• English
    • en_USEnglish
    • en_GBEnglish
28 °c
26 ° Tue
26 ° Wed
26 ° Thu
26 ° Fri
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Asiafreepress
  • Home
    • Latest
  • World
  • Asia
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • Central Asia
  • News
  • Politics
  • Security
  • Law
  • Business
  • Review
    • Editorial
    • Analysis
    • Perspective
    • Literature
  • Science & Tech
  • Entertainment
    • Showbiz
    • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Multimedia
Breaking News
From Pahalgam to Provocation: India’s Escalation and Pakistan’s ResponsePKK decision to dissolve, lay down arms key step toward ‘terror-free Türkiye’: Ruling AK Party spokesmanTransforming Recent Success into Strategic Gains for PakistanVirat Kohli Bids Farewell to Test CricketSouth Korea Kicks Off Formal Election Campaign
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • Latest
  • World
  • Asia
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • Central Asia
  • News
  • Politics
  • Security
  • Law
  • Business
  • Review
    • Editorial
    • Analysis
    • Perspective
    • Literature
  • Science & Tech
  • Entertainment
    • Showbiz
    • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Multimedia
No Result
View All Result
Asiafreepress
No Result
View All Result
Home Review Analysis

On Military Coups and Starvation: Is Western Media’s Perception of Africa Racist?

Ramzy Baroud by Ramzy Baroud
August 22, 2023
in Analysis, Perspective, Review, World
0
On Military Coups and Starvation: Is Western Media’s Perception of Africa Racist?
0
SHARES
57
VIEWS

Racism goes beyond the use of certain words or the discriminatory practices of everyday life. It is also about political perceptions, intellectual depictions, and collective relationships.

Consider the way that Africa is currently portrayed in the news.

From a political viewpoint, Africa is seen as a totality, and not in a positive way, as in a united Africa.

For example, mainstream Western media coverage of the US-Africa Summit, held in Washington last December, presented all of Africa as poor and desperate. The continent, one can glean from headlines, was also willing to pawn its political position in the Russia-NATO conflict, in exchange for money and food.

“Biden tells African leaders US is ‘all in’ on the continent,” an Associated Press headline announced on December 15.

The phrase ‘all in’ – a lingo used in Poker when someone is willing to risk it all – was cited many times in the US and Western media.

Biden offered unconditional US commitment “to supporting every aspect of Africa’s growth,” AP reported. But “growth” had little to do with Biden’s offerings. He merely tried to outbid Russia’s support for Africa so that the latter may adopt an anti-Moscow stance. He failed.

When a Russia-Africa Summit took place on July 27-28, US-western media lashed out, again presenting Africans as political vagabonds, while belittling the strategic value of such a meeting for both Russia and African countries.

A CNN headline began with “Isolated Putin ..,” while a Reuters headline read “Putin promises African leaders free grain.”

Very little mention was made of African leaders spending much time discussing a possible role in finding a peaceful resolution to the horrific war underway in Ukraine.

Indeed, several African leaders articulated a sincere political discourse, rejecting imperialism, neocolonialism and military interventions.

Moreover, there was little media discussion that Africa, like Europe, can negotiate a stronger political position in world affairs.

Instead, the coverage seemed to center around the Black Sea Grains Initiative – brokered in July 2022 – insinuating that Russia is threatening food security in an already impoverished continent.

But this was hardly the case.

In a speech at the Economic Forum in Vladivostok last September, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that, of the 87 grain-loaded ships, only 60,000 tons out of two million reached the United Nations’ World Food Program.

Though Putin’s overall figures were contested, the UN’s Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) said in a statement published in Euronews that “Putin is correct to say only a small amount has been shipped under the World Food Program.”

Even though Western countries have been the largest recipients of grains shipped through the Black Sea, no mainstream media has made it a mission to depict Europeans as starving populations, or worse.

Additionally, Europe is hardly presented as greedy, either. Indeed, the blame is never on Europe, its colonialism, arms, and political meddling. Yet, the blame is readily assigned elsewhere.

This headline in ‘The Conversation’ is a good illustration: “Putin offers unconvincing giveaways in a desperate bid to make up for killing the Ukraine grain deal.”

The bias is astonishing.

The truth is that African leaders were not looking for ‘giveaways’ but were hoping to negotiate a stronger geopolitical position in a vastly changing global political map. Just like everybody else.

Whether Putin’s “bid” in Africa was “desperate” or not, matters little. The bias, however, becomes clear when the alleged Russian desperation is compared to the outcome of the US-Africa summit last year.

Biden’s ‘bid’ was presented as an attempt at building bridges and creating opportunities for future cooperation. All is done, of course, in the name of democracy and human rights.

The misrepresentation of Africa can also be viewed independently from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Take, for example, the way Western media dealt with the Niger military coup on July 26.

Niger is part of the Sahel countries in Africa, a stretch of nations that have all been colonized by France.

Decades after these countries gained nominal independence, Paris continued to exert strong political influence and economic control.

This is called neocolonialism. It ensures the wealth of former colonies continues to be exploited by former colonizers.

In fact, Niger’s wealth of uranium ore has helped fuel more than a fourth of the EU’s nuclear energy plants, and much of France’s.

A decade ago, France returned to the Sahel region as a military force, in the name of fighting Jihadists.

Yet, violence grew, forcing African Sahel countries to rebel, starting in the Central African Republic, then Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, and, finally, Niger.

Little of that context features in the coverage of Western media. Instead, like Mali and the others, Niger is depicted as another of Russia’s lackeys in Africa.

Thus, the CNN headline, on August 2, “A Niger coup leader meets with Wagner-allied junta in Mali.” Here, CNN leaves no room for the possibility that African leaders have agendas, or political will, of their own.

The West’s problematic relationship with Africa is complex, rooted in colonialism, economic exploitation, and outright racism.

Africans are good ‘allies’ when they toe the Western line and hungry, easily manipulated, and illegitimate regimes when they reject the West’s conditions.

It is time to rethink and confront this demeaning perception.

Africa, like all other political spaces, is a complicated and conflicted region, deserving of deep understanding and appreciation, beyond the self-serving agendas of a few Western countries.

Previous Post

China premier stresses faster development of digital economy

Next Post

Iraqi president receives Turkish FM in Baghdad

Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

Next Post
Iraqi president receives Turkish FM in Baghdad

Iraqi president receives Turkish FM in Baghdad

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected test

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Heroic Tale of a Pakistani SULTAN in 1971 War

Heroic Tale of a Pakistani SULTAN in 1971 War

December 1, 2021
Jammu Genocide: Forgotten human carnage of disputed region

Jammu Genocide: Forgotten human carnage of disputed region

November 6, 2021
Indian forces kill under trial inmate in staged encounter in Kashmir

Indian forces kill under trial inmate in staged encounter in Kashmir

October 26, 2021
Peace, development make way to Xinjiang. Experts reject US allegations of genocide in Xinjiang China

Peace, development make way to Xinjiang. Experts reject US allegations of genocide in Xinjiang China

November 26, 2021
Jammu Genocide: Forgotten human carnage of disputed region

Jammu Genocide: Forgotten human carnage of disputed region

4
Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over killing of Muslims  in Assam

Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over killing of Muslims in Assam

4
India’s senior army officer booked on rape charges

India’s senior army officer booked on rape charges

3
Peace, development make way to Xinjiang. Experts reject US allegations of genocide in Xinjiang China

Peace, development make way to Xinjiang. Experts reject US allegations of genocide in Xinjiang China

3
From Pahalgam to Provocation: India’s Escalation and Pakistan’s Response

From Pahalgam to Provocation: India’s Escalation and Pakistan’s Response

May 13, 2025
PKK decision to dissolve, lay down arms key step toward ‘terror-free Türkiye’: Ruling AK Party spokesman

PKK decision to dissolve, lay down arms key step toward ‘terror-free Türkiye’: Ruling AK Party spokesman

May 12, 2025
Transforming Recent Success into Strategic Gains for Pakistan

Transforming Recent Success into Strategic Gains for Pakistan

May 12, 2025
Virat Kohli Bids Farewell to Test Cricket

Virat Kohli Bids Farewell to Test Cricket

May 12, 2025

Recent News

From Pahalgam to Provocation: India’s Escalation and Pakistan’s Response

From Pahalgam to Provocation: India’s Escalation and Pakistan’s Response

May 13, 2025
PKK decision to dissolve, lay down arms key step toward ‘terror-free Türkiye’: Ruling AK Party spokesman

PKK decision to dissolve, lay down arms key step toward ‘terror-free Türkiye’: Ruling AK Party spokesman

May 12, 2025
Transforming Recent Success into Strategic Gains for Pakistan

Transforming Recent Success into Strategic Gains for Pakistan

May 12, 2025
Virat Kohli Bids Farewell to Test Cricket

Virat Kohli Bids Farewell to Test Cricket

May 12, 2025
Asiafreepress

Follow Asia Free Press (AFP) on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube and Instagram for the latest news from China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Kashmir and across Asia.

Follow Us

Photo Gallery

Quick Links

  • Submission Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Stay in Touch

To be updated with all the latest news, offers, and special announcements.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • Latest
  • World
  • Asia
    • China
    • Pakistan
    • Afghanistan
    • India
    • Central Asia
  • News
  • Politics
  • Security
  • Law
  • Business
  • Review
    • Editorial
    • Analysis
    • Perspective
    • Literature
  • Science & Tech
  • Entertainment
    • Showbiz
    • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Multimedia

en_USEnglish (United States)
en_GBEnglish (UK) en_USEnglish (United States)