'Africa is not a country, and we are not starving' – Tweeps tell U.S. journalist

Africa

Africans are calling out the education system and attitudes of people in the United States who continue to perceive the entire African continent as a country, and one that is starving for that matter.

The latest backlash against this ignorance and stereotype was unleashed on Twitter after a journalist in the United States shared a ‘student’s homework’ that recommended starvation in Africa as a solution to a problem called ‘Donald Trump’.

my friend’s friend is a 3rd grade teacher, and just texted me this student’s homework she had hanging in her apartment ??? pic.twitter.com/8PBgJsq5Jx

— kelly cohen (@politiCOHEN_) December 31, 2017

The post quickly went viral, with many people expressing shock that a journalist found the child’s solutions funny despite the gross misrepresentation of the conditions in Africa.

I might starve….someone is failing at the education part ??

— Young Simba ? (@reekrillz20) January 1, 2018

The fact that you think this is funny and can't see the incredibly insulting failure in this child's education is shocking. Or perhaps you also think we're over here starving in our huts with our pet lions which is even more scary.

— The Anomaly? (@ndapewoshali_a) January 1, 2018

Going viral for all the wrong reason. “I might starve” pic.twitter.com/i8v45oicZa

— glokage (@itsyogirlsagal) January 2, 2018

tell ya friend to tell her friend to get her kid some positive images of Africa……

— John Rocket (@SeizeTheDay80) December 31, 2017

Kids think of huts when it comes to Africa, because, sadly, they’ve never been taught about Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Windhoek, Lagos, Nairobi…surely says something about this country’s educational system.

— Carlos Braga F.C. ???? (@carbra2903) January 1, 2018

What country is he planning to go I Africa? Why does he say Africa and then says Canada? Why do they all think of Africa as a country rather than a continent?

— Tee (@sonofomenuko) January 2, 2018

It is not the first time that Africans are calling out foreign media for misrepresentation. In 2017, twitter campaigns were used to draw the attention of international media channels to false stories and inaccurate reports including ‘Ghanaians struggle to obtain food and day-to-day services’, ‘Rooney’s grand welcome in the fishing village of Dar Es Salaam’ among others.