Thread by @amcollier

Friends, let’s talk about this for a moment: This study guide on Africa was given to the 3rd-grade daughter of a friend of mine from high school. I asked my friend's permission to share it on Twitter. Where to begin…WHERE TO BEGIN?

First, as you will see from my friend’s letter to the school administration, the study guide on Africa is one page, compared to the four-page study guide on Europe.

(Go ahead and read my friend’s letter a couple of times. I'll wait)

According to the United Nations, there are 54 countries in Africa and 44 countries in Europe. Africa measures 11.7 million square miles and is home to 1.2 billion citizens. The number of languages spoken in Africa is estimated between 1,250 and 2,100.

Most paleontologists believe Africa is where our human species originated. African cultures and nations have histories as rich, diverse, and <gasp> influential as European cultures and nations.

And African cities, states, and nations are exciting and diverse today, too. According to the World Bank, the economies of Rwanda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia are expected to have strong growth in 2018.

The best-performing industries in 2018 are expected to be construction, agriculture, mining/petroleum, telecommunications and logistics/shipping. NO, NOT #&@%$*# basket weaving.

(I realize the study guide did not claim basket weaving as a top industry, but I think you understand my point. If you don’t…I encourage you to go reclaim your time somewhere else)

Lest you think that creating a detailed, respectful, and EDUCATIONAL study guide on Africa is just too hard…I wrote these tweets based on quick investigation into UN reports & Wikipedia. Imagine what we could do if we tried a little harder. [side eye unnamed Tennessee school]

In other words, this study guide is completely and totally unacceptable. [h/t to the FB friend who shared this gif on my friend’s FB post— enlightened work, friend]

So, I don’t know, what if we started paying attention to how we sow ignorance? And how that ignorance provides fertile ground for racism.

Seriously, white people, we can do better.

Now, I know most of my followers are higher ed folks…You’re probably not handing out study guides like this. But is your curriculum attentive to sources, authors, and issues that are non-white?

Check out the Why Is My Curriculum White? movement

And the TED Talk my friends shared in her letter, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (@AdichieSpeaks)
ted.com/talks/chimaman…

We must do better.

Fin.

No, you know what? I have one more thing to say.

The 3rd grader who received this study guide (my friend's daughter) is from Africa. Imagine how that feels. Imagine having your place of origin portrayed so recklessly.

One more thing--my use of "Africa" in the last tweet was noted & I agree that saying "Ethiopia" would have been much more consistent with my thread. I worried about providing too much info on the girl and her family, but I see that my friend's letter states Ethiopia specifically