Sick and Flippin’ Tired
Everyone is tired of hearing Canadians differeniate themselves from Americans. The world gets it: We are not Americans. So I will not bore you with that triade. Its enough to simply say it up front. Canadians are not Americans.
This blog entry is sticking up for Americans . . . and Canadians, Europeans and Asians. Everyone else out there who isn’t a white South African.
I’m sick and tired of hearing the same old self-depricating remark made by 20- and 30-something whtie South Africans: “THEY don’t even realize that there are white South Africans” or “THEY think lions roam our backyards.”
No we don’t.
Even the most stupid hillbilly from the backwoods of Georgia knows that Lions do not roam the streets of Cape Town. We know white South Africans exist (hell, we do watch Ernie Elms play golf) and we know cell phones exist in deep dark Africa.
Almost daily I would overhear some pompous white South African mouth off about how Americans (they ALWAYS pick on Americans) don’t know where Sudan is, or think the only good thing to come out of South Africa was Nelson Mandela or that Tigers roam freely everywhere. And while I get I’m the exception to the rule wrt the initmate details of African history and politics, most non-white South Africans do watch tv, read newspapers and hell, some even travel. We are well aware that South Africa is almost as 1st world as Canada. We are not as ignorant as you might expect.
We care. And while we might not give money to the cause, sometimes its because we are doing the right thing and letting Africa sort itself out.
Ranting about how ignorant “Americans” are (and by American I mean every non-African counrty) only proves the point - white South Africans are as ignorant as the media protrayed their racist Aparthied forefathers.
Sure there are people out there who don’t understand that that Sudan is in northern-ish Africa and not neighboring Zimbabwe to the east. But in the same breathe, how many white South Africans know that the first transatlantic flight took off from Newfoundland? Or that Alberta doesn’t have rats? I could easily be just as rude and point out that not one single white South African knew you could eat a lether belt buckle (ok so I threw that in for pure amusment sake for those having read Lure of the Labrador Wild in high school). But the point is clear: there are just as many rude ignorant “Americans” as there are rude, ignorant white South Africans - plenty and few in the same breathe.
In case my bolded statement is still making a few voortrekkers steam at the ears, my point was that saying “we” are ignorant of Africa is akin to my statement. While it may have been a trueism years ago, its hardly fact now. And in fact, to say so about “Americans” is as bad as my bolded statement.
Its a sweeping gneeralization that begs to be disproved.
And I’m proof.
And everyone I speak to about my experiences is one less ignorant “American”.
