Western mainstream media perpetrates racism even amid pandemics

Monkeypox has so far been confirmed in at least 20 countries. [iStockphoto]

Every time the world is faced with a health crisis of the extent of an epidemic or pandemic, the rest of the world, particularly the West and the North, gangs up against Africa even when the evidence suggests otherwise.

The first case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, was reported in Wuhan, China. But that didn’t stop Western mainstream media from shifting the conversation to Africa and Africans living in Africa. If the media has the power to shape narratives, western mainstream media spun the conversation around Covid-19 in a manner that questioned why less Africans were dying of the disease.