The Need for a Paradigm Shift: How the 'Dark Continent' Myth Continues to Hold Us Back.
By Leoma Monaheng
As a Mosotho scholar at an international institution, I sometimes find myself pondering the so-called differences between the Global South and North. There are some deep narratives back home that do much to twist our perspectives on what we have as opposed to what the North has and how far behind we are in terms of technology, society and general standards of living.
While there might be truth in some of these statements we tend to believe, we are largely kept in the dark about the harsh realities and true narratives of what is real about the Global North and what might be considered general public relations and good marketing on their end. I find that while it is true that we have a long way to go with regard to infrastructure and generalized day-to-day technology, the real gap is exacerbated not by fact but by mental perception spurred on by the dark continent narrative.
I remember explaining to one of my professors that I believed that our public health sector in Lesotho was way ahead of that of the US. I watched the astonishment in his eyes at the fact that I could have, not only the foresight and boldness to proclaim such a statement, but also at the fact that this was a narrative he was not used to hearing. The importance of the above paragraphs is to simply show how, as Basotho, as Africans, our own perceptions of our abilities or lack thereof can alter our future and capabilities. Many so-called ‘advanced’ cultures around the world are pushed, not by genetic superiority, but a sense of cultural unity which is controlled and informed by the narrative they choose to represent them. So, you might find that some countries shape their whole ethos as being the land of dreams, the most hardworking country in the world, the most educated, the most precise, and so on and so forth. Thereby instilling in their citizens a sense of duty to align themselves to a certain degree of excellence and fortifying their very actions towards moving on behalf of a collective good.
I sense that due to our inferiority complexes, we sometimes do not have the same call to action and this in turn hinders our growth. I heard someone say once that if you cage a wild beast for long enough, it will behave as if it were under lock and key even if you were to free it. My concern is that we might never realize that ‘development’ really does not come from the superiority of races but more so from changes in mindsets and positive frames of reference. As the Great Biggie Smalls is once proclaimed to have said; ‘We can’t change the world, unless we change ourselves’ Take that, take that…hahahah.