"People think that everyone has AIDS and runs around in loin cloths, and that's just not true." said Marissa Wilson, a UT student who recently studied abroad in South Africa.
Wilson helped organize a discussion event to promote student understanding of Africa.
The discussion featured a number of African professors at UT.
Students and professors discussed the corruption in African politics, and the West's role in supporting unfair economic policies.
To start off the discussion, everyone took turns introducing themselves to the group of about 30 UT students and professors.
UT Professors Will Jennings, Amadou Sall and Asafa Jalata introduced themselves and told about their background in Africa.
What we need is African solutions to African problems. Amadou Sall
Sall is from Mauritania in western Africa and worked for many years as a forest ranger in Africa before getting his Ph.D. in education from UT.
Jalata was born in Oromia, Ethiopia but fled as a political refugee in 1981 to come to the United States. Today, he teaches global studies at UT. These professors answered students' questions about Africa.
"How much impact does the United States have in African politics?" one student asked.
All three professors were quick to point out the heavy influence of western interests in currents African politics. In the 1700 and 1800s, European partitioned Africa into colonies to exploit the countries for their natural resources, and slaves.
Once African colonies had achieved their independence, they were still economically dependent on the Western world because multinational corporations owned the majority of property, Jennings explained. This western exploitation of African economies is the primary cause of African poverty and political corruption.
Another student asked if steps were being taken to achieve African unity, similar to the European Union movement.
The African Union is a loose coalition of all African countries. The only requirement for membership in the African Union is to be an African country, Wilson explained. Since it's creation in the 1960s, the African Union has been a "club of gangsters," Jalata responded.
Sall contended that imposing Western development standards on Africa doesn't make sense.
"What we need is African solutions to African problems," he explained. Western aid is counter-productive to African development.
"It all goes back to the Cold War, if you claim to be against Communism you are our friend. It's the same today, if you claim to fight terrorism you are our friend." Sall reiterated that U.S. foreign policy of supporting corrupt puppet governments to gain political influence or economic power in the country.
"We don't want anything, open your markets and let us compete!" Sall declared. Subsidies of American products make it impossible for developing African economies to compete in the global marketplace. For Africa to grow, there must be a fair economic playing field.
The event was organized by the University of Tennessee Issues Committee with the co-sponsorship of the International House Cultural Comparison Series and the Ready for the World Initiative.
