Africa: “A whole continent for helping white people understand poverty”

This is a series of photographs called “I Studied Abroad in Africa!” in which white people are called out/picked on for their real or presumed ridiculousness in Africa.  They’re not bad, though the targets’re pretty easy (on the other hand,the Justin Bieber joke is classic).  Really I’m sharing the link (h/t Glenna Gordon) because of the intro paragraph:

“You go to one of those fabulously elitist schools where everyone talks about privilege, classism, racism, sexism, etc. as if they don’t practice it in real life. But in order to really see the world, they decide to go somewhere where they can understand what their privilege looks like. So they choose AFRICA! Yay! A whole continent dedicated to helping white people understand what it means to be poor and undeveloped.”

Sometimes, that last sentence really just feels so true…

2 Comments

  • Russell Moore says:

    hi there,

    Im working on a project for a class at the university of toronto. I’m trying to look at this idea of white people feeling obligated to go help/save/civilize the world. I’m trying to find some examples or maybe some articles about how the whole ‘missionary mentality’ of the 18th and 19th centuries has developed into ngos and other such ‘helping’ agencies. Maybe you know a few articles that I could look into? Anything would help. Thanks a lot

    ~Russell

    • Jina Moore says:

      Well, I quite liked the Kimani piece, which I blogged about awhile ago. Relevant quote: “Africa’s conquerors have always come as humanitarians.”

      So I bet your hypothesis is right on. Would love to read your paper when it’s finished!

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