The U.S. election has shattered America's exceptionalism: journalist Larry Madowo

Journalist Larry Madowo calls himself a 'stranger in a strange land.' The North American Correspondent for the BBC cites the contrast between it being the wealthiest nation in the world and its inability to solve the deeply ingrained issues of racism and inequality as the key ingredients that make the U.S. a strange land. 

 "I am only beginning to understand it while at the same time trying to translate it for the rest of the world," Madowo told IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed. They talked after he presented, Stranger in a Strange Land, a virtual lecture in December 2020, about his experience reporting in the U.S. It was the Fourth Annual Richard Stursberg Foreign Correspondent Lecture at Carleton University.

In the days after the U.S. election results were revealed, Madowo told Ayed about a 'Stop the Steal' rally he was reporting on in Atlanta, Ga. Pro-Trump supporters gathered to protest what they said was a rigged and stolen election. One protester, to Madowo's surprise, agreed to talk to him. 

"Why are you here?" Madowo asked the man.

"Why are YOU here?" replied the protester. As he launched into a denial of the Joe Biden election victory, the intensity of the crowd yelling behind them grew.  Madowo signed off as he backed away from the scene. His editors were worried for his safety. 

This wasn't the first time that Madowo feared for his personal safety. When the Kenyan journalist covered the 2017 election in his home country where the incumbent refused to concede, he found himself in dangerous circumstances.

"[Kenyan police] were camped outside our office and they wanted to arrest me and two of my colleagues. And we had to take all the precautions. We spent the first night actually at the newsroom just to make sure that we didn't leave the building. We ended up switching off our phones, escaped through the basement of the company and went into a safe house as we tried to find a way to block the government from arresting us," Madowo said.

Necessary nuanced reporting

The BBC Correspondent believes it is very important that western world countries are not only seen through the lens of reporters from those very same countries, but that they are covered by reporters from all over the world. 

"People of colour, regardless of where they're from, covering every part of the world — somebody from Asia to cover Mexico, and somebody from Brazil covering India, and moving around because I think it helps broaden our understanding of the world when people come in with fresh eyes and not always a Western lens," said Madowo.

"There's a need for a deeper understanding and nuanced coverage of some of the more complex issues in the world."

Madowo underscored the hypocrisy he noticed as several U.S. Ambassadors and politicians publicly advise African countries on how to maintain healthy democracies. 

"I've also seen Africans looking at this election and scratching their heads. Isn't it a bit ironic because you have a lot of issues at home...and how do you not have the self-awareness to realize that you do not have the moral authority to be lecturing us right now on this very issue that you are facing back home," said Madowo

Democracy as fragile

Over the course of the 2020 U.S. campaign Madowo spent time in the deep south, specifically the state of Georgia as he worked to report to the BBC worldwide audience what was happening on the ground. 

He knew Black people and other minorities were disproportionately affected by voter suppression tactics such as diminished voting hours, the closing of polling stations and  strict voter identification laws.  All these measures that were intended to disenfranchise them.  

But he was also surprised to hear from Andrea Young, the Executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia who said "this democracy is fragile." Madowo says he did not expect to hear this about a country that has been around since 1776.

In his travels in Georgia he says he was acutely aware that as a Black man he was vulnerable to being judged by a double standard, as well as being a target for violent behaviour. He said that he often found himself grateful for the white producer and cameraman who accompanied him. 

'A fight against basic facts'  

Madowo grew up in Kenya and tragically had lost both his parents when he was 14. The kindness and support from relatives and friends supported him as he followed his passions. He learned that everybody has a story to tell and his personal experiences have made him much more open to discovering what makes people tick, why they think the things they think. 

When asked by Ayed if Madowo had to write a headline to reflect the U.S. today, what would it be? He answered: "American exceptionalism?(with a question mark)."

"I think that image of American exceptionalism has been shattered these past few years with this chaotic election, and its outcome and the uncertainty about what happens next, and the systematic undermining of institutions, the denigration of what is fact, the process by which [everyone] that doesn't agree with me does not exist," said Madowo.

As someone who grew up in Africa and saw America as a "beacon of democracy, shining light for what's right and proper," Madowo said it's been "astounding to watch" the U.S. walk away from that role.

"The rest of the world is laughing at the U.S. That's the simple way to put it, because they never thought this was the country that would be having these sort of problems... every day it's a fight against basic facts.

"Left is right, up is down, you never know what's next. It's been truly bizarre, even for those of us who are covering it."
 

*This episode was produced by Anne Penman, with help from Menaka Raman-Wilms.
 

Watch | Peter Stursberg Foreign Correspondents Lecture 2020: Larry Madowo, Stranger in a Strange Land