As the only African American male attending the University of Botswana this semester, I’ve had numerous opportunities to answer questions, educate, clear up misconceptions and end some of the stereotypes people I’ve talked to have about Black Americans (as the locals say), U.S., Americans, and share my home culture with locals.
The locals ask me a lot of questions in order to get a better understand of the American people, the U.S. and cultures represented within it.
Fortunately and unfortunately, depending on the perspective taken, the locals have access the to the U.S. media. I say fortunately because they are able to educate themselves on U.S. news, history, culture, entertainment, etc. and enhance their world view, and unfortunately because the locals are exposed to the U.S.’s most ignorant media.
Many of the students I’ve spoken to at school believe that nearly everything in American movies is the reality of most Americans, which is rather unfortunate. Although American movies help provide entertainment and information, they ultimately provide foreigners a way to grasp an idea of what American and Americans are like; but when the viewer is unable to distinguish between exaggerations of the truth and/or understand cultural norms and values, a lot of information can be misinterpreted. A few weeks back, a friend of mine asked me if high school students in America really jump on tables and sing and dance in the cafeteria during lunch time like in the movie High School Musical. I tried my best not to laugh and told my friend no, that it’s just a movie … in my mind I could only hope that students in the states don’t really do that!
One thing that shocked me when I first arrived here and what still bothers me to this day is that the majority of the students here use the “N” word. I used to hear the “N” word while I was in Ghana from time to time, but here it’s just out of control. The “N” word is a controversial word … in the U.S, but people in Botswana and other countries around the world who use the “N” word who have no knowledge of its origin wouldn’t consider it so. Unfortunately, it has become just another word many of the locals have added into their everyday vocabulary. It’s obvious that they got the word from the U.S. media because the way they use it is the exact same way most African Americans use it in the states. Although I find it ignorant, there’s not much I can do except tell people not to greet me with that word or refer to me as that word while in conversation and simply take time to educate people on the word’s origin. I come from a family that doesn’t use the “N” word in the house or in public. From a young age I was taught the history of the “N” word and told why it’s not appropriate to be used, even amongst people of my own race, so it’s always been one of those touchy words that I’d rather not hear and especially not be addressed towards me. So hearing it here of all places definitely is awkward.
Something else I’d like to mention is that, I’ve noticed that many of my friends and local students have many negative stereotypes about White Americans and speak about them as if they have interacted/live in a society of White Americans. I’m more than sure that the stereotypes they have comes from watching American movies and TV shows. It really saddens me that whatever movies or series they have watched have had such a large impact on their thought process.
My favorite questions locals ask me actually deal with basic geography of the U.S. Considering that many people who have lived in the states their entire life aren’t familiar with their own countries’ geography; one can only imagine how much more unfamiliar it might be to people from other countries. I think what’s difficult to grasp for most people I’ve talked to here are the States and cities as well as how large the U.S. actually is. There are a few cities and states that most people here seem to know: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, Miami … New York and California. But if you were to ask these same people to point these cities and states out on a blank U.S. map, they’d most likely have no idea where any were located. What’s also difficult for some is to distinguish states from cities. Since Botswana is nearly the size of the U.S. state of Texas, I can give them more of a visual example. There are several countries within Africa that can fit within the U.S., so many of these serve as my examples when explaining. I always enjoy these conversations!
There are some misconceptions that I’ve had to clear up. One being that all Americans are rich- or that at least the majority are. Another being that all Americans are the same and share the same culture.
Being the only African American male on campus and one of the few most students have ever met, I have the unique opportunity to share my home culture and to clear up, if you will, many of the things people here have seen in the American media about Black Americans. There always seems to be a lot to explain in this area- especially with the amount of ignorance portrayed in the American media. I digress to mention that when I was at school in Ghana, I came across a group of students in the business building who could tell that I was not local. After telling them where I was from, I asked one of the girls what her perception of Black Americans was. She said “I’ll kill you N*gga” and put up her hands as if she was holding a gun. I was in disbelief that those words and that image was the first thing she thought of. Similar to the perception many of the students I met in Ghana have, many of the local solely associate Black Americans with Hip Hop and Tyler Perry movies. Little do they know, African Americans have a beautiful culture and I am always grateful for opportunities to share what I can about it.
