White Charity = white trash?

Commit Berlin, a young German NGO, has organised a series of lectures on eurocentrism in development co-operation (EZ = Eurozentrismus, full programme on com-mit.org/berlin). Last night's session focused on racism in German NGO fundraising; it was animated by Timo Kiesel, whose main theses can be found on whitecharity.de. Timo presented posters and billboards, chiefly by major Christian NGOs, and collected students' comments. None of the examples shown challenged common stereotypes about Africa; the anonymous children and women depicted suggested a reality in which they were helpless victims or, at most, quaint schoolgirls and farmers in folkloristic outfits and florid tropical settings. It was pointed out that, unlike fashion models, the individuals shown probably had no clue of the existence of these photographs and were not paid for posing. You hardly ever see an African man on such a poster - most likely that would perturb the viewer's "masculine", i.e. active, dominant regard on "feminine" Africans waiting for help or pursuing innocuous activities in a lush décor.