Most Africans are farmers. During colonial rule, the British highlighted Masai life, because as colonizers they wanted to promote an image of Africans as different and nobly primitive. We need to rhink about why the Masai are so compelling a subject. We should remember that in teaching about Africa, our mistakes tend to come not from using inaccurate or outdated information, but from choosing the wrong information to focus on. The Kenyan tourist industry in some ways conspires to reinforce our stereotypes.
Tourism is a major source of foreign exchange.
Once in the country, it was hard to find postcards depicting any of the scenes thar were in front of my eyes. Instead, I was offered bare-breasted young women, Masai warriors, and wild animals, all twirling on their spindles in the srores, with only an occasional shot of an urban monument thrown in. Then, they can collect posrcards about their own ciry and discuss tourism versus reality, perhaps concluding the activity by creating their own postcards of Boston and Nairobi. Unforrunately, it is not only the shopkeepers who know what we want. Their managing director told me that they plan to produce yet more Masai materials, even though they know the Masai are unrepresentative of Kenya.