UNDER THE MANGO TREE--Tamsin Barzane

Where is Africa? This might seem to call for an “across the ocean” answer, since I’m in Atlantic City for a day or two with my parents and sister. (My mother likes the occasional casino spin, and it’s a belated birthday present for her). Though encouraged by my friends to win enough money on the penny slot machines to buy a full-prim sim or so, I have not made much progress towards that goal.

But back to my question. Where is Africa? I don’t know how familiar with slot machines you are, but the low-end penny, nickel and dime machines are now far more game-like than they used to be. Yes, you can still find triple bars and lucky sevens, but it’s more common to see themed slots with bonuses of various kinds, some of which unfold like mini-videogames. The casinos replace these periodically, just to ensure no one has a chance to get bored with them.

SLers will recognize the power of sound that accompanies the visuals (and often is enough to deafen the player); far more than just an imitation of coins falling (because there are no coins used, only scrip), music and effects reinforce the theme. Examining the themes can be absorbing. There are jewelers and gemstones, lobsters and lighthouses, auctions and bidders, policemen and doughnuts. European history of sorts? Yes, many a Greek god and goddess, Roman soldiers, medieval knights and their kings, Robin Hood, cowboys. Particular cities and regions? Yes, New York, Mardi Gras New Orleans and Tabasco sauce Louisiana, Big Ben in London. More exotic fare? Polynesia, Easter Island, ancient Egypt, fantasy Arabia, ninjas in ancient Tokyo, Brazil, Mulan (not the Disney version) in China, Bombay, and ancient Mexico. But Africa?

Africa is-surprise, surprise!—all about the animals. Does this sound familiar? There are lions, zebras, elephants, giraffes, monkeys, leopards. “The King of Africa”? Presumably the lion, because the game harbors no images of people (unless, perhaps, they’re being digested). Africa is apparently either savannah or jungle, and lacks human habitation--except for the occasional foreign safari hunter, with gun or camera (well, the came at left DOES have one lady).

This forcibly reminded me both of my high school education and the accusations African friends made about Americans when I was in grad school. “They asked me if I lived in a tree!” was a frequent plaintive refrain about Hoosier students. “And how did you respond?” I asked. “Of course, I said yes!” This resulted in eye-rolling on my part. I would defend my country by saying not ALL of us had such stupid ideas—which often resulted in eye-rolling on THEIR part. I would then defend my secondary school education: “No one ever taught me anything wrong about Africa--all we studied were the climate zones. Apparently the teachers believed no one lived there.”

Well, of course the teachers didn’t believe that. But they seemed afraid of what they didn’t know, and reluctant to remedy it. In the midst of the Cold War our social studies class learned a few words of both Russian and Mandarin Chinese, memorized all the Soviet republics, and discussed Mongolia—but a word or two about Africans, despite our teacher’s brilliance and incipient hippiedom (expressed by his genes and walrus moustache)? Not a chance.

Many decades have passed. I know how many students I’ve had in introductory African art history classes, and how many of their high school teachers took a university course that centered on Africa. It would seem that things would have changed substantially, wouldn’t it? Well, I’ve been giving out a questionnaire to every student at the same university since 1989, and the answers have changed very little. How many countries in Africa? Ummmmmmm. Name five! That is answered by whatever countries happen to have been in the news recently—rarely for anything positive. Can you name five ethnic groups/indigenous languages? Nope. Well, maybe the Zulu.

Of course, not everyone is such a tabula rasa, but an enormous majority falls into this category. And, as MJ said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white.” It’s funny to think that this educational gap affects something as trivial as slot machines (or, perhaps, that I think it worth noting), but it’s all of a piece: movies, videogames, novels, even Second Life. Is ancient Peru and more fascinating than the ancient Kingdom of Benin? Nope. Easter Island’s huge stone heads more compelling than Fang masks or Kuba statuary? Nope.

Perhaps I’m wrong, and the learning gap has nothing to do with this lack of casino depictions. Are African Americans on the slots? Why, yes they are! They’re there as police and fire personnel, as office workers, as dancers to the Village People or fortunetellers in the Deep South. So there’s no real reluctance to show dark-skinned people (though they don’t make up 12/13% of those on slots!). Why not Africans? And just now, online and looking for illustrations, I ran into "Voodoo Vibes," complete with offensive/schlocky imagery from the Diaspora, including Erzulie's veve (just seen on the House of Blues casino section's rug). Cringe-inducing as it may be, at least it recognizes (as it misrepresents) an aspect of African-American culture. African culture is simply ignored.

Maybe I should be saying, “Thank God there ARE no Africans on the slot machines.” Why? Because ALL would live in thatched clay houses, or carry spears and shields, or (shudder)….no, they surely wouldn’t put a bone in their nose and stick them in grass skirts, would they? I imagine the absence of Africans is actually a smart avoidance of depicting something game designers are likely to get so wrong it would be offensive.

And so, dear readers, we see the power of the media and the weakness of education to combat it. Old visual tropes are still hopping about, lurking and ready to conjure up mental images. When Americans hear “African,” do they picture Olajuwon playing basketball, or do they imagine 19th century cartoons of European explorers in a huge black cauldron? Would I really want slot machines with famous Africans on them? Soyinka with his wild white hair, or Mandela with his patient smile? Nope. But really, I wouldn’t mind seeing a turbanned figure with his horse, his date palm, his leather saddle (or five in a row!) come up. Or a Zulu warrior, a pith-helmeted Briton, and a Boer (it sounds like a setup for a joke—“An Englishman, Shaka Zulu, and a Boer walked into a bar…). How about a conical beaded crown, a Yoruba twin figure, a calabash of palm wine, and an indigo cloth?

If the thought of any of those or other examples makes you smile, how about the game I won a whopping $11 on today (hey, I was playing PENNIES!): jade mask, beautiful lady with quetzal feathered headdress, stepped pyramid, glyph? Because there's a subliminal message here--some cultures have a cultural heritage that everyone gives a nod to, even if it's stereotyped--and even if people don't know the references! (I am sure many casino goers don't know the Greek myth of the Titans, but they're on the slots nonetheless).

Step out of the casino darkness, Africa! Show me Ananse the spider, a sankofa bird symbol, an Akan gold pendant, and five kente cloths in a row!!! If the visuals in the media lead to knowledge, rather than the other way round, so be it!