What is it about?
The representation of Africa and its peoples by Western media has historically been one-dimensional and stereotypical. This study interrogates how Africa and its people were invoked in global media by examining controversies regarding the African director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) and xenophobic treatment of Africans in China. Findings indicate elements of Afrophobia were evident in the Trump Administration’s and US conservative media outlets’ engagement with WHO. The study also demonstrates the mainstreaming of non-western Afrophobia through the example of the xenophobic treatment of Africans in China.
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Why is it important?
While highlighting the continuity of negative portrayals of Africa in Western media, the study draws attention to non-Western Afrophobic narratives and emphasizes a contextual, intersectional and critical geopolitical analytical optics for a more robust understanding of the global Black experience.
Perspectives
In the process of doing this research, I learned Afrophobia is a global black experience. More importantly, I learned that young Africans are leveraging the internet of not only resist and push back but also claim their stories in creative ways especially through humor and memes.
Tewodros Workneh
Kent State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pandemic politics and Africa: Examining discourses of Afrophobia in the news media, Journal of African Media Studies, March 2022, Intellect,
DOI: 10.1386/jams_00071_1.
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