Okay…I know what you’re thinking. Just breathe….breathe deeply and try, for a moment, to process this question: Do African people (Tanzanians, at least) really believe that President Bush is Africa’s best friend? Okay, try not to choke…once you get over your fit of laughter, take a peek at the recent New York Times article describing the attitudes of Tanzanians toward President Bush. Of course, a great deal of the East African positive energy toward America stems from excitement about the prospect of Sen. Barack Obama becoming the United States’ first African American president. However, one simply cannot get over the degree to which it appears that George W. Bush is milking this positive reception for his own benefit, ignoring his own historical link to slavery and ignoring the plight of people of African descent in America who continue to reel from the impact of his politics of domestic neglect—and I’m not only talking about those families in the Gulf Coast who are still trying to repair their lives from the incompetent responses of the federal government to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Given these realities, it might be hard to take seriously the idea that, contrary to what Kanye West declared, George Bush really does care about Black people. While the New York Times article takes a simplistic view toward the extremely complicated politics of Africa toward the United States and its leaders, and vise-versa, this is still very interesting. Yes, the plight of Africa (and its people in the Diaspora) has typically been ignored by the leadership of the United States; and yes, under George W. Bush’s administration, there has been attention to the growing health and ethnic conflict crises that threaten the safety of millions. But to suggest that this makes George W. Bush a friend to Africans is a stretch. The increased aid to Africa under the current Bush administration is less a statement about Bush’s friendliness toward Africa, and more a statement about the priorities of paternalistic politics. Upon careful examination, one will find that some of the policies designed to help Africa include clauses which promote conservative strategies to cement political and social control over African countries and are, in many ways, a mere extension of imperialist politics that are at the root of the conflict we are witnessing today. The lesson here? Take it all with a grain of salt…and pay attention to the details.

Resource:

The Transafrica Forum

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