American comedian Tiffany Haddish has found herself at the centre of a social media storm after posting a TikTok video of her visit to a supermarket in Zimbabwe. Haddish, known for her candid humour, aimed to challenge perceptions that Africa is a continent perpetually at war.
The video, shot in a well-stocked supermarket in Harare, shows Haddish marvelling at the variety of products on offer.
“Look at this grocery store. It’s humungous, in Africa,” she exclaimed, capturing shelves filled with soft drinks, frozen meat, and fresh fruit. The clip has garnered just over 200,000 views on TikTok.
However, the reaction from some Zimbabweans has been less than favourable. “How ignorant could she be? Did she think that Africans shop from rocks? She needs to travel more and unclog her sadly colonised view of the world. Yikes,” one user fumed on X.
Another commented, “They think we’re chasing lions and zebras.”
A third critic pointed out the pervasive stereotypes, stating, “Americans have a misguided perception of Africa, believing that its inhabitants live in primitive conditions, residing in mud huts, lacking access to clean water, and being devoid of modern amenities like electricity and internet.”
In response to the backlash, Haddish took to X to clarify her intentions and share her perspective. “I am an American, a Black one at that, and told for years that people are starving in Africa, showed pictures of babies with flies on them,” she wrote. She added that her education included “crazy stories” about constant violence and warfare on the continent.
Haddish emphasised that her visit to Zimbabwe had been eye-opening, allowing her to “find out the truth” about Africa. “I thought I would share cause I know people in the USA that believe Africans don’t have anything,” she explained.
Despite the criticism, Haddish has received support from some quarters. One defender wrote, “We like that you like our grocery store and all the products that shocked you are just basics here as well, we really aren’t in the forest hanging on trees.”
This isn’t Haddish’s first connection to Africa. The comedian, who is half-Eritrean, visited Eritrea for the first time in 2018. During that visit, she praised Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, a figure who has been labelled a “dictator” by his detractors.
