Between Asante and the Whiteman: Fante and Ga Pressmen and the Racialization of Ethnicity in Gold Coast Newspapers
A Hear, Here: Humanities Up Close event with Carina Ray
With the “Hear, Here” series, we aim to facilitate conversations around new research in the humanities. Faculty fellows at the Institute for the Humanities will discuss a part of their current project in a short talk followed by a Q & A session.
About this talk:
This talk illuminates the contradictory racial politics of late nineteenth-century African-owned newspapers by analyzing how Fante and Ga pressmen, who positioned themselves as African defenders of African interests, deployed racist depictions of the Asante empire in an effort to solicit British protection. This Faustian bargain backfired and when British protection led to colonial conquest, these same newspapers mobilized race as the primary language of political dissent against British rule.
Carina Ray is a 2026-27 Helmut F. Stern Faculty Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities and Associate Professor, History.
About this talk:
This talk illuminates the contradictory racial politics of late nineteenth-century African-owned newspapers by analyzing how Fante and Ga pressmen, who positioned themselves as African defenders of African interests, deployed racist depictions of the Asante empire in an effort to solicit British protection. This Faustian bargain backfired and when British protection led to colonial conquest, these same newspapers mobilized race as the primary language of political dissent against British rule.
Carina Ray is a 2026-27 Helmut F. Stern Faculty Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities and Associate Professor, History.
| Building: | 202 S. Thayer |
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| Website: | |
| Event Type: | Lecture / Discussion |
| Tags: | African Studies, History, Humanities |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Institute for the Humanities, Department of History |
