In today’s episode we are looking at the issue of ‘white saviour complex’ and the way the developing world and particularly Africa has been portrayed in popular Western culture.
We are joined by Sabrina Richmond, an actor and playwright whose new play An African in the Snow is at the Pleasance Theatre Islington tomorrow. We talked about how she felt as a young girl growing up in Africa with this kind of imagery, how controversy flared again this year with Strictly Come Dancing star Stacey Dooley, and how caricatures of people of colour go beyond humanitarian imagery to popular culture.
Presented by: Dr. Glenda Cooper and Dr. Lindsey Blumell
Produced by: Atina Dimitrova
The controversy over white saviour complex reignited in the UK earlier this year when Stacey Dooley travelled to Uganda for Comic Relief. While out there she posted a picture of her on Instagram holding a young boy and talking about how gorgeous he was. British MP David Lammy was outraged.
David, is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question) …because if that’s the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness? Comic relief have raised over 1 billion pounds since they started.
I saw projects that were saving lives with the money. Kids lives. https://t.co/pPgez9OxN8— Stacey Dooley (@StaceyDooley) 27 February 2019
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