Why Is Africa Capable Of No Development Or Culture?

As Europeans proceeded to judge Africa, they represented a whole continent without realizing that they’re representing just one way of telling the story of Africa which excludes possible other ways of telling the same story. The declaration that Africa is “capable of no development or culture, and as we see them at this day, such have they always been,” presents Africa as a seamless, unhistorical region that lacked the characteristic highs and lows of historical time seen in other areas around the world. The descendants of Hegelian ideology have continued to exclude Africa as a flourishing political and cultural continent and continued a series of stereotypes that Africa is a dark continent filled with undiscovered civilizations and jungles

In an interview on CBS News’ 60 minutes, Minister Farrakhan undoubtedly describes Nigeria as a country that is corrupt and does mismanage resources, but is most importantly a nation of only thirty-five years. His description of Nigeria shows how the superpowers of America and Europe have long-since been an establish entity and where decolonized countries in Africa have only but recently become anew with the responsibility of autonomy in a Western world where they are expected to somehow be at the same level as other continents. The unfair compare and contrast between Africa and other regions of the world proliferates the idea that the countries of Africa can never be at the level of any other region like that of China or India. Stereotypes of a poor, demoralized Africa, due to conventional ideas of Africa, now swarm Europe and American news outlets. Celebrity colonialism now ensues and dramatized movies of African villages swarm box offices. However, through investigation it is seen that Africa was a booming continent with much promise before, during, and after colonial rule. Africans fought for independence, because they believed in their own personal self-worth and ability to serve their people unselfishly. Followers of Georg Hegel and Trevor-Roper lack the insight that showed Africa’s wealthy empires like that of Ghana with copious amounts of salt and gold used for trades, or the kingdom of Mali led by the powerful Mansa Musa, the wealthiest man to have lived. The empires aforementioned countless others dominated before Europeans colonized Africa. The people of Africa knew wealth as well as poverty like that of any other empire, clan, kingdom, or