Africans should be sterilized or bombed (This is not hate speech)

Africans should be sterilized and troubled regions of the continent, like Zimbabwe, bombed off the face of the earth.

This is a sound strategy for the developed world to deal with the population explosion, food shortage and the many problems that the continent brings, says a writer I came across on the Internet.

The man, who has written over eleven thousand articles and generated four and half million hits (at that particular portal) also argues against attempts to revitalize the continent, especially the slums.

He says Africans are essentially a waste of food. The world is already overpopulated, and the last thing the developed world needs to waste its resources on keeping the lazy sods fed.

Slum areas in Africa should also not be rehabilitated, because once you’re done with the work, more poor Africans will move into the improved regions, breed like rabbits and ruin your good work, he says.

I CAN’T IGNORE HIM

My gut reaction was to dismiss this writer as an ill-informed crackpot few people will take seriously. But, I couldn’t ignore his huge body of work or the sheer commitment that he demonstrated in writing articles and getting them into the public arena. (The articles are free to republish by anyone who wishes to do so)

Also, we know who we are, what we stand for and what life really is like in Africa. Why worry about an ill-informed person who has no way to influence our lives?

I couldn’t ignore him because there is too little information on the Internet telling the real story of Africa. There are too few Africans chatting on the Internet, sharing about their life experiences, doing just as people from developed countries are doing through blogs and forums. There are too few fictional stories, based in Africa, published on the net and many African writers don't even bother to build web sites or to blog.

So even if ordinary citizens from developed countries disbelieve this writer and others like him, they have no accurate information to replace the misinformation. They still end up with the mental picture of the African as a poor, lazy, starving individual in need of intervention, whether benign or aggressive.

MY CHALLENGE TO AFRICAN WRITERS

My nine year old daughter spends a lot of time on the Internet, learning and playing. This weekend alone, she researched:

- Racheltjie De Beer (1831-1843)- a 12-year old Afrikaans girl who sacrificed her life for her brother’s survival (she learnt about Rach at school)
- Madeleine McCann - a 4-year old girl who was snatched from her family a month ago. ( been following story since etv broadcast a news segment on Madeleine)
- How to polish silver – a school project due Tuesday ( really bad luck she pulled that topic)
- Ethiopia – I mentioned the country and Baby was curious, so one thing led to another
- The Frog Princess – a Russian fairytale we’d never read before.

It will be very difficult for Baby (and African children in general) to gain a positive self-image if most of the online accounts of Africans are of victims or a people too lazy to help themselves.

So, my challenge to African writers is this:” Are you using the Internet to tell Africa’s story to the world, the continent, your country, your community, your family, your children? If you’re not busy showing the world that we’re more than hungry mouths to be nuked or fed, who do you think is doing your job?”

For as long as African writers have excuses not to use new media like the Internet to get their stories out, someone else will define who Africans are using this medium. In the absence of our stories, our own account of life in this continent, their truth will be the only truth net surfers read.

So I suggest that African writers be as prolific as this man is; that they let their work be distributed as much as possible, so for every article this man (and many like him) writes about Africa, there are a hundred more giving a more accurate portrayal of life on this continent.

I’m not talking about disputing what he said, or even trying to convince those who think Africans are a waste of good resources that we too are human beings entitled to life and dignity. Why bother?

I’m talking about Africans doing just as everyone is doing on the Internet and saying “this is who we are and this is how we live.”

Lest some writers come up with excuses why they can’t use this media, let me say I am a technology journalist and am aware of all those reasons already. All I’m asking is for you to work over/under/around those problems and get the job done.

Let me remind you that ONE man, not yet 45 by the way, wrote more than ELEVEN THOUSAND articles in a couple of years. In some them, he suggests that you and your family be sterilized or bombed. If that’s not motivation enough to put forth your perspective, I don’t know what is.

P.S. For obvious reasons, I didn’t name the writer I was talking about or hyperlink to his articles.