Ignorance (America and Nigeria)

On this blog, I've proved time and again that America is wrong about a lot of stereotypes about Nigeria and Africa in general, but don't feel too bad! Nigerians are as ignorant about America as Americans are about Nigeria. Here are a few examples:

My father, is a very smart and cultured person like my mother. But when he was young and living in Nigeria, he thought that this was a solid fact in America: At any time, anywhere, no matter the situation, Americans would break out in dance and song like in a musical! Seriously!!!! It sounds ridiculous, I know, but some of the things we say about Africa will make Nigerians weep with laughter. But, it's still funny to see their picture of America. Listen to this story, and if it doesn't make you laugh, I don't know what will:

We know this guy who comes sometimes to our house. You know, he's an acquaintance. Well, anyway, one time he came over, and started talking to my little sister. "Have you ever seen this?" He asked her, showing her a...well I'd spoil it if I say what it is, so keep on listening. "This is a real African thing. You haven't seen anything like this before overthere." "Overthere" is what some Nigerians refer to America as. "This is very African. Do you know what this is called?" He waved it at her. She looks at him as if he fell off the deep end. She said flatly, "It's called an umbrella." Okay, lemme let that sink in for a moment. The guy didn't know that we had umbrellas in America. He thought that the umbrella was native to Africa, and that it didn't rain in America!!!! Then my mother told him that it rains in America. "Eh?" She said it again. "Huh?" She tried one last time. "Hmm?" He couldn't even believe it! Now, I don't know about you, but even though I've been gone for a year now, I think I remember that there was rain in the states.

There are so many stories like this, like one where one guy thought that in America, trucks and cars transformed into robots to fight evil (I think he watched too much Transformers), another where (This one's common) America is made up of two cities: New York, and LA, and one where all black people rap. But if you think about it, we do the exact same things. Most people think that Africa is just a couple of huts on the savanna (My mother used to think that when she was young) and that Africans were still in little villages, running around with loincloths. So now you know that ignorance is an international disease, from Nigerians, to the Japanese, Italians, Americans...everyone.

So try to smarten up,

Signing off, 

The Traveler