With Trump’s recent remarks about the whole of the African continent in mind— yes, a continent, not a single country— it must be asked, why are we surprised? Aside from Trump’s history of racism and xenophobia, his new statements about Africa have always expressed, not so much a fringe opinion, but rather one a silent minority holds.

From as young as I can remember, the narrative around Africa has focused on depicting the continent as the “sick man” of the world. Plagued by poverty, corruption and failed political experiments, nothing good had or would emerge from it on its own. In 2000, The Economist produced a front page entitled the “Hopeless Continent” which illustrates the point that this is not an imagined opinion of Africa, but one that is willingly constructed by the media. Although CNN runs more cheerful segments such as ‘African Voices’, many of the daily depictions of Africa are of the young, malnourished faces and bodies of African children, or young men smuggled across seas looking for salvation in Europe. Even though Africa still suffers many of these problems, this image is frequently the only aspect of Africa shown in this part of the world. Thus, it may not be so shocking for many people to see Africa as essentially a “shithole”.

But as a child of Nigerian immigrants, I know this to be a very shallow understanding of Africa. Rich in history and culture, as well as energised by the hunger of a growing middle class and an impassioned diaspora, many nations on the continent are growing rapidly. Two thirds of Africa’s growth since 2000 came from wholesale, retail, transportation, telecommunications, and manufacturing. Tapping into innovative technology and skills, Africa’s economic future is on the rise. Although African political experiments with democracy have been hard and sometimes bloody, the successful transition of power in Nigeria (2014), Ghana (2016) and eventually in Gambia (2017) should be celebrated more, thus refreshing the continent’s image as a land of dynamic economies and societies hungry for change and success. Let us not be too hasty to criticise the slow improvement in African democracy; even the most successful democracy in the world, the USA, is grappling with a leader willing to promote conspiracy theories of a “deep state”.

There remains a habit to tell a modified version of history when it comes to Africa’s woes.

So, why isn’t this new image of Africa as visible on our front pages or our TV screens as the old image? Why are so many stories regarding Africa limited to poverty, war, corruption and famine? Is it possible that the persistence of a colonial narrative of Africa facilitates a colonial response: Africa as a place of low intellect, savagery and therefore in need of a white saviour? The recent British news coverage delighted in the fall of Robert Mugabe, but what was neglected from many articles about Britain’s long history with Zimbabwe was that Mugabe was once a darling of Britain, a highly praised democrat. There remains a habit to tell a modified version of history when it comes to Africa’s woes. Instead of poking fun of Africa, we should be equipping ourselves with more knowledge about its history and people.

In compulsory education, how much did our school system have to say about Africa? I remember years of re-learning Tudor and World War Two history, but aside from the transatlantic slave trade, the history of any African country did not appear on any of my school curriculums. Why should only British history be considered so important as to teach it multiple times in school life? Understandings of the Kingdom of Kongo, the Benin Empire, or the Kingdom of Kush were left for me to explore individually. As time passed, students in my school wanted to write their A-Level coursework on African history, but were dissuaded by teachers because it was, supposedly, too complicated to mark accurately. It is the failings of the British and American education systems that must be held accountable for the one-dimensional understanding of Africa. Trump is simply a symptom of a larger institutional problem.

The point of this article was not to tarnish anyone with the label ‘racist’ but to offer a more critical lens as to why and how Africa is still depicted in a way that makes the comment of “shithole” accurate for some. To tackle this one-dimensional narrative requires an education system that explores Africa in a more nuanced way. This cannot be limited to just one, oversubscribed third year Africa module, but must begin in our compulsory education and our international news.