The popular American show The Amazing race filmed some episodes in Ghana, and  the contents of the show has some Africansin a tizzy.  According to them, once again the lens of foreign cameras descended on Africa to perpetuate negative stereotypes. They are offended by the imagery of the chaotic market scene, the underdeveloped village scene, the children studying under trees, the bad roads and the crazy taxi drivers…

They wanted the lens to capture the sprawling mansions in the residential areas accompanied by the BMWs resting lazily on the interlocked driveways.  Oh why don't they show the private beaches and the darling pupils in their private school uniform. Are you serious??? If you have ever taken an objective look at the state of our continent, you would admit that the development and sophistication we know of exists in the capital cities. Further more, the luxuries  of shopping malls and 5 star hotels are enjoyed by the elite few. The imagery before you on Sunday nights is not at all distorted, it is the truth. If the show had focused on starving children with snort stained faces, I would have been upset. If they had focused on landfills or  lions and monkeys I would have been pissed. We always complain that Western shows do not include Africa, yet when they do, we complain that they do not show the side of Africa we like. I happen to love Amazing Race and I love the episodes in Ghana. I like that they showed the school children playing games like wheeling the rim with a stick and  I loved how they incorporated the Adinkra symbols into a puzzle. These are things that are charming African.

Complaining about the show is like keeping your house in disarray, inviting guests over and then getting mad that the guests reported on the mess they saw instead of your 1000 thread count bed sheets. If we want to show a different kind of Africa, then either more Africans need to get behind the camera, or we spread the concentrated luxuries from the cities to the villages.  Africans love the luxury of filtered portable water, yet we litter our streets with the empty containers. We want highways that mimic I-95, yet when we build them, they are so badly planned that the highway looks like a parking lot of a dysfunctional car dealership. We want an organized marketplace yet, we do not want to relocate squatters. We want to decongest the cities yet we don't create factories or employment in the rural areas. Now the camera is on us and we are up in arms about negative stereotypes. Interestingly enough, I noticed  that nobody is complaining about the show perpetuating the stereotype of 'dumb Americans' especially when Princeton graduates could not locate Ghana, a country they are in.

Relax a little and enjoy the show cause we are all getting exposed. But, If you remain uncomfortable with the depiction of Africa, it means you are not immune to the problem, so what are you doing about it?