Barack Obama is loved in Tanzania.
His face is on doors, on tee shirts, on fabric at the stores. At first we thought this was because of his skin color – a black man – but it is much more than this.
In Tanzania, the people are exposed to a limited sector of America. They may see certain things on the news. They are more likely to see the American visitors – volunteers, vacationers, here on Safaris. Tanzanians, like most Africans, have a perception that everyone in America is white, everyone in America is rich. These are the people they see every day, the only ones they know of to be fair.
Barack Obama represents to them something bigger. How could America, a nation of white people, elect this black man? They identify with him – and he inspires them with hope. A message that translates not just in the words Obama says, but in what he symbolizes to many black Americans, and conversely, to many Africans.
This was a strange thought to me until I started to think how we in America think of Africans. There is a certain mental image that appears, and while not unfounded it’s not accurate, just like the Africans’ perception of America. We try to explain that America is a diverse country with many more types of people than they are traditionally exposed to. It’s a fascinating dialogue.
His face is on doors, on tee shirts, on fabric at the stores. At first we thought this was because of his skin color – a black man – but it is much more than this.
In Tanzania, the people are exposed to a limited sector of America. They may see certain things on the news. They are more likely to see the American visitors – volunteers, vacationers, here on Safaris. Tanzanians, like most Africans, have a perception that everyone in America is white, everyone in America is rich. These are the people they see every day, the only ones they know of to be fair.
Barack Obama represents to them something bigger. How could America, a nation of white people, elect this black man? They identify with him – and he inspires them with hope. A message that translates not just in the words Obama says, but in what he symbolizes to many black Americans, and conversely, to many Africans.
This was a strange thought to me until I started to think how we in America think of Africans. There is a certain mental image that appears, and while not unfounded it’s not accurate, just like the Africans’ perception of America. We try to explain that America is a diverse country with many more types of people than they are traditionally exposed to. It’s a fascinating dialogue.
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