Diaspora Blues



Hyphenated Ethiopian Identity

Growing up a first-generation Ethiopian-American was just as hard for me as it was for my peers: it meant struggling with being perceived as foreign by Americans and Ethiopians alike. But in addition to that we struggled with more than the typical hyphenated identity issues.

For far too long, Westerners have dominated the narrative of Africa in the Western media. This has resulted in a one-sided view of the nations of Africa: vast poverty and foreign aid. While it is true that there are poverty-stricken people in each African nation and that foreign aid is sometimes necessary, this is not the only narrative happening in the different African countries. This is what Nigerian feminist Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie describes as “the danger of a single story.” The Western media has so sensationalized its coverage of poverty and natural disasters in African countries, that this is all Westerners seem to know about them. During a networking event for Ethiopian-Americans from all over the U.S., we were asked what stereotypes of Ethiopia we had encountered, juxtaposed with the Ethiopia that we know. Everyone in the room, including myself, had encountered the same stereotypes of Ethiopia and Africa: extreme poverty, lack of development or electricity, people living in huts and interacting with lions or monkeys. When describing the Ethiopia we know, imagery of the buildings, skyscrapers, houses, innovation and promise sprang to life.

This is not to say that there aren’t Ethiopians that live in huts (there are), or that there are no lions or monkeys in Ethiopia. The issue at hand is the persistent “othering” of African countries by the West: the image of undeveloped, poor, diseased countries that need money or charity from outside. This promotes the white savior complex or the view that black and brown people need white people to them from destitution. Unsurprisingly, the white savior complex does more to aid white people than the Africans allegedly being "helped." This, in turn, affects the way Africans like me are perceived and treated in the West and prevents us from owning our own narratives. The reality is that there is industrial development in every African country; there are booming businesses, developed cities, middle class to rich communities, etc. There also huts, beautiful green scenery and wild animals that are just as worthy of respect and admiration.

When engaging in the erroneous Western narrative, it becomes easy to forget that America and other first world countries have staggering poverty rates. Effectively, what this single narrative does is glorify the West and create the notion that Africans are not equal to Westerners, but rather, are adult children that need to be saved or taken care of. This basis of inequality leads to discrimination and barriers for Africans and African immigrants to the West. As a hyphenated Ethiopian/African, I would like to add my voice to the fray and reveal the truth of Ethiopia and other African countries while countering the current imperialist Western narrative.




Hyphenated Ethiopian third culture kid. Twitter: @moonchereka

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