Don’t Buy Into A Single Story
I encourage everyone to watch novelist Chimamanda Adichie’s 2009 TED talk “The Danger of A Single Story.” Adichie uses her personal experiences to illustrate the importance of sharing different stories about people. She warns of the consequences of a single story and how it can rob people of their dignity, create stereotypes, and make difficult the recognition of our equal humanity.
Adichie’s talk made me ponder current events and how many American politicians and leaders are attempting to create a single story about immigrants and others. One, in particular, is the group of Central American migrants fleeing danger and desperate situations for a new life in America. The president and others are painting them as criminals who are trying to invade the country. This is dangerous. It’s a seemingly hateful attempt to fan the flames of division and stoke the fears of his supporters. Adichie says, “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become.” She continues “power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.” Imagine if the first story told about this group of migrants was that many are mothers and fathers who desire safety and security for their families. Doing so would change the narrative entirely. To insist on only negative stories, those in power are attempting to dehumanize migrants and encourage Americans to believe that migrants are in no way similar to them. These views are extremely dangerous and can result in violence against an entire group of people.
I hope Adichie’s talk will encourage more people to not buy into a single story told about others. And in doing so, recognize that all people are informed and shaped by many stories. This is needed always, but especially in current times.
Chimamanda Adichie, author of <em>Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, </em>and other works
“The Danger of the Single Story,” a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie
2018
Olympia Friday, Digital Engagement and Marketing Coordinator, National Humanities Center
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Things Don't Have To Be The Way They've Always Been
Gloria Anzaldua’s <em>Borderlands</em> was one of the assigned texts in my U.S. Mexico Border class this semester. In this book, Anzaldua writes about borders she encounters between herself and men, other cultures, and even her own culture as a homosexual Mexican-American woman from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She expresses a deeply planted love for her culture by using personal narrative, poetry, and the unique approach of switching between English and Spanish without warning. <br /><br />Amongst all of this literary beauty, she directly addresses the shortcomings of the Mexican-American culture. One problem Anzaldua specifically points out is machismo. She bashes machismo by calling out the oppression women experience because of this culturally developed mentality of male superiority. <br /><br />As a native of the Rio Grande Valley like Anzaldua, I know what it is to live in a community where two worlds collide and make one. Living in a place where strong Mexican influence is easily detectable by seeing the kinds of restaurants operating or by hearing the kinds of languages spoken in schools (Spanish, Spanglish, Tex-Mex), I grew a love for this fusion of cultures. With this love came a sense of duty to defend my culture which typically meant a shut mouth about its flaws. I continually accepted the explanation, “Things are the way they are because that’s how they’ve always been.” I thought if I drew attention to something I thought was wrong with my culture, I would be embarrassing my own kind. <br /><br />It was not until I read Anzaldua’s book that I realized that did not have to be true. Like a parent would, I could show tough love to my culture by teaching it to acknowledge and learn from its mistakes, instead of biting my tongue about them. The Humanities are frequently studied to learn about populations, experiences, and ideas that may seem to only be relevant in places that are worlds away. Learning about others is of great value. And so is learning from others. But let us remember that the Humanities can always have something to teach us about the worlds that are our own.
<em>Borderlands</em> by Gloria Anzaldua
September 2018
Gabriela Lopez, 21, Texas A&M University Undergraduate Student
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