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Do They Know It’s Christmas widely criticised for perpetuating damaging stereotypes about Africa

cde.news desk · 2 min read
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epa05873313 A photograph made available on 27 March 2017 shows a young Internally Displaced Person (IDP) looking on from his family?s makeshift shelter in an IDP camp in the outskirts of Qardho in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Somalia, 26 March 2017. The food crisis caused by lack of rainfall in the region affects 5.6 million people in Ethiopia according to the Red Cross, which aims to raise 13.8 million US dollars to 'provide food for tens of thousands of people, screen children for malnutrition, and improve access to health services and clean water'. East Africa has been suffering from a severe drought since 2015 due to the El Nino weather phenomenon. EPA/DAI KUROKAWA

Spotify’s song trivia feature has called out the controversial Band Aid track “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” for worsening the famine in Ethiopia.

The 1984 charity single, written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, and featuring artists such as Bono, George Michael and Sting, has been widely criticised for its “patronising” lyrics and for reinforcing damaging stereotypes about Africa.

The Independent (UK) reports that a Twitter user has now pointed out that whoever wrote the “Behind the lyrics” information that appears below the song on Spotify “has no patience for Bob Geldof’s bulls***”. It also adds that one information card notes that the song has been accused of perpetuating the myth that Africa’s problems can somehow be blamed on lack of rainfall and failed harvests, but in fact “the two Ethiopian famines of the mid-’80s were caused primarily by a corrupt government and the misuse of international aid”.

Another card says: “It turned out that a lot of the relief money was used by Ethiopia’s military dictatorship, which made the famine worse by poisoning their enemies’ farms.”

The author of the cards added a final, wry observation on the lyrics of the song: “Incidentally, the people of Ethiopia probably did know it was Christmas – it’s one of the oldest Christian nations in the world.”

Via The Independent

Topics AfricaBand AidDo They Know It's ChristmasfamineMusic