After watching the Ted Talk “The Danger of a Single Story,” I realized that I often had a single story of people from different cultures. Growing up in a predominantly Hispanic community, I was not exposed to diversity. It was until I left my hometown to attend college that I realized that there was more to people than their stereotypes. Unfortunately, I was also on the other end, people also had a single story on what it meant to be Mexican-American. I often heard classmates say, you do not look Mexican, you do not dress like other Mexicans, and you do not act Mexican. I do not believe that any of my classmates had any bad intentions in expressing that, however, it made me think that many had a fixed stereotype. When people made comments in regards to my ethnic background I did not pay much attention back then because I did not know what to say or how to react.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated that reading African books saved her from a single story. She got to see a different story, not the one being told by westerners about Africans but the one being told by different writers from various African countries. It is easy to focus on a single story, however, it is not until we are exposed to a different story through distance or experiential learning that we gain a new perspective and discover a new world. I have to admit that I too had a single story about African countries. Based on articles I read in my history classes, I only knew that African people were suffering due to civil wars, warlords, poverty, hunger and the aids epidemic. In 2010 something happened that changed all of that. Prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I started learning more about South Africa. I saw video clips from different news and sports channels of South Africans playing music, cooking different types of food, celebrating their traditions and proud to show off their rich South African culture to the world. Of course, not every African country is as wealthy as South Africa but it changed my perspective about the people from Africa. When we are only exposed to a single story, that is the only story we are going to believe. Like Chimammada Ngozi Adichie said in her TED Talk we must “Reject a single story and regain paradise”.
Adichie, C. N. (2009). The Danger of a Single Story :TED Talks. Retrieved May 08, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated that reading African books saved her from a single story. She got to see a different story, not the one being told by westerners about Africans but the one being told by different writers from various African countries. It is easy to focus on a single story, however, it is not until we are exposed to a different story through distance or experiential learning that we gain a new perspective and discover a new world. I have to admit that I too had a single story about African countries. Based on articles I read in my history classes, I only knew that African people were suffering due to civil wars, warlords, poverty, hunger and the aids epidemic. In 2010 something happened that changed all of that. Prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I started learning more about South Africa. I saw video clips from different news and sports channels of South Africans playing music, cooking different types of food, celebrating their traditions and proud to show off their rich South African culture to the world. Of course, not every African country is as wealthy as South Africa but it changed my perspective about the people from Africa. When we are only exposed to a single story, that is the only story we are going to believe. Like Chimammada Ngozi Adichie said in her TED Talk we must “Reject a single story and regain paradise”.
Adichie, C. N. (2009). The Danger of a Single Story :TED Talks. Retrieved May 08, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg