Black history isn’t one uniform experience

Monique Kasonga Staff Writer

As an African student attending McGill, I was initially shocked to see that McGill’s course list included classes with titles such as History of Colonial Africa or African Politics. While I am glad to have the opportunity to take any classes related to Africa, something I was not provided with in high school, I find it disgraceful that 21st- century institutions continue to frame such a large continent as one homogenous place. Working against the white supremacist centrality of Western Europe, Canada, and the U.S., some curricula and departments, such as East Asian Studies, have offered a range of courses focused on various countries, instead of grouping diverse countries into one concept.

It’s a long-standing problem in the West that the continent of Africa is often spoken of as one indistinguishable entity. While most people at McGill (hopefully) are aware that Africa is a continent with 54 diverse countries, hearing this single-minded narrative is familiar to many Africans, especially in the classroom. Africa should not be taught as a single idea, but as a complicated and varied region with a range of accomplishments and unique ways of thinking, knowing, and being.