Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.(Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK. Duration: 18:49)
Watch this talk and begin to outline some ideas. How might this help our study of African American History? Does it relate to the conversation that we had about WHY we study it in Philadelphia? Form and argument complete with assertions and evidence.
50 comments:
Me said Just Now
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I agree right along with MyJae. It is about time that racism in this country comes to an end. People are even discriminating about hair color. There was a case about an African-American male who worked for Aeropostale. He was discriminated against because he was black. He has stated that he used to cry when entering work and cry leaving work.
"Soon after, Lofties started working at the Aeropostale store in the Oak Court mall in 2011, he filed a sexual harassment complaint against a manager. After that he says the company retaliated against him, changing his shifts and putting him under extra supervision.
Then in 2012 he was fired for, according to his termination paperwork, mishandling a 20-dollar bill at the cash register."
(http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/story/25753322/la... this doesn't epitomize racism to you I don't know what does. People everyday are being treated differently because of their skin color and sexual orientation. Even if my last quote didn't stir anything this link will make you pause. When I saw this I my jaw dropped wide open and I had to pause it, think about it, and then continue. This is not the first time someone has been discriminated against nor will it be the last. Things are starting to get worse and worse. Look at Missouri and the murderous police officers. They are killing with no punishment, and they are doing it out of pure hatred. This is the true meaning of racism in the 21st century.
(just cut and paste the link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3iLw_gKluw
-Sharif
I believe that novelist Chimamanda Adichie spoke about many fascinating incidents in her life where a single story was present. She spoke about the outline of her life and how not only the people around her but even she had formed single stories based on what was said or witnessed by others. One interesting incident was when she spoke about her family's houseboy when she was a child. Her mother had told her and her family that their new houseboy had come from a very poor family, so when she heard this, she believed that he and his family were nothing more than "poor." There was a quote from her speech that said: "Their poverty was my single story of them." This idea completely changed when she witnessed the beautifully designed basket that the houseboy's brother had created. She realized that the boy's family was more than just a poor, struggling family and that they had creative minds. Another incident was when Adichie read a quote from John Locke (a man who sailed to West Africa in 1561). The quote referred to Africans as "beasts who have no houses." Now because of Locke's writings, a single story was formed in people's minds for many generations after. The third and final incident I will discuss was when Adichie spoke about when she attended college and her professor ridiculed her novel because of the characters she wrote about. He believed the characters did not represent "African authenticity" and was disappointed that they were middle-class Africans who drove cars and did not starve or struggle. These three incidents fascinated me because they proved just how stereotypical people can be just because of someone's economic state or because of the color of their skin. It made me feel sorry for the people who were being judged because they had done nothing wrong and surly did not deserve the stereotypical thoughts people had against them.
This talk will immensely help our study of African American History! This is because African Americans have always received the negative ends of stereotypical situations and have always been ridiculed because of the color of their skin or how they chose to live. Adichie proves to us that you cannot judge anyone until you know their whole story and understand their lifestyle. It will also help our study because this talk will hopefully allow us to become more open-minded to this course and truly understand the struggles that people have gone through and still continue to go through because of single stories that are being told.
This talk does relate to the conversation we had about why we study this course in Philadelphia. This is because the topics of her stories were very diverse, ranging from the stereotypes against Africans to the single stories about Mexicans. Philadelphia is such a diverse city, having people of all races that practice different religions. It opens our minds to realize that single stories can forever leave a mark on the way people think and because of that, people may never understand the real lives of others. I would like to end this blog post with a quote that Adichie said: "When we reject the single story, when we realize there was never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise."
I believe that Chimamanda Adichie did a wonderful job of telling what the danger is of having a single story. She said some interesting things and I wrote down most of the quotes that she said.
Chimamanda Adichie talked about the danger of telling a single story. First she talked about how to tell a single story. She said, “Show the people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” What Chimamanda meant by this is that you should repeat the same story over and over again, so they know that that story is right and there is no other story to contradict that.
Another quote that stood out to me was “Power comes with a single story. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.” She also said “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” I think that the meanings of both of these quotes are similar. In my opinion, both of these quotes are showing that with one story, there is only one point of view. I think that when there is only one point of view, the person who is telling the story can be biased or they can change the story to make it sound better or worse.
The last quote I found interesting was, “The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.” Chimamanda Adichie is trying to say that a single story points out our differences, instead of our similarities.
In conclusion, this can help with our study of African American History. Within the video, Chimamanda Adichie states the answer to our essential question, what is the danger to having a single story?
i feel that the words spoken by Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, are some to which I believe every human being can relate to at some point or another. Being that we all come from different places and have traveled different paths in the world and life it self. For example, I have a few hispanic friends that has come from a far away background and they say that it is in the news everyday that Hispanics have been shot for being illegal in the U.S. It's just sad when people assume that every Hispanic in the U.S is illegal. That everyone of them are here for health care benefits, welfare, and other government assistance. Very few are those whom actually take the time to learn about an individual. Most of us just take the medias word as a factual statement and choose to ignore the different roots to the tree that is every different person's life story. It is rare when you see a documentary showing, how countries are enforcing the learning of English as the second language of Mexico or one of the many successful businesses that were started by regular Mexican people. Instead there are documentaries on Hispanics illegally crossing borders, talks about how the country is starving and how educations aren't worth a second look. If we could only look past the single story. If we could only take the time to learn about another before coming to a narrow minded conclusion about the next person. Maybe just maybe our world would be a less hateful and spiteful one. They say ignorance is a bliss, and sometimes it is easier to let the media form an opinion about another person and just accepted as the only truth simply because it is more suitable and less time consuming that way. it would be great if we all could take some time out of our day to learn something about someone that is of a different color than our own.
I believe that this would be a very useful topic to discuss during conversations we have in African American history class because African Americans have been known for being misunderstood, judged and mistreated due to stereotypes and false assumptions that people tend to make. Adichie proves that in her speech that you shouldn't judge people until you've walked their paths and been through the experiences they've been through the same ways that they have. Hopefully this will allow us all to become open minded into taking into consideration of others and their everyday lives.
-Neary
I see that novelist Chimamanda Adichie spoke out to the people about how she had to go through tough times regarding Racism. It's time for Racism to be placed to its end and establish an equal life style. Today, especially fascists and people from "Dixie" are still being racists. They discriminate hair color, skin color, and sometimes religion. She was discriminated because she was an African American. Her stories were interesting and touching about how she said that she cried sometimes at certain events because she feared that whites would discriminate against her as well as what Sharif said about her filing a sexual harassment complaint against another worker who has done something ugly to her. When she quoted “The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar." I thought of the Civil Rights Movement, Ferguson, The Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide and several other events involving Racism and it made me think for a moment about Racism becoming worse and not going away. After I thought about it and seeing several events, I knew that Racism is getting more worse then how it was after Martin Luther King Jr.'s attempt to put an end to Racism. An ezample is during the Libyan Civil War, the Al Qaeda-NATO-Qatar-Saudi Arabia backed Libyan National Traditional Council have been capturing Africans living in Libya and forcing them to fight for them against the Libyan Government under Muammar Al-Gaddafi because they are discriminating the Africans for having black skin color. Sometimes I ask myself "Is the Al Qaeda forcing Africans, Asians, Whites, Hispanics and many other races to work with them?", "Is this what they call equality and peace? By doing this in the name of Allah?". Another example was Ferguson and Michael Brown. Sources claim he was or was not armed with a weapon when the police killed him. They might of killed him because the cop that did so might of had a lot of hatred to the African Race instead of trying to enforce the law. The cop who killed him if he did have hatred should have been arrested. And one final reason everyone should know is that there is NO NEED to say the "N" word. Whoever invented that word makes Racism the top priority in this world. Can that word just be a regular swear word instead of non-African Americans say it like they are racist? Saying that word gets no one no where but trouble and these fictional "N Word Passes" never make things better. Therefore what Adichie said about African Americans receiving the "negative" instead of the "positive" because despite the "Whites Only" signs that used to be around made African Americans feel that they had to go through the bad endings of certain things. You can never ever judge someone of another race or religion until you know the true story about their past.
To have and/or believe a single story without considering or acknowledging the other side is to be single minded. Once when I was in the eighth grade my teacher had us read a letter that priest wrote about being what he called single minded. The letter was addressed to someone who wrote and asked him, "why does evil exist?" His answer to that was "because people are single minded." To be single minded is to only have one intent or mindset or frame of mentality. Having this "single minded," characteristic is what forms these single stories that keep reoccurring. One thing that I think is very important that she said was, "we are impressionable and vulnerable in the face of stories especially as children." When being taught in school, learning about a new event, or even learning about history for our purposes, we learn in the form of stories. We read about people, facts, places, and events in time. Because we weren't there, and because the stories come in a nicely covered 10 pound book we are subject to believe them. But sometimes these books contain "single stories." Stories that only share one perspective when as we already established in class there are multiple sides to one story. The danger of a single story is that it leaves us only believing in one side. It leaves is with the impression that this is the story, this is what happened, and that's it there are no if and's or but's. With a single story starts the birth of generalizations, such as the one the author made about Mexicans. Stereotypes, such as the one the author's roomate mad about her and a myriad of other more times than none false ideals about a group of people. Racism can also form from a single story. If all you've heard all your life was one idea about a group of people and you've never been told or shown any different you are prone to believe it, just because. So when looking at history I think it's important to realize there is more than one side to every story, it's about perspective, not personal opinions. A single story can leave you single minded and "mis-educated," to what actually happened.
I believe that the novelist Chimamanda Adichie spoke on things that are true when it comes to sterotypes. "Stereotype make one story the only story" says Adichie, this quote to me deals with the fact that stereotypes are cultivates by race. For example, my friend who's Asian was told a joke about how "Asians are all good at math and computers". This to me proves that stereotypes leave out details about a person who is a certain race. Your race doesn't define you, its just apart of who you are; I consider that being "small minded" when you can only associate a person with there race and stereotypes.
Adichie did a great job of proving how race only separates us as people. Just because we have different races doesn't mean we aren't comparable or alike in ways. The reason why people even prejudge is because people don't look or act like they do, that mindset will only block good relationships. I conclude that you should judge a person based off of their character, because uniqueness brings about innovation and change. It doesn't matter about what stereotypes people use to define you, but its about how you define yourself.
These are many dangers in having a single story. Personally I think that when you have a single-story you have no back up information or anything to go off of. I agree with Raquel she says single-minded. The definition of single-minded is having or concentrating on only one aim or for purpose. I think being single-minded means you only know half of what happened or you only know one part of what happened. I also think it means that you have your mindset on one idea and you're not changing it. That's also like having a single-story. You always need to have at least two sides of the story. If you have one single-story you're not getting the full story. If someone tells you that they didn't steal the watch you can't just assume they are innocent because he said so. You need to know both sides of the story so you can get the whole story. When you have a single-story it can be biased. A single story gives you details and gives you opinions not facts and it shows you what ideas can be proven but what people think. That's why I think there are many dangers for having a single story.
I have to agree very well with Zymir. I feel as though Chimamanda Adichie is right when it comes to sterotypes. When people hear about a situation, they usually jump the gun for everything and not care to fully understand a situation. Race, no matter if you are African American or any other race doesn't mean you are a bad person. Its from what inside. Maybe a slight percentage could be bad but that does not assume that every person is bad. A single story is another word of saying one side of a problem. If two people argue about something if your hearing one person and not the other then how are you going to know who is right and the main point of the arguement? That's the problem. Nobody cares to understand the other side. They use a single story to show how us people are different but what happened to the similarites of us all? They go along with the sterotype. The reason for Chimamanda Adichie standing up to speak is she is trying to express what the sterotypes are and tries to compare them to events that happened in her lifetime. I believe she is 100% right about everything and did a very well job at explaning it. When i hear the word single story or single minded i think of i don't want to hear anymore because i already have my mind made up. Single minded makes me feel the people feel a certain way an doesn't care to feel another way. It's really sad how people feel about other races when they are just thinking too much about the negatives and not about the positives. All races can have a positive and negative effect. Why not have a change in mind once in a while people?
I believe Chimamanda Adichie told her story and why we shouldn't have a single story well. While Chimamanda was telling her story about when she was young, she said, "... felt sorry for me before she even saw me." That is a great example of having a single story. The person felt sorry for Chimamanda before she even actually knew her. Is it right to already think that of someone before you know his/her story? That's having a single story. It's dangerous to have a single story because the one story you know might not be true.
Chimamanda Adichie once had a single story when she wrote books. Since there weren't many African American books, she only knew about American books. Adichie would write her own books and they would always include a white girl. This is having a single story. Eventually, Chimamanda read an African American and this completely changed her view on her single story about book.
In conclusion, having a single story is dangerous. It's dangerous because there are many other stories out there and it's possibly your story isn't the correct one. Never base a situation on a single story.
"The danger of a single story" holds such power and meaning. The single story is what we hear on the news here in Philadelphia and all over. People are brushed aside into stereotypes and bad reputations. This happened with Chimamanda and her American roommate. Her roommate thought of Ms. Adichie as the textbook definition of African and was shocked to learn that Ms. Adichie could "speak English so well" and that English was Nigeria's "official language."
In a single story, usually only the negative aspects are expected. There is good and bad in every person. When only the bad is released you take away the life out of that person, place, thing, or whatever the topic is. As Chimamanda says it strips the "dignity" away.
Not only was Chimamanda the victim of a single story but also, when she was 8, unknowingly and innocently victimized her house boy. Her mother said that her house boy's "family was very poor." Chimamanda "felt enormous pity" and when she visited his family, was shocked to realize that her house boy's brother had made a beautiful basket. She says, "All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. Their poverty was my single story." This is so important because sometimes we don't have know that we pre-judge people. People shouldn't be categorized by words and stereotypes. It just isn't fair.
This relates to the news. If a man is convicted of murder, let's say he is Mexican. That does not mean that all Mexicans should be suspected of suspicious behavior. The Mexicans that are hard working and good up-standing people shouldn't have the burden of being swept away into a category with a negative connotation.
Chimamanda Adichie opened my eyes to the danger of hearing a single story. From the stories she explained about the dangers of hearing a single story I’ve learned to not base opinions from stories unless I look into more of what and who is involved. Before watching this video I can admit I would have never thought of needing to look from more than one view point to see the whole picture.
Learning the dangers of a single story will definitely help us in African American History. Because we will be learning about different races, identity and other touchy subjects it is important to understand and be opened that there are different ways people see things. If a person only knows the stereotypes of the African American race it endangers the interaction between two people, one who knows nothing but stereotypes and an African American. Learning a single story affects the way people look at one another. In African American history we will be hearing single stories from people who dislike African American and it is important for us to not be ignorant and trust everything that person talks about, to look from both viewpoints to form our own opinion not the opinion we are being fed to believe.
The danger of a single story is the perspective of the story. Close-minded people will read one story and assume everything. I'll use the mike brown story for example. If brown was your best friend, then you're going to write a story about how he was such a good person and everyone loved him and you'll write all this hate about the white officer. If you're married to the white officer, you'll write a story defending him, and you'll find negative stuff to hold against brown.
It's hard to find an unbias story, so you should read up on both sides of the story if you want to be educated.
-CLAIRE MILLER
I fully agree with Zymir that Chimamanda Adichie spoke the truth on stereotypes. I feel like stereotypes are the definition of the single story. We look at the single story of the race, and we don't look at anything about the person. Race makes our minds closed when it comes to the person. I feel like we study it in Philadelphia, because it happens almost everyday. This will help our study on African American history by opening our eyes and minds to more than just race.
This talk by Chimamanda Adichie talks about how a single story only shows one side of a people. One interesting thing that she said was how a single story starts a stereotype and how that stereotype may not be wrong, it is just incomplete. By only seeing things from one point of view you can’t appreciate a people because you only know one side of them. She talks about how Americans assumed that she came from a starving home where she listened to tribal music. It doesn’t mean that there are not places in Africa where people are starving, but that’s not all that the African people are. There are many Africans who are smart and successful and listen to Mariah Carey, but no one sees this side of Africa. We only know them as the people who need to be saved.
I think this will help our African American course by reminding us to look at things from different points of views. You can’t take a stereotype and make it the only see you see from a group of people. You have to see both sides before you can make a clear judgment. And to people who have often judged a race on their single story, this might open up their minds.
I think we study African American History in Philadelphia because of the diversity of our city. Because there are so many different races, we need to be able to understand and appreciate all the different cultures. If all we know about the other cultures was their stereotypes then there would be a lot of racial tension in our city. The more stories we see, the more we can understand the other races.
Anthony Grillo
9/14/14
10th grade
Novelist Chimamanda Adichie talked a lot on how a single story can be dangerous in the growth of historical thinking. Growing up on just one side of a topic doesn't really help with brain development and/or personal opinion because you dont have the other side of the story to counteract your statements that you believe to be true. Only knowing one side of a story is like only knowing one side of a murder case. If you only know the murderer's side, you will probably believe that he isn't guilty because nobody is counteracting the point and vise versa. Single stories take away the debate of life and make everything boring, so there isn't really need for deliberation on a topic. People need to know both sides of the story to pick a side and ponder about which one they believe is worth siding on. Self choosing is important in the society of today because it is your choices that make you who you are and who you want to be. Without choices, people become labels so to say, and that is where stereotypes and race comes in.
"I wrote exactly what i was reading", "how impressional and vulnerable we are", and "mental shift in...development of literature" underline the basic concept of why a single story is bad. When Adichie first started to read, the only books she encountered were of the same race and did the same things, therefore, when she started writing, she only wrote about the things she read. There was never change in the books that she read, therefore, she didn't know how to change things in the stories/books she wrote. "African books saved me from having a single story of what books are." Adichie was only used to reading books with the stereotypical white man in it drinking beer. When she started to discover African books, she started to see that change was a possibility in literature and it excited her to change her writings also.
Adichie's roommate had a single story of her. She was brought up thinking that "Africans were dying of poverty...waiting to be saved by a king white foreigner." This is another example about why a single story isn't helpful at all in developing historical thinking. I agree with Robert in saying that Locke's quote, "beasts who have no houses" sets people up with a stereotype about the black race that shouldn't be enforced without evidence to back it up. I also felt that when Adichie went to college, her teacher was wrong in saying that she wasn't allowed to change the normal story plot line of the white man thriving and the black man starving. The college teacher talked down to her because she made black people drive cars instead of be on the streets hungry.
Ialso agree with Bobby in saying that this talk does relate to why we study it in Philadelphia. The diversity that the United States (including Philadelphia) brings to all races is a comforting feeling because it means that we most likely wont be raised only knowing a single story. We will all be exposed to many different stories pertaining to the same topic and we can choose the side that we believe is right. All races need to be treated equal.
There are many dangers of a single story. Like Mr. Jobs said, a single story about a single person or place can lead to a huge misunderstanding. People think because a person comes from a certain place or they have met a person one time, they know everything about that person. They think that they know a whole country from seeing a picture on the web one time. The danger of a single story is basically stereotyping. There are many famous stereotypes like, having blonde hair, which means you're a "blonde" or someone who has now brains or smarts. Chimamanda Adichie gave a great explanation about the dangers of a single story. I think the most shocking part of her story was the part when she said, " My roommate felt sorry for me even before she met me." Her roommate already judged and mad her mind up her mind about her before she even met her. I think the strongest stereotyping we have is the web, specifically pictures. Pictures have as strong way of defining people or certain places. When we see a girl smile in one picture, we take it as she is the happiest girl alive when really she could be dying inside. We may see a picture of Africa with people who are poor in the streets and automatically believe that the whole country is poor and going through the same struggles as the people in the picture. I think this will help African American History because African Americans are majorly stereotyped. Blacks are stereotyped just because of their skin color. People think that if you are black, you are on food stamps, poor or "ghetto." I've heard people tell their kids how dangerous it is to walk next to a black man on the street. This is bad for kids because this gives the idea that they can walk next to any other "color" on the street. What happens if that white man you are walking next to happens to be wanted for being a mass serial killer? Stereotyping is very dangerous indeed. This also relates to the conversation about why we study it in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a very diverse city with cultures and races ranging from left to right. There is not one single story of Philadelphia because there are so many stories that make up Philadelphia as we know it today. I will leave off today with the words of Chimamanda herself, "When we reject the single story, when we realize there was never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise."
- Jada Cooper
I believe that the Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie did an excellent job on telling her experience and defining what an actual single story really is. As she spoke about the first time she met her roommate at the university, her roommate said that she felt bad for Chimamanda even before she met her. Just because of where someone is from or what thye do does not make them a bad person. Hearing stories from someone is not always the right story. You cannot judge a book by its cover. Chimamanda is a successful women with a great family. As Chimamanda visited Mexico, she had done the same thing. She judged the country before even going and discovering what was so great about it. "The Danger of Single Story" is not always the correct story. People have experiences and their own opinions.
I definitely think this conversation should come up in our class. It deals with an African American being over looked. This goes along with stereotypes. People should be open minded. Never look and someone and judge.
There are many dangers of a single story. Chiamamanda Adichine put it in beautiful words how to create a single story "Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again and that is what they become". I translate this to we teach what we learn. If I was taught to stereotype so shall my kids. Not because i'm a bad person but because that's what I was taught. Another example is when she said "... a single story starts a stereotype and how that stereotype may not be wrong, it is just incomplete. By only seeing things from one point of view you can’t appreciate a people because you only know one side of them." I think this example speaks on what i was saying before. Maybe a stereotype speaks to a few people but not the whole race or gender or generation. Also she said "... the consequence of the single story is this, it robs people of their dignity it makes our recognition of equal humanity difficult it emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar." This is an example that i feel is very affective in 2014. People just assume just because you're a certain race, gender or age you act a certain way. People have an instant bias against you their judging the book by its over. They're doing this before they even give you a chose.
As Neary said "I believe that this would be a very useful topic to discuss during conversations we have in African American history class because African Americans have been known for being misunderstood, judged and mistreated due to stereotypes and false assumptions that people tend to make." I agree with her but not only black people. Sometimes Asian, Hispanic, Latinas, España's and Whites are judged before one gets to know them too.
Only hearing one story can cause many issues. It can cause one to be absent minded to any other ideas. It can make one seem ignorant to reality. The so called truth of these on sided stories can also hurt. Once you have an idea of a person or group of people can create an incorrect stereotype. I believe we study African American History because these one sided stories are taking over and it needs to be recognized that race does not define you. You are your own person and only you know your story. African American History is a great class to share our stories to help get rid of these stereotypes, one class at a time. Just because you are a certain color, does not mean you part-take in every aspect of that culture. You cannot judge someone by their appearance. Just as Chimamanda Adichie said, "When you realize that this is never a single story about any single place, we regain a kind of paradise."
-Taya Harding
I agree that this video will help our study with African American history because this video is a good example of showing how people think of other people in different countries, ethnic groups, and religions as a stereotype and even race if it is true or false fact. In the video, I noticed that Chimamanda Adichie was talking about how people thought about her as a Nigerian woman thinking that she was like her culture but not all people are like that. They are the same people as us but a little different because of their life story. The question I have is why would people think stereotypes would be real to determine the person's story by looking at the person.
I don't know if I was in class about the subject of why we have to learn African American History. This conversation does relate to our class, except that it is more explaining about race instead of history in the video. I understand what race is but I don't agree that people should use the term race as a negative word because in today's society people would disagree about politics. If these people should need help in the world. But we shouldn't even do this at all because every human being is all equal. So that is my opinion about the second question of the essay.
People often believe in single stories/stereotypes and it is believed so strongly at times that it is nearly impossible or even difficult to think that there is more to places and peoples. Chimamanda Adichie spoke the truth about how when people are exposed to only one story including the varieties of that story they tend to lean on that as the only information about people and places. Stereotypes generalizes peoples and places. For example, being Asian American there are MANY stereotypes that are well known. Whenever I get A's in tests, people often comment "it's because you're Asian." and to that I used to joke around with it too. But just because I'm Asian doesn't mean I will always get good grades, play instruments, always eat rice, etc. Yes while some of these things are true, but it doesn't apply to EVERY Asian you'll meet. It depends on who you are as a person. We are individuals, but that single story out there makes it hard for us to be it. Sometimes I feel pressured about my grades because I feel like I'm disgracing my race, but in all reality I'm obviously not. It's ashamed that I feel obligated to get good grades because people /expect/ me to. I think stereotypes are also expectations. People expect you to be this and do that and wind up being surprised like Adichie's roommate. Everybody is too focused on the big stories to even learn the more important details. There is more to the single story. The media puts out what we would be /interested/ in seeing and that is sadly the /single story/. I hope after watching the video we can overlook the single story/stereotypes and see much more of what the world has to offer than just the "general" peoples and places. Alison Zhao has posted a video on Asian American Identity which has influenced me very much about stereotypes generalizing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnbZAqLXIsQ&list=UUb7kR8-js5WA9Kwrs73EwQA
This talk really opens up what we do in our class in many ways. A big struggle is only having one side of a crucial story, take in for instance the Mike Brown case. There are many stories flying around and its only to either make Mike Brown innocent or a thug. Ms. Adichie brings out a lot of points that a single story can really alter or skew ones opinion. And of course everyone has there own version of the story. That is never going to change. And it really sheds light on our studies
Chimamanda Adichie was right when she said the hardship people had to go through because of rasisim. If your family's from a different country and you were born and raised here. People will ask you " wow where were you parents from? , your speak english really well." Or if your african american, people will say, you talk white. "You talk white?" just because they grew up being proper and aren't like how people label the african americans as "ghetto" you talk white? or the terms "white-washed" just because you grew in a westernized family lifestyle or your "black" if you grew in a as people would say "ghetto neighborhood". All race is the same , sometime you can't even tell by their appearance , there are people out there that are 100% a certain race and you can't tell if their mixed or something else, but you will never guess that their echnity is what it actually is.
The story of Chimamanda Adichie could help us African American history. Some of the things she talked about that happened in her life, were under some serious categories that we could discuss in class. Stereotype never gets old when it comes to race. As a matter a fact it's a shame it still happens today. What really got to me was when Adichie's professor didn't like one of her stories in class because her characters were "middle class" Africans. This to me was stereotype because, not all Africans go through a struggle of when they are hungry and have no home. The color of your skin does not classify where you stand in life financially. John Locke's quote was also something else that stood out to me in Adichie's speach. He said that Africans were "beast who have no houses." Just by him classifying Africans as "beasts" makes him sound like a terrible person. A terrible nasty man who has no respect for any other race but Caucasian. The definition of beast is an animal especially a large of dangerous four footed one. That's just straight up ignorance for him to think of a human being as a beast. He clearly wasn't educated well. This was something that really stood out to me when Achidie told her speach. It made me think of how cruel the world is today and even back then.
It's a lot of what a single story can do. Chimanda really did give a good point. One story could lead to more trouble for others especially those stories involved with racism. All this cases we talk about mostly are affect by a single story. This plus racism leads into all these problems that people face. Just using a single story to cover up.
I feel as though Chimamanda Adichie is a great novelist. She really spoke about what happens in reality with people and different cultures. She talked about how you just can't tell one story. She stated that stories can be used to empower and humanize. Basically what she was saying is that you can't just tell one story you have to continue to tell the same story because then it becomes a fact. Also you learn more about different cultures and not just about your own. Chimamanda didn't know anything about America until she started to hear stories. That helped her learn about different cultures and that's why she now has a novel culture and improving your knowledge on it. Certain people don't know your background and they start to assume your something that your not because of the race you are. It's always important to keep up on your culture and the culture of others. This might help the study of African American history because it can help us learn more about different races. Just by telling a single story you can learn more about some one and that's what I think it will do. If we take time out to listen to someone we can learn so much about them and their background and respect them so much more. I definitely think it's important to learn more about African American culture after so much the African American race has been through. By telling that story about African American culture different races will understand it more and that will help us learn more.
I do think it relates to the conversation we had about why study it in Philadelphia because it's the same reasons. We should study it in Philadelphia so we want be clueless on African American culture. Just like the novelist Chimamanda talked about. She helped me realize a lot of things that don't get done from us as a people. We should want to study this culture more so when we speak to that culture we want sound ignorant and we will have knowledge of it. That's how it relates to what we talked about. I enjoyed Chimamanda Adichie and I think she's a great novelist and I would love to read her novel on culture.
The danger of a single story is so evident in Chimamanda Adichie story. When she was telling us how in college she wrote an essay an her teacher said it wasn't authentic African that really opened my eyes. A college proffeser who is supposed to show class and respect to his students said that her story wasn't African enough. Then when she said that she had a single story about Mexicans it showed me that every one not just Americans can have a story about every class of people
A "Single Story" cause so many problem.I have to agree with Zymir about stereotypes.I think stereotypes is one part of racism.People judge you based on your race not the real you.In the 7th grade,i was the only Asian in my class.It's my first time go to school in America,and i have to said that i was go through alot,i was having a hard time because people were make fun of me and said these cruel things to me.Also like Jennifer said,the stereotypes some are true but it doesn't apply to every person.People assume you are bad or not based on your race.A single story could hurt so many people feeling.Chimamanda Adichie said "" My roommate felt sorry for me even before she met me",her roommate judge her because where she comes from.I think the stereotypes is too strong,strong enough that when people looks at that they think that they know everything and apply that to another person.
The medias know what would we interested and they forgot the root of the story.They forgot that every person have a different story and not all of them are same.African Americans and other races have been known for being misunderstood, judged and mistreated due to stereotypes.I think this video or this topic is really helpful for our African American history class.It's actually show me the interesting in History.
I believe that the Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells her story and tells of her different experiences because she wants the reader to know before you look at someone don't judge them find out what kind of a person they are and what background they came from. Its like don't judge a book by its cover because you might be surprised. She met different people along her way and people who would meet her and feel sorry for her just because she was from Africa. However, her life in Africa wasn't bad at all she came from a good background. She explains that hearing one sided stories people put a particular image in their head and that is what they always see they never look any further to find out the truth. Even by saying this she did the same thing when she went to different countries before even learning about these places she just put an image to what she heard. I think her story is to tell someone you need to explore the situation or the person before judging and learn all the facts and by doing this our world could be a better place instead of being against each other because of listening to one sided stories all the time and to look further into certain situations and listen to all sides of the story.
In my opinion, I really enjoyed and agreed with a lot of the things Chimamanda Adiche said. A couple things that she talked about that stood out to me were stereotypes, vulnerability, and a single story.
I really liked the way she touched on topic of stereotypes. I agree that stereotypes are incomplete. The stereotypes of people deny who they really are. When faced with the stereotypic knowledge of people, some of us do not know anything else and become innocent of the truth of that person.
I like the way she talked about our vulnerability. I agree that if we only see someone as one thing, then we are not open to have any knowledge anything else. For example, when she talked about her house worker through her childhood. She only knew his family as poor because that was what she was exposed to. She wasn't aware or open to have any other knowledge.
Lastly, I have really come to understand what a single story is and its affects. The single story evolves when we "show a people as one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become." This happens whether what we are showing is the truth or not.
With the single story comes power. "Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person." In my opinion, this means that power is not just telling the story of a person but the complete truthful story of that person.
The consequence of a single story then becomes robbing people of their dignity. A single story mostly acknowledges the differences of a people versus the similarity between them. This then leads to a person being singled out. They are considered "different" which is when the person is robbed of their dignity.
Her closing thought: "When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise." This really made me think of how rewarding yet the danger of a single story really is.
I think this topic can be very helpful in our African American class. We can take a lot from this because there are single stories everywhere and stereotypes can cause people to judge others based on that person's race before even getting to know them. Knowing only the information of one side can be dangerous because we can think that that's the only truth about a certain race or a group of people. Of course, there's more to humans than just these stereotypes but these single stories of a race ended up defining everyone from that specific race. I agree when Chimamanda Adichie says that single stories “emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar”. Sometimes we can be too caught up on judging others that you think about how different they are from you instead of thinking about how you can share the common things you have together. Like what Chimamanda Adichie says, what if her roommate knew about the other good positive stories of Africa? If only she knew more than a single story, her roommate wouldn't have judged her with just the single story she knew.
-Yovani Suyanto
In her TED Talk, Chimamanda Adichie points out many injustices in African literature growing up, like how most characters in children's books were white with blue eyes. Growing up reading books where people of her own culture were not represented, she felt that in order for literature to be literature, the main character had to be a white person. She then goes on to tell more stories of people believing certain things about other people due to stereotypes. One of the stories that stuck out to me was the one where her college roommate thought she didn't know how to use the stove in their room. Adichie's roommate most likely assumed this because of how Western media portrays Africa: helpless and disadvantaged. This truly shows the danger of a "single story," the single story being the one that Western media has told time and time again. This relates to African American History, because many more injustices like this one will be brought to our attention over the year.
This talk does connect with African American history because some times people have a single story about african American history. For example people may think it's all about slavery it's not all about that it talks about many other topics than that. Alot of people have singles stories about many races, for example Adichie was talking to a student and they said it's sad how the men beat up on the women and she said it's said how all americans men are serial killers. So you see there are many single stories about different topics. We have to study philadelphia because people maybe only think of one story about philadelphia and that's why people study philadelphia to take away the thought of a single story.
In this TedTalk, Chimamanda Adichie expresses how easily people's thoughts on places and other people are influenced through a single story. Even herself experienced this at an early stage of her life as she enjoyed reading American and British literature books. As a result, she was instantly given the view that they were they people that existed: people who had German beer and who talked about the weather. The consequences was that she did not know that African people like her existed until years later after reading African American books. When she turned 8, the only thing her mother told her about the houseboy was that he was poor. That immediately left Chimamanda the feeling of pity of him being poor. However, no one ever told her that the houseboy's family had talented abilities to make baskets. However, she was not the only one who experienced a single story. As soon as she met her roommate, Chimamanda was judged instantly, given the impression that she listened to different music, and knew about Africa's geography when in truth, she listened to western music, and knew nothing about the geography of Africa. It's not the roommates fault that she only received a single story of Africa. I believe it all dates back to the past. As Chimamanda says, John Locke explained in a description of his sight of Africa, "They are people without heads, having their mouths and eyes in their dresses." Hearing this single story, it would make anyone of Africans negatively. The worst part is that he knew nothing about the Africans in the 1500s. Given a single story through his eyes, he judged immediately that the Africans were poor and low people.
This video definitely relates to the conversation in our class and our grand essential question: "What are the dangers of a single story?" This talk gives us an idea or understanding on the dangers of a single story. It will eventually result into stereotypes which are always expressed negatively. When one receives a single story and nothing more, they have no other choice but to believe that story. It would be an instinct to immediately judge and assume based on the given single story. For example, Chimamanda judged Mexicans as people who crossed the border and who got arrested at the border. That was her single story of Mexicans due to the stereotypes given by the media of America. It wasn't until her visit in Mexico when she realized that they are the not border sneaking and crime acting people. It opened up her eyes to a different story to see that they were more than just that. They were welcoming people who laughed and had a good time. In no time, she felt shame having judged them through a single story of their race. This example truly signifies the importance of a single story. It is important to know the dangers of a single story because we experience it everyday in our life. Stereotypes are what identifies people of certain races. They are only incomplete as Chimamanda says, and do not tell the complete story. It is quite shocking how a single story can impact the perception of one's view of a place or a person.
I believe that the novelist Chimamanda Adichie's reasoning for telling many of her personal experiences in life is because she does not want you to judge someone before you actually know them. People always pitied her because she was born and raised in Africa so they thought that she didn't have a good life as a child, but her background is good and she had a very good upbringing. She talks about how when people hear one-sided stories, they do not even bother to get to know the other side of the particular story. She believes that a person needs to know both sides of a story to know the full truth, and I completely agree with her. She admits to judging before knowing a person, place or thing, as do I. I have been in situations where I judge someone, somewhere, or something before knowing the full story or background. I think the purpose of her speaking in this video is because she wants people to venture out into the world on unknown and uncertain, to find out the truth. She believes, and I agree, that the world would be a much better place if everyone knew the full story before judging or coming to conclusions.
I believe that Chimamanda Adiche spoke well of the dangers of a single sided story. Having a single story, and going off of one opinion is both dangerous, and a one-sided argument. This can make a innocent person seem guilty, or a guilty person seem innocent.
Most people agree with the concept of a single story being single minded, as Jaquele said. The majority of us think this is wrong. However, we believe and support them every day. For example, the gossip around school. Everyone will believe what one girl/boy says just because it sounds interesting, and it may just be what they want to hear.
Single stories, like the ones told about how poor Africa is and how the people dress, eat and work are almost drilled into our minds. Chimamanda lived in Africa, and she was healthy, in a nice living environment, nor were her parents poor. While being away from Africa, her room mate felt sorry before she even saw her. This is a huge stereotype.
Chimamanda also was sterotypical about her poor house boy. She eventually even became sterotypical of her own race, after being out of Africa for a while. She began to believe the poorness and lack of typical every day appliances and needs from books she would read.
This shows the dangers of what a single sided story can cause, and I believe stereotypes about race, religions, etc, will always exist. I believe this because once we have a certain mind set about something, it is hard for us to let go of it. We should not come to a conclusion so quickly, and i feel as though this is a great skill to have in both the real world and in the classroom.
The danger of a single story is the danger of a cliche, categorized story. How would you even know if that's the only way it could be, or end ? Like the novelist Chimamanda Adichie said,“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” We all know that there isn't just one story, there's millions."Stereotype make one story the only story" says Adichie, this quote to me said that stereotypes can be by gender and race. I hear people say all African-American people talk 'ghetto'. Well first,'ghetto' isn't a language last time I checked. Also there are plenty of well-educated, black people that talk in a very sophisticated manner. Or that we all like watermelons, and drugs. Which also isn't true because, I despise watermelons. Or maybe even, how we all have kids with multiple people.
Chimamanda Adichie had a lot of interactions in life that were shown by a single story. A lot of people have been down the same path as Adichie by hearing a single story and when they find out the truth, it's not what they expect. “Power comes with a single story. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.” This quote caught my eye because it says that a story has nothing to compete with if there are no other stories. A single story is basically a sterotype. It is bad to have just one story.If there are more views or stories about something, you'll have a more open mind of what to expect for it.
I believe that Chimamanda Adichie had a very moving story. It really helps with this year's class because opinions in this exact class are very opinionated. People can will only know the single story about the African American history and not really want to take new information or another story in.
I think that we need to learn this especially in Philadelphia because this is a very diverse city with people that are immigrating here daily. And if there are people coming from Mexico or South Africa we really wouldn't know as much as they do because that is where they are from.
I feel like Chimamanda Adichie made made me think twice before I actually start to judge a person. She talks about how a single story is something that can be changed. It doesn't start with the history books but it starts with the beginning of actual history of the certain place. Adichie says that showing people as one thing, they become that one thing over and over.
I believe that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie really did a great job on explaining how single stories and stereotypes come about. Her story tied in beautifully with it. It’s crazy that as innocent as you can be, even you can create your own single story without knowing it. Ms. Adichie talked about growing up with a house boy and that her mom said his family was very poor. She had pity for her house boy’s family because that’s what her mom told her. She didn’t understand that anyone in his family could make anything like baskets and was shocked to see they could. Ms. Adichie created a single story for the family because she only knew what her mom would tell her.
Chimamanda stated during the video that to have a single story come about people are shown as one thing, as one thing only over and over again, and that is what they eventually become. When she got to college her American roommate had a single story of Ms. Adichie before she even knew her. She felt sorry for her and was shocked to find out that Ms. Adichie could speak English, use a stove, and that she listened to Mariah Carey. She had a single story of Nigeria and there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her. Chimamanda came to realize after a few years that she too would have had that single story because in America, Africa is only focused on the beautiful landscapes, animals, and “incomprehensible people” that are unable to speak for themselves.
I agree with Bella on the point that Philadelphia creates these single stories and stereotypes everyday on the news and in newspapers. These broadcasted shows have that POWER to make a definitive story of a person and as Ms. Adichie says, “…robs people of their dignity”. Single stories are extremely dangerous and she sure does pinpoint how they are. This definitely will help our study of African American History because this is explaining our essential question and guiding us through it. I got a lot out of this video and I am ready to discuss it in class now that I have a better feel for stereotypes and single stories.
I thin Chamamanda Ngozi Aduchie is very accurate. When you hear a story about certain people, you will picture them, like white people. A single story often makes us forget about ourselves and understand the world in a misleading way. Reading about our own people makes us believe in certain power only to the people and in result we never respect or try to understand other cultures, even see the world more effectively. Cultures develop as people develop. Homo Sapiens had the same ancestors; we had just branched off in different path. The danger of a single story, is very misleading, as in medias. As we branch off, we have our own race and nation with our governments and cultures. We start to see our own race what it is, we trust our nation with our own governments and cultures. We start to see our own race as what it is, we trust our nation, and let it be natural that we forget that other people that other people around us exist. We find sources we see and confine ourselves, and we conceive what it has to offer, those sources are often a single story. It tells us we need to be more ware of what we read, what we hear, and always try to see things in different perspectives. The stories we read are written by people just like us, who had expressed what they can see and explain. It is great that she had read of her own people, and finds her way out of a single story, and I think she has a message to offer to us as we'll, and I think we can pick up from what she'd said. Picking up a single story makes you oblivious from reality. A single story creates a steitpye and the sterotypes are often repeated, on and on and on until we see it as the not thing to describe people. So it is a very beneficial for her to give the talk, and I felt I had learned something from it as we'll, the danger of a single story
"Stereotypes make one story the only story." This alone to me is the danger of a single story. Only knowing one side, or the stereotype is just wrong. If you only knew Africa for poverty and war then you would be missing out on a rich culture full of spirit and soul. You would miss the celebration and the good times that have occurred in this place. It's wrong to see only one side just for that reason. If you were so one sided then you would think all Black people are thugs yet many black people are more successful then white people? It's just simply ignorant to have a single side especially growing up in Philly.
Living in Philly does something to you. It's so diverse here so only knowing a single story is kind of impossible. I'm friends with all races and to tell you the truth? They're all people. No matter the color of the skin I have liked/disliked a person for who they are, not what color they are. You learn that all white people aren't suburban businessmen, that all black people aren't thugs, that all Asians aren't good at math. So why do people act like these are the truths? They are not, and that it the danger to of a single story.
Chimamanda Adichie explained very well what a single story is and how it can be dangerous. A single story isn't always the right story. There are many stories from many views and it may be hard, but people should try to understand different views and perspectives so we can get a feel for what someone else thinks.
This could very well help us study History in thesence of baisic open mindedness! dont just believe one thing you have herd! see for your self look at both sides of the argument and you might find truth or fact withing wha you learn!
I think that Chimamanda Adichie did a good job in explaining her reason why a single story can be dangerous. She talked about the danger of telling a single story by telling people how others tell a single sided story. She later went on about how people repeat the same story over and over so eventually they believe that is the only version of the story. One quote that gave me pause was “Power comes with a single story. Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.” This gave me pause because it made me think of what it means to have power and what it means to only believe one side of a story. Single stories create problems and make stereo-types occur. There a multiple sides to a story. Not one. People can change the story and make it more favorable towards them. People lie. I do believe that there is danger in a single story and I also believe that you should hear all sides before believing what can be a lie.
i think that this opened my eyes to see that African american history is important in schools to teach not only about african american history but to tie it all into African history also because as Chimamanda Adichie "when we reject a single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place we regain a kind of PARADISE." and for me that was very powerful that the single story could always affect a view on anything all the time and it makes me want to not look back on the "single story" again.
By: Christian Bingham
Chimamanda Adichie was extremely interesting to listen to and her story is both sad and uplifting. As the writer stated "one single story of a person's life does not define who he/she is entirely, nor does one story of a certain race define who or what the entire race is about. There are much more to people and who they really are that just cannot be described or told in one story. Chimamanda spoke of some very difficult times that she and her family have endured. Watching the food on their table dwindling away little by little. She has gone through things that I have never personally had to go through; which makes me look up to her for the strength she had plus makes me realize how lucky I am. Chimamanda was absolutely correct when she said that everyone focuses way too much on our differences and not enough on our similarities. We should focus on the things that we have in common and enjoy and appreciate our differences. By: Mark Hoochuk
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