‘White Saviour Syndrome’ is real but aren't African’s and its Diaspora also it’s Enablers?
Ifirst attempted leaving Cameroon on a certain day in 1998.
Unfortunately upon my arrival at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, I was denied entry due to discrepancies in my documentation and within 24hours I was on another flight back to Cameroon.
Its all still all a blur, but I do remember having one thing on my mind…
To travel to Europe (The White mans land ) in pursuit of better opportunities which were not available to me in my home country.
Three days later, I would arrive Paris again, pass immigration checks, and make my way to Germany.
Over the years I would live in Germany and in the UK making many trips to Africa. These trips were very often very brief , laced with extensive preparation such as the buying of gifts, enjoyable and also sad at times. During these visits I would immerse myself into that same environment I once very much wanted to flee, taking photo’s and posing with many friends and family.
Social Media now meant I could show others that I was “better-off” because I could enjoy both worlds and after a week or two I was looking forward to boarding my return flight to Europe to be reunited to the life I had chosen and one which had been benevolent but within which I also later on would feel in giving, had also been taken so much from me.
In February 2019, Stacey Dooley, an English television presenter, journalist, media personality, and author, was slammed when she returned from a trip she made to Uganda for Comic Relief. She shared glimpses of her visit on Instagram posting two photos of her posing with a young impoverished boy.
Her comments section became flooded with criticism, with some of her followers writing ; ‘Would you pick up random white children in Europe and force them to be in your selfies, too? I feel like that wouldn‘t happen,’ while another agreed: ‘Stacey I love you but obsessed? They are not a fashion accessory”.
‘White Saviour Syndrome’, (also known as White Saviour Complex) is the phenomenon in which a white person “guides people of colour from the margins to the mainstream with his or her own initiative and benevolence” has been blamed for rendering people of colour “incapable of helping themselves”
The phrase refers to a white person as one who acts to help non-white people, but in a context which can be perceived as self-serving.
But aren't we also partly to blame for this? During my visits did I too exhibit such self serving behavior and haven't I personally participated in promoting the discrimination in development narratives in our relationship with white people?
I now feel I was doing just that back in 1998 when I felt strongly that I could only be successful if I travelled to Europe and that there wasn't the slightest possibility of becoming successful in Cameroon.
But hey, I had seen it in restaurants. A white person would be served first while a black person receives crappy services. I was also recently stuck in a queue at a supermarket and witnessed one of the shop assistants rush to grab a shopping cart full of groceries from a white man and help him with packing his groceries. We see it in the way organisations pay black workers less and value their contribution to the success of the organisation less.
Charities such as Comic Relief and Save the Children are constantly chasing celebrities (predominantly white, who in turn cost more resources to be accommodated) , while the work of some of our local hero's who are not only doing the do the “heavy lifting” year-round but who have resisted the draw of Europe, making a commitment to remaining on the continent despite the lack of some basic necessities such as water and electricity.
While I know that I too am a part of the problem, in my defence, the historical, systematic and institutionalised power structures that span hundreds of years are also to blame. White saviourism is a symptom of white supremacy and something we all have to acknowledge together .
We also have to start admitting that NOT ALL Africans are helpless.
In the time I have spent in Europe, many of my friends got a good education and many parents are still trying to give their children a better education often under very challenging circumstances and many African countries have also been developed.
I have recently returned to live permanently in Africa and I am experiencing a continent which is bursting with potential and one which is capable of providing opportunities for many. We need to start openly discussing our challenges without tactfully avoiding he broader political context of the hardship many are experiencing.
I feel that unless we actively participate in changing our own narratives, celebrities will continue to be be paid to make making weepy emotional “personal journey videos “ and these are bound to overshadow the accounts of the people whose experiences they’re meant to be understanding.
Our experiences.
