Misconceptions of Africa

7/28/2019 Misconceptions of Africa

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Tony Pham

Wayne Cook

African American History

1st Period

Misconceptions of Africa

1. What do you first think of when I say Africa?

2. What can you tell me about the geography of Africa?

3. How modernize is Africa in your opinion?

4. Can you tell me how many countries make up Africa? (Don’t say that you thought Africa was

a country!) Due to the Peter’s Projection Africa seems smaller than it actual size, why do youthink the map portray the continent of Africa as smaller than it really is?

5. Do you think Africa is poor and disease ridden?

6. Why do you think there is so much tension between many Africans nations/tribes today?

Ignorance Or Arrogance

After surveying 10 people between the ages of 15 to 25 both male and female, we have

concluded that our small survey can reflect the many misconceptions that the general public

might have of Africa. The demography of people we asked to answer our survey was meanttowards teenagers and current college students. There was no specific race just 10 random people

who had a few minutes to spare. The first question we asked in order to introduce the topic was,

“What do you first think of when I saw Africa?” Stereotypes and generalization was to be

expected as many the majority said, poverty, unindustrialized, 3rd

world countries, diseases, and

the Sahara Desert. The second question was about geography, most people believed that Africa is

just mainly desert and fail to know that Africa has 5 of the 6 major climates types and is 1/5 of

Earth’s landmass. At least no one said Africa was one giant country but instead estimated

between 40-50 countries but the correct answer would have been 54 nations. Next, we asked

them about how modernized Africa is, and 7/10 said Africa is unindustrialized and for the most

part that is false. In general, most countries in Africa has technology but not as modernized andadvance as the United States.

We found it odd how people thought Africa was one country therefore we asked our 10

random surveyors and luckily no one said that. None of them knew the exact number of

countries in Africa but most of their estimates ranged between 40 to 50 countries. No one was

correct for there are 54 sovereign nations in the continent of Africa. The second part of the



question asked about the Peter’s Projection Map and why Africa is portrayed smaller than it

actually is. 5 people said that the map is biased and favors Europe more. The 5th

question we

asked was about how Africa is often portrayed as disease ridden and poor. 8 out 10 people said

because of the poverty level in many countries in Africa they are unable to afford any clean

water or vaccinations. The media has successfully portrayed Africa as a manifestation of the ill

and poor over the past half century. Some of it is true while some of it is not depends on the

perspective of the individual. The last question we asked was, “Why do you think there is so

much tension between many Africans nations/tribes today?” Most of the teenagers and young

adults we question gave a generic answer of nationality, pride, and feuds which is correct for the

most part but none mentioned how Great Britain and many other European countries

imperialized through Africa and when they left they didn’t draw the boarders correctly to

separate each nation therefore causing endless years of strife.





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Misconceptions of Africa