Tag Archives: stereotype

Modern Africa & America

When you think of history you remind yourself of the past. Countries throughout the world 100% of the time have gone through a period that has changed the course of a nation. Both Africa and the United States are fairly similar in how they became nations. Starting with Africa it was ruled by the British, between the 1870s and 1900, Africa faced European imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, military invasions, and eventual conquest and colonization. At the same time, African societies put up various forms of resistance against the attempt to colonize their countries and impose foreign domination. By the early twentieth century, however, much of Africa, except Ethiopia and Liberia, had been colonized by European powers. The Europeans pushed Africa into 3 sections they were political, social, and economic. They were motivated to stabilize Africa and make it contend with other providences.

Many other factors played an important role in the process. The political process that derived from the impact of the European power struggles and competition for territory. Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were competing for power within European power politics. One way to show national preeminence was through the acquisition of territories around the world, including Africa. The social factor was the third major element. As a result of industrialization, major social problems grew in Europe: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, social displacement from rural areas, etc. These social problems developed partly because not all people could be absorbed by the new capitalist industries. One way to resolve this problem was to acquire colonies and export this “surplus population.” This led to the establishment of settler-colonies in Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, and central African areas like Zimbabwe and Zambia. Eventually the overriding economic factors led to the colonization of other parts of Africa.

In the beginning of United States colonial era they were 13 original colonies. The Colonial America Time Period covers the time in early American history from 1607 to 1776 during Colonial Times and the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War and the establishment of the constitution. During this period of Colonialism the colonists and settlers arrived from Europe looking for religious freedom, land and the opportunity for wealth. The newcomers were governed by the laws of the European homelands which eventually led to dissension, anger and rebellion during the Colonial America Time Period and the creation of the new nation of the Unites States of America.

Slavery was a difficult time in american history. It was mostly in the south that slavery was at it highest of the peek. The British who owned the colonies after the Native Americans founded it first were the ones who had killed thousands upon thousands of slaves for their satisfaction and gain. I just don’t understand why there was even slavery in the first place and why did the Europeans did  not like blacks back then. People today are very blessed and fortunate that we did not live in those times because it was not have been pretty.

Imperialism occurs when a strong nation takes over a weaker nation or region and dominates its economic, political, and cultural life. In this case Africa was dominated mainly by also the british settlers. Imperialism and slavery are some what connected to currents events today in one case this year the Ferguson, Missouri incident or the Trayvon Martin where both of these young men were killed over nonsense. Was it because it was a race issue possibly and strongly? I think that even though we have come a long way from the 1950’s to 1960’s  there are still events like in recent years that makes me think why are citizens still behaving this way and for what purpose. It is better to love than to hate because with love there would even be slavery or imperialism and that would change the world.

CAF sends out warning after Cameroonian player killed

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In Algeria, last Thursday, August 28th, during a professional soccer (futbol) game a player was struck and killed by an object flung from the stands. His name is Albert Ebosse and he was the Algerian league’s top scorer last season notching 17 goals while playing for JS Kabylie based out of the Alergian city of Tizi Ouzou. Ebosse, who was 24, died from being hit in the head by piece of concrete thrown by his home crowd. Issa Hayatou who is the Cameroonian president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) gave a statement, “My thoughts go out to the family and friends of this young man who enjoyed his job peacefully and went further to pursue his passion for football abroad.” CAF president, Issa Hayatou, issued other statements as well but highlighted that, “African football cannot be the breeding ground for hooliganism whatsoever.” Hayatou also said he expects heavy sanctions to be produced for the Algerian league along with an investigation from the Algeria’s interior ministry. In Africa and throughout the surrounding area, soccer is a very important aspect of the community. This year in soccer (futbol), the Algerian team made the FIFA World Cup in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
During this time in Algeria during the summer the people were ambitious and were united while watching the team. A few months later in the same country a tragedy like this occurs in a area that had been so enthusiastic over their national team. This is important because there are some places in the world that let soccer (futbol) affect the community in such a way as this. In Africa, there are many situations where populations are affected by violence or war. I feel that the events that happened on Tuesday were a direct result of the events going on in Northern Africa. It may be go to far to say that just from soccer you can tell how violent a country is but you can see a small portion. Currently Algeria is is facing a lot of trouble that is going on in the surrounding countries. Morocco, Mali, Libya and although not bordering Egypt all play a role on Algeria. Egypt and Libya recently have had a lot of violence and Algeria in fact just reopened their borders to Libya. Although soccer is a very different topic then War, but in ‘vulnerable’ countries some events as little as soccer can play a much bigger role.

Throughout the article there is an emphasis on sadness and tragedy, as there should be. Typically when CNN reports a story on Africa it is related to violence, war, disease, overall sadness or perhaps a tourist destination. In this case it is violence and sadness, the article doesn’t give as many details as it could but it does a good job delivering the information. Personally I feel the issue is unsolved and happens to often in the soccer (futbol) community. Soccer (futbol) is commonly associated with large, intense and crazy crowds where such a tragedy is possible. I hope the CAF and Issa Hayatou can find a way to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. This topic isn’t as ‘mainstream’ as one would think about current events in Africa but it shows a topic that is usually uninvolved with sadness of this magnitude perhaps highlighting how events can shape an area.

(Previously posted to the wrong page)

Stereotype on African countries

Article Title: Another African country is expected to pass an anti-gay law

Source:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/03/25/another-african-country-is-expected-to-pass-an-anti-gay-law/

Article date: March 25 2014

This article discussed the issue that another African country-Ethiopia was going to pass a bill that “would take away the president’s ability to pardon people convicted under laws banning homosexual acts’. Before this anti-homosexuality law published by Ethiopia, there were two other African Country which has passed anti-gay law. These two countries are Uganda and Nigeria. In Africa, there are several countries that ban homosexual acts and for this time, some of this countries are going to put the prohibition on gays in their law.

Gay marriage is one of the hottest words recently. Since several states in the United States found that the ban on gay marriage is a violation to the U.S. Constitution, these state started to push the legislation of gay marriage, which was also supported by federal government. Meanwhile, the whole world started to focus on this issue. People started to pay attention to the rights of LGBT group. These attentions were also paid to the gay right and gay marriage in African countries. 

This article I found has a key word: condemnation. After the passage of strict anti-gay law in these African countries, governments of these countries received a huge amount of condemnation from all over the world. Due to the civilization and development of human society, people started to care more about human rights which include the equality of homosexual and heterosexual. But in Africa or we can say in the information of Africa we learned from our media, things seemed to be the same as in the old time. Mainstream of African society still didn’t accept homosexual. The social norm was more likely to be anti-homosexual. As I read all those articles about gay issue , I found that almost every article had the same tone-biased. Journalists are likely to describe Africa as a uncivilized, rude place when they write about human right issue in Africa. The article I chose is from the Washington Post, one of the mainly paper media in the United States. I think the source impacts the choice of words and tone. As a major media in the States, Washington Post represents the mainstream ideology in this country. So when it’s going to write something which is not correspond to the main ideology of this country, the tone is biased.

In my own opinion, homosexual right is one of the basic human rights. People should have the right to choose their partner. However, different places in the world have different societies. As a result, the ideology of each country or region is absolutely different. African countries had their own development, so there are a lot of social customs that cannot be changed in a short time. But with the civilization of their own society and the interaction with developed countries, Africa is definitely going to be more versatile and is able to tolerate homosexual. What we should do is not condemning but giving Africa more time to develop.

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Stereotypical Biases: Black Africans

Throughout time, stereotypes have gradually transformed into epidemic ideologies. The majority of people are unaware of the truth behind myths that stereotypical behavior is based on. For example, Africans are some of many people who are usually targeted by this convention. The stereotype that affected the overall image of Africans or people from the Africa is that they are wealthy regardless of their background. Africa endured many struggles and obstacles to reach its current status. Thus, the most common stereotype about Africa is their dark skin, some of the comments that really surprised me were:

“ The continent itself calls images of Darkest Africa with jungles, savanna, diamond mines, undiscovered civilizations or creatures, elephants, lions, monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, pythons, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, leopards, hyenas, ostriches, crocodiles, antelopes, wildebeest, etc. Usually whenever people visit Africa they almost trip over all these omnipresent animals, which they invariably always encounter at a dangerous moment. Africans are generally assumed to an entire continent full of black people. If there are whites they are always Great White Hunter or Mighty Whitey: there are no other options. Apparently all the Coloreds, Indians, Asians, and all the rest of them have vanished overnight. In addition, it’s a common stereotype that all black Africans essentially look like West Africans, with none of the variety in phenotypes found in Europe or Asia. This stereotype is especially common in the US, because it’s assumed that all Africans look like African Americans, who are mostly descended from West Africans. As a result, East and Northeast African phenotypes in particular are extremely rare in depictions of black Africans.”

It is important because it shows how people treat others differently just because of their skin color, this is definitely a negative thought since now most people will think that being black means being African which is wrong. And now Africa has the world’s attention just because of the myths about this part of the world. Although all countries show interest in Africa now yet racial stereotypes keep on wondering around it.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKOWERczykU

This video explains more about black Africans, and as said “It has gone on for many many years. We’ve all seen the ignorant remarks from ignorant and uneducated racists who say things like “Black African’s had no history”. “Black Africans had no culture”. “Black Africans had never even discovered the wheel”. “When the white man discovered black Africans they were just naked savages and cannibals living in mud huts”. But this video explains how ignorant people are when it comes to this topic and actually Africans made history not whites. One of the Pre-colonial economics that is affecting Africa is The demand for slaves rose as the European sugar plantation arose, which led to an immediate impact on the African economy by a decrease in the agricultural production. Which created the Euro African who are called “Black Africans” in Europe and “Europeans” in Africa. “The African country with the largest White African population of European descent both numerically and proportionally is South Africa, at approximately 4.6 million (9.2% of the population). Although White Africans no longer have the exclusive rule of single nations, they still hold a substantial ownership of the economy and land in specific nations”.

 

Read more: http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2006/04/maddox.aspx

 

Are Our Backs Turned Completely?

“What’s missing in the Ebola fight in West Africa?” By Jim Yong Kim and Paul Farmer

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/whats-missing-in-the-ebola-fight-in-west-africa/2014/08/31/19d6dafc-2fb4-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html

Source found online: The Washington Post

September 3, 2014

The current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is so alarming that it is almost impossible to continue to ignore. Across the continents people are afraid and people are dying. This article, “What’s missing in the Ebola fight in West Africa?” brings to light a big issue that is surrounding the fight against Ebola, which is that West Africa, particularly Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, do not have the medical or economic resources to combat the growing threat of Ebola within their respective countries. The authors are quick to point out that had the outbreak happened in America, medical personal would have immediately stepped in, contained those infected, rounded up contaminated objects and begun to treat all aspects of the disease. This we know to be true because as seen on the news a few weeks ago, two health workers who had gotten infected with Ebola while working in West Africa were flown back to the United States, put into isolation, given experimental drugs, and subsequently healed completely. (CNN)

This article makes the statement that what the ailing countries in West Africa need right now, is international aid. Countries that are equipped with the economic and medical resources needed to put a decisive end to the spread of Ebola are being asked to come together and provide the aid that African cannot provide for themselves. The authors use words such as “scandalous” and phrases like “many are dying needlessly” to fully express how truly dire the situation is over in West Arica. They are trying to explain how almost ridiculous it is to be having thousands of people dying from this disease mostly due to inadequate health care and knowledge. We have talked about this tone; the tone which implies that Africa cannot fend for themselves but in this instance I believe it is a necessary attitude to have. Clearly with the amount of death and illness that is taking place, the people of West Africa are in dire need of compassion and aid. I understand the tone to be more on a positive side. The authors take the time to point out that in the past, the treatment of big issues such as AIDS were taken seriously and tackled with the assistance of other countries who were in a position to help. The death caused by the Ebola virus can be stopped if only nations join together in the fight.

I found this article online from The Washington Post, which is a reputable, and generally fair newspaper. I do think that because a well-known newspaper published this article, the writing was more academic and thoughtful. The authors clearly took the time to uncover statistics as well as economic information from other countries in order to accurately compare and discuss West Africa’s current situation. After reading this article, I wholeheartedly agree with the opinion that the authors were trying to get across. West Africa has made great strides in economical, political and social aspects but they need our help and the help of others if the people are going to fight and win against this seemingly unstoppable disease.

Nigerias Boko Haram Seize Bama Town in Borno

Nigerian troops battling to defeat Militant groups

Nigerian troops battling to defeat Militant groups http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29021037 2 September 2014 Last updated at 08:15 ET

 

2 September 2014 Last updated at 08:15 ET

One of the many issues plaguing the country Nigeria in West Africa has been relentless attacks and occupation by Islamic militants. On September second 2014, BBC News reported that the Nigerian Military has lost control of a town called Bama the second largest town in Borno State. The group responsible for this takeover is a militant Islamic group called Boko Harem. BBC reports that Bama is a key north-eastern state in Nigeria. This takeover was a result of aggressive combat with government forces. Residents told BBC Hausa reporters that initially Boko Haram attacks were “repelled” by the military. However, the Islamic militants returned with reinforcements to seize the town. The militants began by taking over military barracks, which lead soldiers and residents to flee on foot. Many who fled sought refuge by foot in Maiduguri a town within the capital of Nigeria called Abuja.

The takeover of the town Bama by the Boko Haram Islamic militant group is a very crucial issue. The capture of the town Bama places Boko Haram closer to it next target, Maiduguri. As previously stated, Maiduguri is the capital of Nigeria. If the Islamic militants gain control of Maiduguri they will soon be able to control the capitol which will leave Nigeria in a delicate state. According to BBC, the leader of Boko Harem Abubakar Shekau has announced a caliphate in areas controlled by Boko Harem.  It is possible that Nigeria could become populated with many Islamic states ruled by Islamic militants.

As I read the reports by BBC, it was difficult to gauge the author’s point of view of this situation. Throughout the article it was clear that the author worked hard to seem unbiased and to give direct news without interjections of his/her thoughts. However, I noticed a different tone as I continued to read around the article which had quotes in bold with opinions of others about the Boko Harem militant takeover. A man called Mannir Dan Ali was quoted saying, “Just when you imagine that it cannot get worse for the Nigerian military and its pride as a fighting force, it takes a further dive.” This quote seemed to take a hit at the Nigerian Military without the author using his/her own voice to interject his/her opinion of the situation. The author hit on the stereotypical topics discussed in class about reporters concentrating on the corruption, military instability, and lack of leadership in African nations. When the writer of this article put quotes about “Nigerian Military pride as a fighting force” he/she diverged into a stereotyping territory. The writer seems to look down on the Nigerian leaders and their lack of control of Islamic militants.

Throughout my entry I have stated that the source of the article I read was BBC News.   I truly believe that BBC does impact the choice of words that are used in this article. For the most part, the article is very informative and not as biased as many other articles. However, there are instances of biased views in the margins with quotes directly from opposing sides of this situation. The voice of the quotes seems to be that of someone looking down on Nigeria and judging its military strength. Personally I agree with the biased tone of this article. Nigeria needs to strengthen its military might and fight against Islamic militants that are terrorizing the country and its innocent people.  Thought my blog I believe that my biased tone is evident because I strongly believe that Nigerian leaders are slowly losing their grip over Islamic terrorist.

 

Location, Location, Location

This article briefly discusses a discovery in a small part of Africa. Contrary to popular knowledge that the Middle East is the prime area to satisfy our petroleum needs, oil companies have made a discovery a little west of the continent– in Sierra Leone. This is not the first occasion in which oil has been discovered off the coast of Sierra Leone, the first time being a monumental find of 18,500 feet. This time international oil companies uncovered 135 feet. Sierra Leone’s location right on the west coast of Africa makes this a “high potential zone” for oil drilling, oil companies Repsol and its minor partners Anadarko and Tullow Oil announced.

One thing I enjoy about college courses is that somehow everything interconnects, everything is related to each other somehow. After reading this article, I was immediately reminded of a previous lesson in my Environment Protection and Energy Conservation class on sources of energy. “Energy is stored and available in different forms and sources (Pisupati).” These sources include renewable and non-renewable resources. Oil or petroleum would be classified as a non-renewable resource because it cannot be produced in a short period of time. This reminds me vaguely of a lesson in a high school class. However, one thing I did not recall and ironically, of course, is that we get most of our energy from these non-renewable resources.

How is this related to the 18,635 feet of oil found in Sierra Leone and parts of Liberia? Just a thought and for recap purposes for my upcoming EGEE102 exam: the middle is richest in petroleum while the U.S., Australia and China are richest in coal. This information is current, so if most of our oil comes from the Middle East, why were we drilling west of Africa two years ago? Are we running out of our natural resources faster than scientific experiments speculated or was this just a finding based on economic opportunity? The afrol News tone is stereotypical because it sounds like another party is benefiting from its resources instead of the country itself. I think that many news sources like to sugarcoat or at the other end exaggerate versions of the truth. This article gives the impression that drilling holes into the earth for the petroleum needs of others is beneficial for Sierra Leone. However, who is really benefiting from these harmful habits? The Sierra Leone people or the oil companies extracting the oil? Most likely the money making oil companies.  On a positive note, I believe if the government and these companies could create a system where this can benefit both parties including the citizens a bright future is ahead of the people of Sierra Leone. This can possibly create jobs and if handled accordingly all can benefit from this economic discovery.

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http://www.afrol.com/articles/36905

Business in Nigeria – Africa’s testing ground

The Economist

The article is from the economic magazine The Economist posted on Aug 23rd 2014. As I began to read about the article, I thought about all the misconceptions of the actual size of African continent that we have learned at class on Tuesday. Many people still believe that African continent is smaller than Asia and the United States while it is not. This article is about the huge capability of African continent, especially in Nigeria, the continent’s largest market. Even though the success of beginning business in the continent would never be easy, people cannot easily ignore the fact that African continent has its huge capability to be invested. Especially in Nigeria, its promise has made a test-bed for the Africa strategies of consumer goods firms and this is not just because of its size but because of Nigerian culture that has been traded nearly for a century.

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Following to the graph attached, Africa’s engine of growth, especially for Nigeria, it is much higher compared to that of the United States. Naturally, the percentage of change on a year for Africa is also greater than that of the rest of the world. These graphs are significantly saying that the future investment toward the new business opportunity will possibly be concentrated on Africa with the continent’s shortcomings following to Nigeria.

On the other hand, there are many problems that are not solved currently in the continent with new opportunities. A shortage of electricity is one of the worst problems. Nigeria has one of the world’s highest rates of road deaths and the government only recently made lessons and tests mandatory for new drivers not the existing drivers that had brought out many casualties. Back to the shortage of electricity and the other resources, these inefficient supply chains inevitably increase the cost of doing business and another problem about getting goods to customers are not adjusted fully in the current market. The high cost of construction and land disputes have disrupted that growth of formal retailing that made the fragmented market difficult to forecast sales. Therefore, it is more obvious to increase the cost of doing business due to the dispersed customers with inefficient supply chains.

Few months ago, I have read about the article saying that the biggest dam would be established in Africa that the cost to build a dam would be approximately $4.2 billion USD. One thing that consistently comes to mind is that many investors already know and recognize that African continent is full of things that are not discovered and invested at this moment and that the area has great growth potential. The article keeps mentioning about the inefficient capital and sources with the potentials following to the revenues that will grow faster than GDP. One thing I liked about this article was that the perspective of writing this article seemed to be very objective and not subjective by misconceptions and the certain stereotypes about Africa. The article was full of the potentials that African continent would possibly have only if there are abundant sources supported by the market. The tone was neutral by mentioning both possibilities with investing opportunities found in Africa and the limits with current problems that Africa is facing. I thought about the image and general facts that are facing toward African continent. Usually, people think about the scarcity of water in the African continent and when it comes to the people from rest of the world, it is easier to have more prejudice and uneasiness toward Africa even before knowing about its culture and people. After having read this entire article, I thought about Africa’s huge potentials that can be overtaken by business investment. It is also the best testing ground for new ventures since Africa continent is huge and is full of opportunities that are not found yet.

 

 

Ruthless leader aims to extend reach of Al-Shabaab, eyes the West

Terrorist seeks revenge

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/24/world/africa/al-shabaab-leader/index.html?hpt=iaf_c2

Tuesday September 2, 2014

In yesterdays news, after the first initial report published last year that came out of a Kenyon mall. A terrorist group by the name of Al-Shabaab and its leader were the hub of the problem. He is heartless when it comes toward opponents, too secretive and a true believer in global jihad. The issue discussed is that Mukhtar Abu Zubayr the emir of Al-Shabaab was hiding out in southern Somalia and has planned numerous terror attacks that includes the most deadliest in Kenya since the U.S Embassy bombing in 1998. This issue is important because Zubayr has a 15 terror resume and the U.S State Department has offered 7 million for his whereabouts. The authors of this article by the names of Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank key words to describing the situation that Al-Shabaab is presenting is that he “is ruthlessly eliminating real and imagined rivals” within the group.

The tone that the authors give is that they are very cautious of what Zubayr will do next. My impression that I get from the words/tone used for this article would be hopeful. The reason that I say hopeful is that even though the problem may be difficult to face in the present. I am hopeful that whatever circumstance comes along that the results will be justified.

The source of the story I chose is CNN. I chose CNN because there topics are so current in today’s society. I also like how CNN goes in depth with breaking to even past headlines and explains thoroughly what’s happening in the world. I agree that the source negatively impacts the choice of words/ tone used? I say this because mostly if all of the article talks about the different terrorist attacks that is happening in Africa. Zubayr has already directed 2 suicide bombings against bars in Kampala, Uganda, in 2010, and last year’s Westgate mall siege in Nairobi, Kenya. When the Uganda attacks were over which killed over 70 people, Zubayr warned : “What happened in Kampala is just the beginning”.

My personal thoughts about the issue discussed and the tone is that from reading the article it is very explicit and cruel what a group of terrorists can really do. The tone just alone makes it hard for a man like Zubayr can just kill innocent people for no apparent reason. I think people like him should either be in prison for life or receive the death penalty for their actions. Africa is a beautiful country but with history of crime that is far worse than the United States crime violence rate. In order for this world to be in better place we need to end violence such like this in Somalia. People will only continue what they want to do if you let this crime continue.

 

 

Tumult in Lethoso…

Mikaila Rodgers

Intro to Contemporary African Studies

September 2, 2014

lithosocoup

Yesterday, September 1, 2014, it was reported that Lesotho’s prime minister, Tom Thebane has fled the country to seek refuge within South Africa. He claims that Lesotho’s military, which has allegedly been influenced by deputy Prime Minister, Mothetjoa Metsing, has carried out a plot to overthrow the government. Reports have come out of Lesotho of police fleeing the country after being attacked by the country’s own military. Police weapons and uniforms have been detained by armed forces. The “coup” has allegedly been the consequence of the decision of Thebane to suspend parliament due to his improbable reelection. As a result of the tumult, two million citizens are left bewildered, stocking up on food and other supplies in apparent preparation for a lengthy political standoff. However, according theguardian.com, Lesotho has consistently experienced coups such as this one in previous years, following its independence from Britain in 1966. Deputy Prime Minister, Mothetjoa Metsing, claims to have no involvement in the coup. The military also admits no wrongdoing, arguing that the attack only came as the result of police attempting to arm “political fanatics” in a protest. Both groups are currently consulting with the South African president, Jacob Zuma. In addition, Thabane called on the fifteen-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) to send peacekeeping troops to Lesotho. South Africa’s response to the crisis in Lesotho was chillingly lackadaisical.

“Police stations were deserted but Harris Majeke, South Africa’s high commissioner to Lesotho, denied that there had been a breakdown of law and order. “There is no problem in Lesotho because the government is still in place,” he told eNews Channel Africa. “There’s no violence. It’s business as usual,” (TheGuardian)

However, while South Africa seems to recognize no crisis, The United Nations has voiced its concerns, calling for a reinstallation of democratic rule.

The article in TheGuardian describes Lethoso as having always been “coup-prone”, due to its small size and feeble power. There is an ongoing battle for political power that has lasted from 1966 until present day. Lesotho’s most recent coup followed a seven-year military rule of the country until 1993. Going off of its description of Lesotho as being a “coup-prone” country, TheGuardian proceeds to paint a picture of the country as being violence-ridden. The author uses words like fear, impoverished, rupture, power struggle, and many more that would infer that the political issues in Lesotho are not fixable. Frankly, the article uses intense rhetoric that implies that Lesotho is a country in need of saving (as is implied in many articles involving African countries). The end of the article does not even imply that there is hope for the country. “Thabane told the BBC he would return to the country ‘as soon as I know I am not going to get killed’” (TheGuardian).The country is painted as a savage inhabitance, wherein action is demanded urgently in light of the strong emotional appeal utilized in the article.

Link to article: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/lesotho-tom-thabane-south-africa