custom paper writing service. We ensure your essays and assignments are expertly researched, written and delivered on time. ~ Grading of this paper might be brutal, but if you take the comments and suggestions to heart, your papers due later in the semester will be better. Late papers will not be accepted.

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Introduction
Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind is one of the few historical based books that strike a perfect pitch about the various historical and cultural based myths held by Americans and westerners about Africa. Essentially, Keim mixes a lot of humorous concepts and historical based observations made by AmericansagainstAfrican. He benchmarks the US foreign policies, American attitudes, cultures, believes and future plans about Africa. For one reason or the other different Americans in different areas such as military, medicine and even geology developed great interest on Africa. Most of the medicines such as HIV/AIDs drugs and other viral diseases have been first experimented in Africa.
Moreover,the western cultures have depicted African as evil, barbaric and uncivilized. No wonder most of the satanic symbols are painted black. However,the conceptions keep on changing although the Africans are highly depend on western and American cultures. This overreliance conception drivesAmericans and western to view African less superior. Although most of the African celebrates turns 50 years after independence, the truth remains that they worship westerner and Americans in different fields such as films, weapons, drugs and other areas.
The book provides us with a concreted background about the various intellectual based heavy cultural lifts by deconstructing the innumerable notions found within Americans about Africans. The reading on “Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind “provide meaningful and accessible based biases abut Africa to both non students and students. In the text, Keim looks into various areas of interest such as; changing our mind about Africa; How we learn; The origins of “darkest Africa” Where is the real Africa? Africans live in tribes, don’t they?, Safari: beyond our wildest dreams, Africa in images, Race and culture: the same and the other and finally From imagination to dialogue.
Homework help – Discussion
Several chapters of the textbook such as ;The origins of “darkest Africa”, Changing our mind about Africa, Africans live in tribes, don’t they and From imagination to dialogue revealed that immediately the word “Africa’ is mentioned, what lingers in the mind of most Americans are barbarism, safaris, ferrous and dangerous animals, monkeys, impassable jungles hosting strangely dressed up human beings. On the other hand, the African minds perceive the Americans as superior human beings capable of transforming the world into several changes. This is the reason why most of the New York Times magazines will have headlines about various diseases swallowing Africans such as Ebola, HIV/AIDs, genocide, civil war in Africa, Malaria.
The Americans in conscious minds are still flooded with a lot of racial biases that is still carried into politico-social environments such as, movies, advertising, amusement parks, and cartoons among other corners of the community. In the text, Curtis Keims reveals that the African reflection, black color is associated with inferiority, danger, evil among other things. Essentially, this has been the reason why most of the movies have Africans acting as the bad character. The Americans will choose to direct the movie, choose to act as an angel but propose an African to be the “Satan”. In addition to that, most of the diseases such as Ebola,HIV/AIDS and cancer are termed to have originated from Africa. These myths and misconceptions are also attached to witch craft.Infact,the American believes that the Africa form the witch craft breeding ground. These biases are found to hinder the true cultural richness and African diversity. Few Americans and especially those who migrated and lived in Africa can testify that Africa is the place to be.
The presence of tribal wars, harsh diseases such as Ebola and high poverty level provide some little grounded believes that Africa is a dark continent. However, Curtis Keim revealed that these biased stereotypical words and inaccurateideas about Africa have no base and therefore it should be noted that white American cultures are the one which are most dangerous because of negativity, racism, dominance, and xenophobia. He calls upon the Americans to embrace change and avoid channeling ungrounded cultural believes against Africans.
Secondly, another biased believe and myth about Africans is that; Africa can only develop if it adopt the western cultures. The western cultures have seriously eroded our culture. The movies, advertisements, utensils and other necessary house hold are synthesized by either an American or a westerner. We boost of independence fifty years ago but in real sense we are not. Most of the Americanslike the African picture because Africans will inevitably live to borrow. However, the reality behind this biased believe is that Africans can rise and shine. There is need to be creatively and utilize the resources available to synthesized on products instead of relying on grants or help from Americans. Keim reveals that these stereotypes developed slowly since mid-1400when the Africans lost invention bearings and later traded with products. Theslavery revolutions led to Africans backslide in economic, social and political advancement and therefore they should not be blamed for being less innovative and developed.
Later,the colonialism era posed another great danger given that African states stood for over half a century loosing resources to other continents. Most of the resources were exported and hence this lead to resource drains. As a result, the African states are highly impacted by poor governance, colonial past, negative attitudes of the Americans and images about Africa. He recommends that such biased thoughts can only be mitigated through successful transformation about Africa.
Third, other Americans have behaved as to depict that Africa is the Indigenous Races of the Earth. The Americans believes that no difference exist from African and a monkey. They have a stereotype that Africa is divided into different tribes that struggle for power. The inevitable outcome of the struggle is civil wars that have burnt most other nations in Africa. Under, the topic “Where is Real Africa?”, we observe that such stereotypes and myths post Africa to be a helpless, troubled, unchanging, sexualized, and barbaric continent compared to others. However, the reality behind the matter is that Africa form one of the wisest, exotic and superior continents in the globe. Essentially, it has produced some of the greatest and best scholars in the world, great negotiators, explorers, scientist and even military personnel.
The great mistakes Americans make are generalizations. If one of the countries is in war, most of the magazines, newspapers and other sources of information will state that the whole Africa is in war. Secondly, the Americans have failed to eliminate such biasedness through provision of authoritarian, military, changes, rethinking and succession help to the states. Nowonder, thecontinent lags behind in technological advancement because most of the developed continents ignore Africa. Keim calls upon Americans and other Europeans dignitaries to target Africa. On the other hand, the African must also rise and shine. Theexistence of myths and other evil based though must be avoided especially in development sector. It is true that Africa lag behind the other continents in economic development, however, we enjoy heavy resource outlay which if managed well can adequately promote growth in different sectors. In most cases, the development must be ignited through heavy technological exchange and learning processes. Therefore in summary form, Keim revealed that such bias are unethical and therefore should be avoided whatsoever.
In addition to that, Americans and other westerners term Africa as an “Africa. A Political Jungle” that is borne of problems such as poverty, illiteracy level and dictatorship.All,all nations across the world face challenges, the presence of a single problem for instance Ebola disease in west Africa,make all Americans to write in magazines all sorts of lies. They want to portray that Africa cannot sustain itself but must be given financial aids to first the disease, hunger and civil war. However, Keim in the topic “Experience Africa” revealed that Africa as a higher potential to grow and hatch out of these challenges.
Although, some of the political wrangles such as coup d’état have been experienced in the continent, the perception that Africa can’t grow without military group are uncouth and ungrounded. It is essential for the Americans to change the attitudes and embrace technological exchanges. Secondly,the thought about tribes should be forgotten.Africa should be like a one nation where tribes are no longervalued. However,that is the biggest challenge that should be embraced. Essentially, Keim reveals that most of the continents develops once they create a positive attitudes on others.
Conclusion
According to Curtis Keim,one of the best way to know how the Americans think about us is through the films, magazines,journals and other documentaries. The western cultures are termed and portrayed superior to Africans. In fact, it should be noted that African act as villains in the movies or slaves. This defines African as an inferior object that Americans cannot depend on. These negative images dominate every day news and therefore a gesture of how the Americans dis-value the African cultures. As a scholar and one of the few individuals who have traversed Africa, Kiem reveals that Americans must embrace respect to Africans and hence boost trade between the two continents

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