Bongo Bongo Land

In British English, Bongo Bongo Land (or Bongo-bongo Land) is a pejorative term used to refer to Third World countries, particularly in Africa, or to a fictional such country.

The origin of the term is unclear but it may come from one of the following:

• bongo drums, as (inaccurately) supposed to be played by African natives^[1]
• a parody of African place-names or languages

There is a reference to "Bongoland" in the English translation by Ellen Elizabeth Frewer of a book originally in German, by Georg August Schweinfurth, published in 1874 in English as The Heart of Africa.^[2] The 1947 song Civilization by Bob Hilliard and Carl Sigman, recorded by various artists, contained the line "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo, I Don't Want to Leave the Congo". A variation of this was adopted for a poster produced by the fascist Union Movement bearing the chant "Bongo, bongo, whites aren't going to leave the Congo".^[3]

The term has featured in political controversies. Alan Clark, while Conservative Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton, once, in a departmental meeting, allegedly referred to Africa as "Bongo Bongo Land".^[4][5] When called to account, however, by then Prime Minister John Major, Clark denied the comment had any racist overtones, claiming it had simply been a reference to the President of Gabon, Omar Bongo.^[6]

Taki Theodoracopulos called Kenya "bongo-bongo land" in his Spectator column. The Guardian later criticized his use of "offensive and outdated stereotypes".^[7]

In July 2013, Godfrey Bloom, Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) was filmed referring to countries which receive overseas aid from the United Kingdom as "Bongo Bongo Land".^[8] UKIP later banned use of the term, and while Bloom refused to apologise for his remarks,^[9] he later stated that he regretted "any genuine offence which might have been caused."^[10] A spokesperson from Show Racism the Red Card stated that Bloom's remarks were: "crude stereotypes that see Britain as a civilised place and overseas as tribal".^[11] Matthew d'Ancona wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "There may indeed be some who inwardly cheered Bloom’s choice of words. But there will be many – including, crucially, some who agree with his position on aid – who felt queasy at the use of such antediluvian language."^[12]

See also

• Um Bongo, a tropical fruit drink with African-themed branding
• Bongo bongo in linguistics
• King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, animation series about the fictional African country of Bongo Congo

References