Negative representation of Africans and Africa in the Finnish media

There are nearly 50,000 Africans and people of African descent living in Finland and this number has been rising steadily over the years. However, the reality within the Finnish society is far from supporting or even representing this group of people. Society here includes the media, as in printed and virtual press, TV, radio, magazines, books, and today social media.

The story of Africa has always been told as a single story…poverty, war, famine, drought, etc. From this stereotypical view point any country with this reality needs saving. However, we must understand that Africa is more than these colonial stereotypes – such as Africa being the “white man’s burden”. No group of people has the monopoly of poverty, backwardness, war, famine. etc.

Why is Africa always portrayed as if Africa must be saved?

The historical background to the issue is colonialism and slavery, both deemed wrong in the global society for a while now. However, since the Western colonizers stepped foot in African some 600 years ago, the western media has been on a white saviour mentality. This white saviour mentality is now a dire problem in Finland and Europe. The specific image in the media for the Western (and particularly European) white audience that Africa and Africans as need to be saved from themselves by Europeans has never stopped. Ignorant Europeans thinking Africans need salvation is a prejudice which is laughable to Africans. The prejudice runs deep and is the biggest controversy as Europeans (and the West) have been depending on the African continent for centuries as they exploit the minerals and natural resources. As an African I can say that Europe needs to be saved from a lot of things. Greed, capitalism, coloniality, racism, individuality etc. Every person in the periphery of such worldview needs to be saved.

How does the media take part in creating those prejudiced images

The issue is also that we are in the 21st century and this representation is not different to how it was 60 years ago. The Finnish society and western media are obsessed and stock with a 1920 image of Africa we never get to see the new Africa in Finnish and other western media.  Africans and people of African descent are constantly and systematically being portrayed by Finnish and other western media as criminals, lazy, poor and descendants of lesser ethnicity the media are not interested in covering stories that are positive, about the accomplishment of Africans in Finland they are always about a negative story. The Finnish media and western media have a historic record and pattern in promoting Afro phobia which has turned into a culture of racism and hate towards Africans. All this aiming to continue to justify and project white supremacy as we see in most western society increasing rise in institutional racism and structural discrimination towards Africans and people of African descent. Africans and people of Africans descent are being targeted by police and other law enforcement officers. All these stemming from the negative representation of Africans and people of African descent by the media.

This representation of Africans will not change because it is not neutral. It is a capitalist framework aimed at keeping African in an inferior position while simultaneously maintaining the superiority of the colonizers, benefiting from the exploitation of the land and its people. Dehumanisation of Africans and the negative representation of Africa in the media sells papers and views. A positive presentation would change the dynamics of the entire society and Finland needs to ask themselves – do you truly wish for equality?

Decolonialisation is a step towards the better

Finland and Europe need to decolonize their mindset and educational systems. Europe needs to be saved from its ideological mindset that Africa needs to be saved. This saviour discourse and mentality is not aimed at helping the Africans, it is aimed at keeping Africa reliant, it is aimed at making the Europeans feel good about themselves. It is aimed at keeping the superiority-inferiority stereotype that shaped today’s worldview of Europe and Africa respectively.

Decolonialisation of the Finnish media includes representation shift as well. Africans and people of African descent are poorly represented in the Finnish society and generally in the western nations, especially in positions of power and influence. This is a global phenomenon. Finnish media often uses white Europeans and other non-black people to cover and discuss issues that are about Africa and Africans as if there is no African expert among the Africans living in Finland. The Finnish media also portrays a certain type of African on their media promoting colourism by casting mostly light skin Africans or people of African descent. 

Lastly, the media is not interested in covering stories that are positive, about the accomplishment of Africans in Finland and African successes. The media is monotonous, with one group of people representing all other groups. Westerners believe that Africa has not developed as much as the rest of the world. Of course, there are developing countries and poor people in Africa, but the same applies to other continents as well, Europe included. African continent is full of diversity and prosperity as well. We have trained professionals, experts, visionaries, and revolutionaries – just like any other continent. When the media always shows a certain kind of image of Africa, even people with education can think this is true. It is the collective duty of the society to dismantle this false colonial stereotyped image of Africa and Africans. This would be a good step in stopping the continuous oppression of Africans and people of African descent.

Author: Eugene Ufoka