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My black friend thinks that blacks from Africa are dirty and primitive. I am not comfortable with that because she is criticising people of her ethnic origin.
My country forms part of Africa. America is a lot more developed than Africa it's true but from what I have seen in tv programmes of the black americans I can tell that we are better off and we have more chances of succeeding in life that the average black americans.
Given their history, it's not surprising what their predicament is. What can a man do against the very momentum of history but to become it?
Criticism that doesn't help remedy a situation is useless and vain.
My friend from Nigeria thought that too. American blacks consider agrican blacks as inferior or something..
It's not only them. I am from India and I know some malaysian ethnic Indians who think they're better than Indians. In both cases, I think they're stupid to consider themselves above someone else.
I think for anyone of any race to say that about Africans is ignorant. Tell her to open a book!
And I tell you to go to Africa... many (if not most) Africans are indeed uneducated. Primitive is a little strong of a word though, as they do sport civilisation. Even if judging by their mindset/worldviews etc. they are comparable to medieval peasants driving trucks, buying flatscreen TVs and shooting AKs.
Im surprised that most of them manage to handle money, though they take a rather long time counting it out, so much so that I felt like doing the calculations in my head (it was less painful than seeing them type it very slowly on a calculator). To be fair, the same thing can be said of many western school dropouts working the counters in stores etc.
That being said, most of them make a very large effort to keep their houses tidy and clean. In fact more so than most western people I know. Though the effort is quite in vain if you are living in the slums and you have to burn your trash in the garden. (At least in Kampala and some smaller towns there was still plenty of rubbish floating about).
The decided lack of deodorant in combination with high ambient temperatures results in a pungent smelliness around many Africans after a day at work.
All being said, they are almost all very nice people. Most of them seem to like Europeans, for whatever reason is beyond my comprehension. Just don't accidentally injure anyone, break something and by the gods, make sure your megalomaniac friend doesn't steal anything... they might kill you for those things in the countryside (Uganda). The cities have too much police armed with rifles for that sort of thing to happen though.
I remember on time a grown woman asked me how often I went to church... I told her I was atheist and didn't go to church. I didn't know whether to start laughing or feel touched when she started crying for me. Instead I just stared at her, dumbstruck.
Books don't teach you these things. Going to different places and meeting people do.
We have a lot of Missionaries in our church (Mormon missionaries) that have gone to the lesser developed areas of Africa (the language they speak involves clicking, if that is any indication of the region they visited) and their reports are similar in nature.
They were welcomes into homes of people who hardly spoke a word of English or know anything of Mormonism, they were invited to family dinners and the people that they converted who couldn't speak English to begin with her practically fluent by the time the missionaries left. I'd hardly call the intelligence that would be required to learn English and be so able to learn how to read and write, as many of them couldn't, "primitive".
As a result, religion means a lot to them. With the missionaries often come education and opportunities to be taught how to read and write and speak English. Religion brings them very real good.
On the flip side, I know of Missionaries that have gone to places such as NYC who were treated deplorably. From what they have told me about their visited parts of Africa, Africans aren't primitive... that's too strong a word for it, as you said.
I can't stand the term African Americans. There's nothing wrong with referring to someone as black. I have no problem with anyone of any other race calling me white, but I'd be a little off put if they called me European American. It doesn't matter if your black, white, Hispanic, whatever ethnic origin, your American. If your fair skinned or dark, your white or black. Simple, honest direct and inoffensive communication.
On to your question. Your friend sounds a little close minded but sadly, that's normal. Especially for anyone growing up in the comfort of a first world country. Truth is though, that as "Primitive" as some African cultures are, they have been around so long for a reason. They respect the traditions brought down by their ancestors and live that way because they know how to make it work and enjoy it. If their life style was so unpleasant and fulfilling, they wouldn't be there. Just tell your friend he doesn't have to worry about it, because he doesn't have to live like that. Not to waste his time "Hating" someone for living differently then he does.
I've noticed this. For some reason, some African Americans seem to think that Africans are inferior. It's bizarre... There are some huge differences in culture, but despite that there's no reason for such negativity.
I've seen similar things with Chinese. Several Chinese of Singaporean and Taiwanese descent look down on China Chinese.
You shouldn't be uncomfortable because she's criticising people possibly of her ethnic background, you should be uncomfortable because she's describing most of the population of an entire continent as "dirty and primitive".
Africa has many countries with many varied cultures. Of course, some are in turmoil; war, famine, corruption, disease, poverty and violence is common place. Most of the top 20 countries with the lowest life expectancy are in Africa.
However, there are enough educated, sophisticated Africans to make your friend's comments an unfair generalisation. They are no less African, so to belittle their achievements under such a stereotype is to appear a bigot.
It's not abnormal for people to feel superior to others, no. I've seen people who seem to have about as good of a grasp at things like science and language as a typical grade-schooler that have honestly felt as if they are superior to others because, in short, we have cell phones and computer and they don't. We have public education institutions and they don't. We drink from faucets and they don't. It's all arrogance.
I know many African-Americans that treat hispanic immigrants as inferior. "They speak poor English and have too many babies". Ironically, the hispanics in my area would say that the black people were lazy criminals.
I see comparison of two completely different cultures as a pointless endeavor.
I feel this is a trait that comes from living in the United States. We for the most part, are better off than most of the world, but that does not mean we are the best in every aspect of life. Your friend seems to be judgmental and does not have the knowledge of the countries from Africa. Of course there are parts that seem to be unlivable by our standards but the culture and pride is very strong. If people are surviving over there, then I believe they can live any where. I see people who are from 3rd world countries are stronger than those who are better off, most of the time.