Stereotypes

The last two weeks of term my S5 classes and I compared American and Rwandan culture. Before we started I had everyone write their stereotypes/generalizations about Amuhrica for homework. As requested, here is a sampling of the generalizations my students made:

§  Gender in America is allowed.

§  Americans prepare to dominate all countries.

§  The Americans specialized in wars.

§  American kill the knowledge persons and political persons from Africa in order to achieve their own profit.

§  They says that when we go to American country you are obliged to take nationality.

§  All Americans are actors.

§  Americans want that all innovative idea must be from their country.

§  Americans are warriors.

§  The girls from America wear a small and shorten clothes.

§  Americans like to eat dog and pig.

§  Americans know very well to click on keyboard of the computer.

§  Americans are very big person.

§  Americans like dog meat.

§  Most Americans like tobac.

§  Americans like to wear uncleaned shoes. (This one might be my fault. I don’t clean my shoes here.)

§  Americans like eliminators.

§  Americans are super-stars.

§  Americans like dogs and cats; livestock.

§  Americans are kindness. They have good culture.

§  In American when there is Christmas day president take holiday.

§  Americans are terrorists and they fight against terrorism.

§  They are not take a long time for speaking unnecessary things.

§  Americans like to colonize others.

§  All American are very long.

§  American they don’t believe in God.

§  American have many races and therefore are racist.

§  American people don’t married.

§  American before was unknow continent while Africa was know but people were not qualified.

§  In American no one go with foot.

§  All American know very well to speak each language ex. English, French, Kiswahili…

§  I think that the leader of American lead by dictatorship.

§  I’m understand that some American eat the other person. When a person become old they can be eaten by the youngest one.

§  Many America stars like to take drugs.

§  Americans have ability to keep own airplane and gun.

§  In America they have sex a lot.

§  All Americans are beautiful (wonderful).

§  I think that all Americans are anti-Christ.

Just to clarify, these were the more interesting comments. Most students wrote about America(ns) being industrial, technologically advanced, rich, etc, but when your only image of a country is largely based around the songs of Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Chris Brown or movies like Inglorious Basterds, Rambo, and Kill Bill then things tend to be a little skewed.

I’ve now been at my school for nearly 7 months but no matter how adamant I am about poverty existing in America or the nonexistence of a secret organization called the Illuminati (which is, I’m told, comprised of Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Chris Brown and others whose main objective is the destruction of Jesus Christ) there are just some things that my students aren’t willing to accept. Next term I am going to give a lesson on the myths and misconceptions surrounding HIV/AIDS because during the cross-culture discussions I was repeatedly asked why it was created in a laboratory in America. Stay tuned for what is surely to be an interesting post.