Stereotyping In Chimamanda Ngozi's TED Talk
Many people face stereotypes on a daily basis. Being half African American, people assume that I am loud and for a lack of better ghetto because that is associated with being black. Another example would be getting asked if I ride horses to school as a result of being from Texas.
In Chimamanda Ngozi’s TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story”, she addresses the negative impact of only knowing a single story about a given topic. She discusses how she was looked upon with pity due to her African background. In many English literature pieces, Africa is the charity case. People only knew the single story about Africa. A story of illness and poverty. In her talk she also pointed out the root of many single stories: children literature. She grew up reading stories with characters that are white and blue eyed, finding herself believing the single story she knew about America and Britain. The main point Ngozi tried to get across is that many stories matter and there is no such thing as a single story. A single story is similar to stereotyping. She emphasizes that stereotyping isn’t bad, it is incomplete. To ensure that we don’t just hear one story, Ngozi suggest that we widen our minds to other stories and know that there isn’t just one story. She planted …show more content…
Before watching I assumed it was going to be another person about the dire issue of racism or health care in Africa. However, she completely captured my attention within the first few minutes. I was intrigued by the way children literature influenced the way she wrote, but also the way she saw other ethnicities. This later turned into how she saw others perceiving Africa. Her solution was to challenge people to not buy into the single story. She firmly believes that if people were to know all the stories of a certain place they wouldn’t treat them any differently than they would their
In Chimamanda Ngozi’s TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story”, she addresses the negative impact of only knowing a single story about a given topic. She discusses how she was looked upon with pity due to her African background. In many English literature pieces, Africa is the charity case. People only knew the single story about Africa. A story of illness and poverty. In her talk she also pointed out the root of many single stories: children literature. She grew up reading stories with characters that are white and blue eyed, finding herself believing the single story she knew about America and Britain. The main point Ngozi tried to get across is that many stories matter and there is no such thing as a single story. A single story is similar to stereotyping. She emphasizes that stereotyping isn’t bad, it is incomplete. To ensure that we don’t just hear one story, Ngozi suggest that we widen our minds to other stories and know that there isn’t just one story. She planted …show more content…
Before watching I assumed it was going to be another person about the dire issue of racism or health care in Africa. However, she completely captured my attention within the first few minutes. I was intrigued by the way children literature influenced the way she wrote, but also the way she saw other ethnicities. This later turned into how she saw others perceiving Africa. Her solution was to challenge people to not buy into the single story. She firmly believes that if people were to know all the stories of a certain place they wouldn’t treat them any differently than they would their