24 thoughts on “Applying Adichie’s Ideas About “Single Stories””

1. Name: Christopher Scucci

   Single stories are dangerous because it demonstrates ones opinion on a thing or group in our society. Generating stereotypes that we sink into and look at them in a very tunnel vision manner. Like how Adichie expressed her personal experience when she went to college in the United States. She explained that when she met her room mate, she would ask questions about her “tribal Music” or asked how she learned to speak english so well and even “taught” her how to use the oven, thinking she didn’t know how. The reason why she’s asking these questions is because she’s looking at Africas single story. When we look at the media, Africa is depicted as very poor, their governments are in constant conflict with their people, pointless wars, and is also known for its beautiful wildlife. Unfortunately that’s Africas single story. Adichie does explain that she doesn’t listen to tribal music and instead showed her Mariah Carey to her room mate and I would imagine, that Adichie’s room mate was quite astonished.

   When she was going to college in the United States she was getting exposed to Americas media and news without her even knowing it. In her speech, I remember her talking about her visit to Mexico. After looking and hearing media news depicting Mexico as almost like a leach attached to the United States, with immigrants crossing the boarder illegally, people getting arrested at the boarder, and huge drug trafficking, she was to, guilty of creating a single story of Mexico. Once she got into Guadalajara Mexico she was very surprised. “I remember walking around on my first day in Guadalajara, watching the people going to work, rolling up tortillas in the market place, smoking, laughing. I remember first feeling slight surprise. And then, I was overwhelmed with shame.” She stated.

   Unfortunately, a great portion of our population is in a single story of Mexico, including our very own president. Trump constantly says that he’s going to build a wall dividing Mexico and the United States to keep out the immigrants and then says that Mexico will pay for it. With our country leader saying and expressing this in a very serious manner, we as people will and create a single story for Mexico. Single stories look at and describe a very small picture. If people will learn to look deeper and with more care, then we will see the truth, not only with other cultures, but everything in general.

2. After watching the speech by Ardichie, I realize that not looking at a situation from both sides is very dangerous. A one sided story can make a whole group of people look like something that they are not. The saying one bad apple ruins the whole bunch is what we are doing by looking at a one sided story.
   During the trump presidency he has been executing a travel ban against seven middle-eastern countries. We ban these seven countries due to their terroristic threat. Now, I am all for this plan, and agree with it. But, is it really fair to the people that live in these countries that are not terrorist. Why are we banning the ones that are not terrorist. These people did not choose to be born there so why should they not be afforded the same opportunity that we are given here in the United States. We do have to take this precaution to keep our country as safe as possible, but there are many being affected that do want to come here, and make our country a better place.
   While President Trump was running for presidency he stated, ” Mexicans are not sending their best, they are not sending you, they’re sending their worst, they’re rapist, they’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, and some I assume are good people.” Now when Trump stated this some Americans I am sure bought into this stereotype that trump portrays about Mexicans. But, In reality trump described every ethnicity, because every ethnicity uses and manufactures drugs every ethnicity is guilty of rape, and every ethnicity has their good people. So, by trump saying this directly toward Mexicans it is inaccurate. And if people were to dig deeper they would see that this stereo type can go for any ethnicity.

3. Blog Post
   The topic I will be talking about relative to the blog post discussion will be the Paris Attacks in the year of 2015. The attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015 left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. There were nine attackers. Each attacker was wearing a suicide vest. The attackers targeted a soccer stadium, bars and restaurants and a concert hall — all venues they knew would be crowded on a Friday evening. The man credited with the attacks is Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Good luck trying to say his name. Here is a recap of the events. At 21:20, the first of three explosions occurred outside the Stade de France stadium where thousands of fans watched France play Germany in an exhibition soccer match. A man wearing a suicide belt was prevented from entering the stadium near Gate D. The man backed away from security guards and detonated the explosives. The bomber and a bystander were killed. At 21:30, a second man detonated his suicide vest outside Gate H. President Hollande, who was inside the stadium watching the game, was rushed to safety. The crowd was not notified of the events and the match continued. At 21:53, a third suicide bomber self-imploded at a fast-food store near the stadium. At 21:25 in the 10th district, a neighborhood known for its abundance of bars, restaurants and cafés, gunmen in a black vehicle open fire on Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge. Fifteen people died in the attacks, with fifteen severely injured. The gunmen continued on to Rue de la Fontaine au Roi in the 11th arrondissement and opened fire on two more restaurants, Café Bonne Biere and La Casa Nostra. Five people were killed, with eight severely injured. Witnesses reported that the gunmen were travelling in a black vehicle. At 21:36, gunmen opened fire on another bar in the 11th arrondissement, La Belle Equipe. Witnesses again said that the attackers arrived in a black vehicle. Nineteen people died in the shooting, with nine severely injured. At 21:40, an attacker – later revealed to be Brahim Abdeslam – entered the restaurant Le Comptoir Voltair, also in the 11th arrondissement. The attacker sat down, placed an order and then detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and injuring fifteen others. There were many other attacks that night. Most noticeably these caught my attention. These recap of the Paris attacks events are presented above by (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5782ad8f9de4bb114784a8fe/t/5783fec9d482e95d4e0b79bf/1468268235955/HSAC-Paris_LessonsLearned_WhitePaper.pdf)
   I noticed a few things when writing down the recap an looking up various other articles based upon the Paris Attacks and what happened there. The single narrative seems to be same across the board. Every news network seems to be using slight metaphors to exacerbate the attacks. There is doubt the attacks were undoubtedly horrific, but the medias job is not to be opinion based. The media’s job is to report based on fact which in this case is true, but the constant use of metaphors to describe certain events is ridiculous. For example three CNN analysts stated in their review of the Paris Attacks “On a night when thousands of Paris residents and tourists were reveling and fans were enjoying a soccer match between France and world champion Germany, horror struck in an unprecedented manner. Terrorists — some with AK-47s, some reportedly with bombs strapped to them — attacked sites throughout the French capital and at the stadium where the soccer match was underway”. “Scores were killed in the coordinated attacks late Friday, leaving a nation in mourning and the world in shock”. Just by reading both of the quotes I have presented to you, I am sure you can see why I am so hell bent over their description of the Paris Attacks. My question is why we do as a nation or just people in general bow down to solemn words? Why can we not just say “things” or “events” how they are? Is there really a need to be over dramatic? Questions I ask myself every day. Personally I am a very literal person. I don’t speak in hypotheticals. Relative to a single narrative that is.

4. Blog Post
   The topic I will be talking about relative to the blog post discussion will be the Paris Attacks in the year of 2015. The attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015 left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. There were nine attackers. Each attacker was wearing a suicide vest. The attackers targeted a soccer stadium, bars and restaurants and a concert hall — all venues they knew would be crowded on a Friday evening. The man credited with the attacks is Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Good luck trying to say his name. Here is a recap of the events. At 21:20, the first of three explosions occurred outside the Stade de France stadium where thousands of fans watched France play Germany in an exhibition soccer match. A man wearing a suicide belt was prevented from entering the stadium near Gate D. The man backed away from security guards and detonated the explosives. The bomber and a bystander were killed. At 21:30, a second man detonated his suicide vest outside Gate H. President Hollande, who was inside the stadium watching the game, was rushed to safety. The crowd was not notified of the events and the match continued. At 21:53, a third suicide bomber self-imploded at a fast-food store near the stadium. At 21:25 in the 10th district, a neighborhood known for its abundance of bars, restaurants and cafés, gunmen in a black vehicle open fire on Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge. Fifteen people died in the attacks, with fifteen severely injured. The gunmen continued on to Rue de la Fontaine au Roi in the 11th arrondissement and opened fire on two more restaurants, Café Bonne Biere and La Casa Nostra. Five people were killed, with eight severely injured. Witnesses reported that the gunmen were travelling in a black vehicle. At 21:36, gunmen opened fire on another bar in the 11th arrondissement, La Belle Equipe. Witnesses again said that the attackers arrived in a black vehicle. Nineteen people died in the shooting, with nine severely injured. At 21:40, an attacker – later revealed to be Brahim Abdeslam – entered the restaurant Le Comptoir Voltair, also in the 11th arrondissement. The attacker sat down, placed an order and then detonated his suicide vest, killing himself and injuring fifteen others. There were many other attacks that night. Most noticeably these caught my attention. These recap of the Paris attacks events are presented above by (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5782ad8f9de4bb114784a8fe/t/5783fec9d482e95d4e0b79bf/1468268235955/HSAC-Paris_LessonsLearned_WhitePaper.pdf)
   I noticed a few things when writing down the recap a looking up various other articles based upon the Paris Attacks and what happened there. The single narrative seems to be same across the board. Every news network seems to be using slight metaphors to exacerbate the attacks. There is doubt the attacks were undoubtedly horrific, but the medias job is not to be opinion based. The media’s job is to report based on fact which in this case is true, but the constant use of metaphors to describe certain events is ridiculous. For example three CNN analysts stated in their review of the Paris Attacks “On a night when thousands of Paris residents and tourists were reveling and fans were enjoying a soccer match between France and world champion Germany, horror struck in an unprecedented manner. Terrorists — some with AK-47s, some reportedly with bombs strapped to them — attacked sites throughout the French capital and at the stadium where the soccer match was underway”. “Scores were killed in the coordinated attacks late Friday, leaving a nation in mourning and the world in shock”. Just by reading both of the quotes I have presented to you, I am sure you can see why I am so hell bent over their description of the Paris Attacks. My question is why we do as a nation or just people in general bow down to solemn words? Why can we not just say “things” or “events” how they are? Is there really a need to be over dramatic? Questions I ask myself every day. Personally I am a very literal person. I don’t speak in hypotheticals. Relative to a single narrative that is. Looking at a story from both sides gives you the reader a better understanding of the topic at hand.

5. Wow! what a powerful message from Adichie. Single stories can be a very dangerous thing because it generalizes a group of people. Creating single stories reflects a whole group of people but each individual is different, and has different stories. Her personal experience really brings out the idea of a “single story”. When she came to the United States and her roommate asked her about “tribal music” and couldn’t believe that she listened to Mariah Carey and how she spoke fluent English. Africa’s single story in the minds of most people from the United States is the idea of a poor families and a controversial government. This in reality, is not the case.
   The controversy of a single story is really brought to light of day with the things going on in are country right now. President Trump has issued statements about immigrants, and building a wall on the Mexican border. The single story of Mexicans coming to America is never portrayed as a good thing and how they hurt are economy, come here illegally, and are bringing in drugs, etc. Obviously this is not right, and not all Mexicans in America mirror this single story but I can understand why it’s portrayed this way. our own president is Addressing these issues, we as the people look to are president for this news.
   This is just another prime example of why single stories can be very dangerous. The stereotypes that are created from them affect that group of people. Adichie herself grew up in a well raised family in Nigeria and was very intelligent. But when she came to America due to the idea of single story of where she came from she had to deal with people having the idea about her and not understanding that this was nothing like her actual self. Single stories can be a very dangerous thing and I feel Adichie has gave us all something to think about and the single stories we believe and question if this is just a stereotype or reality?

6. I found Adichie’s speech very interesting and moving. When she was telling her stories about how we only see one side of a story, I thought to myself why do we do this, and if I do it? Adichie further explaind to us a personal experience in this topic from her college years with her roommate. Adichie told us that when she moved into her dorm she met her roommate for the first time. Her roommate was very surprised on how well Adichie spoke english and that she knew hot to operate a stove. While trying to get to know Adichie better she asks to play her “tribal music”, assuming that she only listens to that kind of music, Adichie responds with “I like Mariah Carey”. One of her many examples on how some people only see one side of things. Her roommate knowing Adichie is from Nigeria automatically assumes that she listens to tribal music and doesn’t speak english too well. Another example around the same time as the last she talks about when her professor graded her novel. Adichie tells us a story of when she started writing children stories and one day she turned one of her stories into her professor as an assignment. In her novel the characters were African Americans and his response to her novel was that the characters were too much like himself how they aren’t “authentically african”. She explains that her characters were well educated middle-class African Americans that weren’t starving and were very well off that they had the liberty to drive cars. The professors assumptions of Africans prove her case more that we only see one side ofthe story that we’re not familiar with.

   I would like to relate this speech with one of the many controveries that people face with President Trump. We all have our opinions on mexican immgration, and we’re all intended to our own opinion, but sometimes we need to see more than just the one side. Some people see immigrants as bad people because in their eyes they’re talking our jobs, coming to our county illegally, and from what President Trump said they’re also bringing in drugs. When citizens hear these things they will only listen to what they previously were told and only see the side that they already know. But do all mexican immigrants bring drugs to our country and have bad intentions, No. We can’t say that all mexican immigrants do this because this isn’t true. Some immigrants will come here for work but only so they can provide for their families. Isn’t that what we all want, to provide for our loved ones? So why are we judging all immigrants as bad people when a good amount of them just want to earn enough money so they can put food on the table.

7. I want to start off by saying that Adichie did a great job explaining that there is always more than one story to be told. As humans, we are close minded to the fact that there can always be more than one story to everything. That can be both positive and negative. More stories can lead to confusion, resulting in questions about what actually happened. However, more stories can open up minds allow others to see from a different perspective. When she talked about her characters in her stories, they reflected the stories of the British characters she read about. That’s how she thought they were supposed to be. But then she came to realize, that not everything and everyone acts and looks the way white Americans do.
   The story I picked to compare to Adichie was Gloria Naylor’s “The Meanings of a Word.” I picked this story because it shows how different cultures can view the meaning of a word in different ways that effect how it is used. Naylor talks about the first time she heard the word “nigger.” A little white boy had called her that when she was passing back his test. She did not know the meaning and told the teacher. The boy got in trouble. She then asked her mother about the word. Her mother explained to her that the word “nigger” to them can be used to describe a man’s strength, intelligence, or drive. It can also be used by women to show their possession over their men.
   However, at the end Naylor states “And since she knew that I had to grow up in America, she took me in her lap and explained.” This hurt a little to see, but it is the reality. Because of slavery, white Americans use the term “nigger” as a negative attachment to African Americans. Because Americans have always used the term as in a negative way, we were blind to the fact that African Americans use it as a term of positivity. Because Naylor grew up thinking the term was a positive word, she was oblivious and uneducated about the negative connotation that white Americans use it as. In conclusion, sometimes we as humans are blind to the fact that there is more than one side to every story and seeing it from another perspective can be a positive or a negative result.

8. The dangers of looking through single stories is quite significant. It basically a way of looking at something through a small hole or tunnel vision. From there you are focused on only a small portion of an image. The whole point is to see the bigger picture and see the final piece of the puzzle. See things in another perspective because witnesses see things differently from different points of view. So when it comes to controversial news and events or smaller events, like that of Adichie’s roommate, we have to read many stories to fit together to see the bigger picture.
   Let’s take Adichie and her African roommate for example. Coming into college, she was curious about the challenges of her culture and adapting to America. She asked her things about her cultural music and how she learned English or who taught her. She was looking at Africa’s single story and how America and media painted the picture for that culture. We continue to watch those depressing advertisements or public service announces that always feature poor little African children that are sad. Those children need food, water and, in worse cases, families. Dirt everywhere and huts; that’s how we Americans would see Africa. Dirty, poor and tribal but with beautiful safaris. That’s the single picture that we always assume. The single story that doesn’t help at all except to make assumptions and focus at that single point of view. That point of view that doesn’t help paint the rest of the picture.

9. Living in the United States, we see one single story about the Middle East, Terrorism. When we hear news on terror, the terrorist are portrayed as Muslims or Middle Easterners. Giving an entire race of people one single story, the majority of Americans believed, until Malala.No longer when we looked at Middle easterners do we see terrorist, we saw Malala, this isn’t completely a good thing because all middle easterners are not like Malala Yousafzai. Though she gave us a different perspective, that education is something that Pakistanian girls fight for everyday and that there is something positive that can be associated with the middle easterners. Also that we should not associate terrorism with just one race, because in all actuality anyone can be a terrorist.
   “It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. 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 of them,” in this excerpt Adichie depicts her childhood house hand who she only knew as poor. It was hard for her to imagine him, or his family, as anything more than poor. We cannot shame people for being unaware, when they have only been exposed to a limited view of a race of people. These views and stereotypes that we have are only part of the story. It is crucial that we not judge others by the things that we hear on the news and we actually try to learn more about cultures and religion that vary for our own.

10. So the first time I posted it, it merged as one paragraph so:

    Living in the United States, we see one single story about the Middle East, Terrorism. When we hear news on terror, the terrorist are portrayed as Muslims or Middle Easterners. Giving an entire race of people one single story, the majority of Americans believed, until Malala.No longer when we looked at Middle easterners do we see terrorist, we saw Malala, this isn’t completely a good thing because all middle easterners are not like Malala Yousafzai. Though she gave us a different perspective, that education is something that Pakistanian girls fight for everyday and that there is something positive that can be associated with the middle easterners. Also that we should not associate terrorism with just one race, because in all actuality anyone can be a terrorist.

    “It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something. 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 of them,” in this excerpt Adichie depicts her childhood house hand who she only knew as poor. It was hard for her to imagine him, or his family, as anything more than poor. We cannot shame people for being unaware, when they have only been exposed to a limited view of a race of people. These views and stereotypes that we have are only part of the story. It is crucial that we not judge others by the things that we hear on the news and we actually try to learn more about cultures and religion that vary for our own.

11. I found Adichie’s ideas extremely interesting and eye-opening. I believe that more people should be required to listen to this speech because it can have a large impact on the way we look at small stories. Some small stories may seem exactly as they sound, small, but they can have a large impact on the way a person lives and reacts to certain things. Adichie did a very well job explaining that people must be willing to look past where someone comes from and allow them to become their own person. We must not criticize someone for being from a bad background, because they may be an amazing person that just had a terrible past. People must be willing to look beyond the small things to reach the larger and more important things.
    A significant small story that has occurred recently is the travel ban that was enacted by President Donald Trump, prohibiting all Muslims from entering the United States of America. This travel ban was meant to be enacted to prevent terrorists from entering America, however what it implied to many people was a ban against a specific race. This ban is irrational to many people because not all Muslims are terrorists. Some people were simply trying to come home to their families, or get away from terrible circumstances that were occurring in their home country. The travel ban allowed people to put a target on an entire race. The attacks on September 11, 2001 was conducted by men that were from Muslim culture. The attacks changed the world, people started looking at other people that were of Muslim culture, differently. Since most terroristic groups that have harmed America were Muslim, many Americans think that all Muslims are terrorists. Many of us, as human beings, are guilty of judging people by the way they look. After the multiple terrorist’s attacks on America, there are many people that when they see a man wearing a turban or a woman wearing a burqa, they become uncomfortable or may just walk the other way. This is a hurtful stereotype towards the religion and the person. For example, if a Muslim mom was walking her child in the park and another mom would not let her child play with the Muslim child, how is the Muslim mother expected to explain this to her innocent child? The travel ban has enforced these racism acts greatly, it is not banning terrorists, it is banning children, parents, grandparents and so on.

12. If the Press Secretary of the U.S told us that there was a drastic decline in Southwest Border Apprehensions, many of us would be cheerful of the fact. In the first 100 days of Trump’s reign in office, he falls second only to FDR, for the most dynamic and evolving start. A lot of small details have been tweaked to suit President Trump’s liking, but this is a major revision for our country, the ramifications of it affect many harmless civilians. A 64% decrease in illegal immigration, from this time last year, is great news for our country, but this is what Chimamanda Adichie would call, “The dangers of a single story”. This only portrays one viewpoint, there are consequences that proceeded President Trumps strict notion on immigration as a whole, not only for illegals but also legal refugees. Many refugees are trying to come to America as a scapegoat to the horrors they face at home. Not only is it nearly impossible now for these helpless immigrants to come into the U.S, the ones that are here with us, are at risk of being deported and separated from their families. The single-story gave from the Press Secretary on Immigration, never mentioned this side of the story. We must as a country go through “a mutual shift in our perception of literature”, as Adichie would say, looking at this single story affects innocent helpless people.

    Nobody would give a second glance at to the U.S court battles that are occurring, blocking Trump’s efforts to suspend the U.S refugee program. Some may just look at these court proceeding and think they are far-fetched, but with a significant decline of accepted refugees allowed in our country, from nearly 10,000 a month to just 2,070, it raises questions on the President. Our single story tells us that the President has discouraged illegal immigration, and yes he has, but you must look at the other have of the story. His actions have affected the refuges that are trying to escape a war zone, trying to reunite themselves with loved ones in America, all taken away by the President’s strict views on immigration. Families are being torn apart and separated, forced to go across the sea because of the White House’s actions, but the story the House told you gave never gave light on these issues. Our President and cabinet members have filled our minds with a single story, and “the problem is not that this is untrue, but that it is incomplete”, as Adichie would say. This is a real-world problem, its ramifications could be life or death for many refugees, and it is up to us to shed light to our society that looking at a single story causes more harm than good.

13. In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech she discusses the dangers of a single story. She says that if people are shown a single story and only that story, that is what becomes true. Adichie talks about growing up in Nigeria and how the only books she read as a child were British and American children’s books. So when she wrote stories her characters were typically white with blue eyes, but when she discovered African books it changed the way she wrote her stories. Adichie also mentions stereotypes and says, “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.” She talks about her roommate in college and how it surprised her that Adichie knew how to speak English. Her roommate also assumed that she didn’t know how to use a stove. Adichie felt patronized, but she also says that there was this level of pity her roommate felt for her. This is because her roommate had a single story about Africa. This is what Adichie is trying to warn us about. If we hear a single story about another person or county we begin to misunderstand them.
    I would like to relate Adichie’s speech to the misunderstanding about illegal Mexicans in the United States. There has been an ongoing controversy about how Donald Trump intends to build a wall that will divide the United States and Mexico. His reason for doing this is because he thinks that all Mexicans are criminals who brings drugs to the US. But is this really true? I don’t think it’s fair to say that about Mexicans. A lot of Mexicans come to the United States for work so they can provide for their families. Sure there are some who come here and continue their criminal acts, but it’s not right to say that they’re ALL doing it. Unfortunately this is the single story that is being told to us, and the more we hear this the more we will believe it.

14. When people hear stories from the ‘Countries’ like Africa, they assume its based off of poverty and poor people. People always will reference Africa and immediately state that “It was in a small, poor village.” It’s basically a stereotype. People assume that a story that is being told is going to be about Africans being poor. People only see one side of a story. When Adichie said that her roommate was surprised that she spoke English so well, she assumed that Africans did not know how to speak and write in English. Just because someone was not from the U.S., people assume that they are worse off than “Americans”. Adichie brought up that her friend asked to hear her ‘Tribal music’, which was then shown to be a Mariah Carey playlist. That was a perfect example when there is more than one side of a story. Adichie’s roommate assumed that her music was basically ‘out of the ordinary’, where in reality, it was the same as the roommates style of music.
    A controversy that I can relate this topic to is about Trumps immigrations status. Most Americans, myself included, have tunnel vision when immigration comes into play. People assume things. Things assumed can be that all Mexicans in the U.S., are illegal and are not citizens. You never know a person’s story until one is told about it. People hear something, and stick to it. They don’t face the facts or even listen to them. Different cultural views are considered when people of other races or ethnicities are brought up. The stereotypes of these views are what is brought up. As humans, we are all guilty when it comes to the fact that there can be a different side to every story.

15. As Adichie states, the truth is that “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.” During the 1950’s, the segregation between blacks and whites was taken place throughout all of America. Towards the end of segregation in the early to mid- 1960’s, there was a lot of resistance in the southern states. Many laws were put in to place to put an end to this civil rights issue. My picture chosen, is of a young African American girl probably around the age of sixteen walking down the street holding books in her hand. During the time this picture was taken, nine African American students, including the young girl (Elizabeth Eckford), were being moved in to an all-white high school. Surrounded by her like a swarm of bees are white teenagers with one white girl. In particular, one has her mouth wide open as if she is screaming at the top of her lungs. From obvious contact clues one can infer from viewing this picture, is that there is a lot of hatred for this African American girl. This picture in today’s society would make someone very uncomfortable, but back then during this time, this would be acceptable.

    The stories that are there but do not get told is how that young African American girl felt during the time of when this picture was taken. Maybe being the center of attention was something that this young girl did not want, but her parents were forcing her for the sake of her getting a better education. The attention drawn with this situation was possibly unattended, but you would not know that by looking at this picture. This is so important because there is so much going on in this picture, but you wouldn’t know that by just looking at this photo. Looking through the lenses of this situation in the 1960’s, one might conclude that it is all the black girl’s fought and the white people would think she is the reason for all this turmoil. Changing the lens one hundred and eighty and seeing it through a black person’s point of view they would feel outraged for how this young girl is getting portrayed by the media. The most important omission in this picture is the segregation between the races of black and white people. Through Adichie’s view of a single story, this picture is a prime example of racism.

16. Taylor Patterson
    Blog post
    10-22-17

    I would first like to say that a lot of society looks at certain places on how the media depicts it and what we can only see, when we think about Mexico we think about the drug cartel and how immigrants always want to come to the the us. When we think about Africa we think about them being poor, starvation, life conditions are horrible, but in all fairness they are both beautiful places. There are other places and in Africa and Mexico that are not terrible, there are other places on the other hand that are but even living in New Jersey there’s places I wouldn’t want to go, that doesn’t make my state terrible.
    In the video she states how when she arrived in the United States, things were very different. She stated how here roommates treated her very different by asking her multiple questions. She was asked about what her living conditions were, what music she listened to and if she knew how to work certain appliances, personally I think the roommate just didn’t know, and she tried to be friendly and curious at the same time. It’s not so easy now a days to make friends with people. I believe that Adichie made some really good points in her speech and I believe more people should listen to it.

    Watching the news lately a small story has occurred of trump making the travel band of all immigrants. The reason a lot of immigrants come to America is to get away from their living conditions. When you live in an area to which is unsafe for your children you are going to want to leave to better their lives. They come here to find work and to have better benefits so they can have the medical attention they need. When trump says that all immigrants need to go back to where they came from, where is it do they really have to go? Syria was destroyed and people were dying day in and day out. They didn’t want to come here, they wanted safe places to go while this tragedy took place but when Obama was president he did not provide them with that. Maybe If things were better where the immigrants lived we wouldn’t have so many and putting a wall up isn’t going to help. You are separating certain people for what reason, the work isn’t going to get any better, people are still going to get in, we’re going to waste all this money for another failed project. Not all Muslims are terrorist and the people who are not terrorist didn’t ask to live this way. Instead of kicking everyone out, why not solve the problem?

    We as Americans and people are going to judge, a personal experience that I did myself, I recently traveled to Italy over the summer to play softball and while I was traveling I was scanning the airport. When you would ask me for who? I would say anyone suspicious, but I was looking for the man wearing the turban or the women dressed in black with nothing but a small piece of her face showing, It saddens me that I did that, but as a society and what the news shows that was normal behavior, but I don’t want it to be my normal. It’s sad that our country was attacked on 9/11 and I will never forget that day, even though I was 2 I will always know. Just because there is bad in the world doesn’t mean everyone is just as terrible. Racism is an issue and I believe always will be, clearly things have changed but there is always going to be a race war and she shows this in her speech. I think that this speech opened my eyes and I would recommend more people to read it.

17. In our society these days a “single story” can have a big impact on how we look at a situation. “Single stories” generalizes a group of people although individually they are different. In order to understand the story we need an unbiased side where we can form our own opinion. If the story is leaning more towards one side, majority of the people will lean that same way with out getting all the information. While watching Adichie’s speech I understood that we form thoughts around what we are told. Adichie read books of white and blonde people therefore she wrote stories about white and blond people. What we are taught affects how we think individually. Adichie was also personally affected by this when she had gone to college in the United States and was question by her roommate about “tribal music”.
    In recent events, Trump has decided to build a wall on the mexico border to keep out immigrants and states that mexico is going to pay for it. Although in the news I have heard mexico will indeed not be paying for it, Trump is saying false information that is leading people to believe this is the truth.

18. Aaron Perez
    Ms. Adichie explained how “single stories” can alter a person’s view on specific things. Single stories are terrible because they are extremely stereotypical. They make it seem as if specific places are placed under one title. A great example of this is Africa and how the media portrays it to be made up of poor towns, poor people and poor living conditions. The media tells the world that African kids are all skinny and barely eat. Although this may be true in some parts of Africa, it makes it seem as if the whole “country” is down and out. In some parts of Africa I am sure that there are starving children but that is everywhere in the world.
    In the world of politics, a story that is involved with the Trump Era is the whole immigration ordeal. By Trump speaking bad about Mexicans, this could affect the way many see Mexicans. By Trump saying that they’re a bunch of drug dealers and border hoppers, it makes everyone think that that is all they do. This is 100% false but because his dumbass said that to the public, many have followed in his footsteps and began to believe what he speaks. Although there are some Mexicans that hop the border and there are some who sell drugs, it is still very stereotypical to only place them under those categories. Many Mexicans that hop the border are mainly looking for a better life for them and their families. I believe Ms. Adichie did a great job of expressing her feelings towards the “single story” effect through her own personal experiences of her “tribal music” and Fide, her old houseboy. I suggest that everyone watch and listen to this incredible speech. It is really an eye-opener to what we actually hear on a daily basis of specific places, things, and people.

19. I thoroughly enjoyed Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk because of its relatability. Yes, nothing can be summed up into a single story, but additionally, it takes more than two stories to depict something accurately. To begin with, let’s look at three important historical figures we have talked about recently, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr., and Christopher Columbus. I am pretty positive that until last Friday’s class, most people imagined Jesus as the ones that Western Europe placed in our minds. To be frank, I did not think that there were so many different depictions of Jesus (each one was created to look identifiable and familiar to an ethnic group). Almost the same can be said for MLK Jr. and Christopher Columbus. Up until several years back, I had always learned that Christopher Columbus was a hero for discovering America. But as Adichie says, “[As children we are] impressionable and vulnerable…in the face of a story.” Since I learned that Columbus was a hero as a kid, I immediately believed in it and questioned whoever objected to the thought of Columbus not as a hero. This is pretty similar to how I was taught about MLK Jr. He was presented as a Messiah figure and the center of the Civil Rights Movement. Up until Friday’s class I had heard maybe only two of his many famous speeches (I have a Dream and Mountaintop). I knew that he was a controversial figure but never knew about his speeches against the Vietnam War and other things that classified him as a moderate. If I had been stuck with the one story, I would always have imagined Jesus as white and tall and looking like a very holy figure, I would see Christopher Columbus as a hero deserving of his national holiday, and see Martin Luther King Jr. as a saint that seemed too good to be true. Having the basis of one story constricts and condenses our brains into accepting the teachings of that story, rather than look beyond it and think critically and constructively. I tried to locate a foreign perspective on a foreign topic and I found an Aljazeera article discussing the implications of assassinating Kim Jong-un. This made me think of how we perceive Kim Jong-un in general. The media makes us hate him with a passion and to be fair, he is a dictator comparable to the likes of Stalin and Hitler. I once watched a YouTube video listing 10 everyday things or activities that are banned in North Korea and the list of things really shocked me. With this singular view of him, imposed by the media, we see him as a figure “as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again,” that should be assassinated, but I can’t help but think that he is not 100% malicious. Kim’s evil side may outweigh his nice side by a ton, but there is always good in a person no matter how small that may be (Hitler absolutely adored Disney). Here is a link for the article: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/assassinating-kim-jung-wrong-171020080046237.html
    It is important to consider every point of an issue or topic of discussion and try not to make too many assumptions when meeting someone (when Adichie met her roommate she had to explain why she knew English so well and had to explain that she listened to the same music as her roommate did, unlike the “tribal music” her roommate thought she listened to). I personally was surprised to learn that Nigeria’s official language was English. As Adichie stated, she was “just as guilty in the question of the single story” and talked about her visit to Mexico. We need to be better people to overlook what the news and media tell us, in order to understand the truth more. By thinking critically, we can choose to accept more than one or even two stories about something because, we live in a complex world that always involves more than two sides. I will end this post with an analogy. It takes 3 points to create the simplest of two-dimensional shapes, the triangle and at 2 dimensions, the only story you know is up, down, left and right. You do not realize that there is a whole other dimension above you, depth. At 4 points you can finally craft a tetrahedron, seemingly the simplest 3-D figure. All I am trying to say is that every person, place, idea, object, etc., is intricate. By developing your own understanding, rather than accept someone else’s you can better understand the universe as a whole.

20. Adichie’s definition of a single story is a story, news, articles or anything informing people with naive views. Sometimes they’re unintentional and sometimes these singles stories are intentional. These stories create stereotypes and develop how a culture or a group of people is perceived. In my comment to this blog I will be talking about colonization in the Middle East, particularly in Algeria.

    In the early 19th century, France colonized Algeria. The French’s purpose to colonize Algeria was to help “modernize,” but the French just wanted Algerian resources, such as wheat. The French in the Algerian colony, made “single stories”. These single stories were propaganda. They made life in the colonies look easy. They even try to recruit colonial soldier to help colonies countries in the Middle East, such as Algeria. You can literally search up “French propaganda colonial soldier” on google and will see posters that were established in France. Also French painters and other artist developed a single story of Algerian women. Algerian women were sexualized and depicted as whores to the French and Europeans through painting and post cards. For instance, a painting of a women laying across a couch showing her ankles and spreading her legs by Auguste Pierre Renoir was like porn in the 19th century. These paintings and post cards of women attracted men in the European countries to come to the Middle East to help colonize.These single stories created stereotypes which were false. Most Middle eastern women have a different lifestyle than what they were shown as.

    These singles stories shape a single view which can last forever but can change for the good or bad. Today the Middle East faces terrorist stereotypes due to the political and religious conflicts in the region, which heavily is influenced by the U.S [majority unintentionally (media of 9/11 and assumption of terrorist attacks when a mas murder occurs in the U.S.)]. In the recent years, people have recognized islamophobia as an issue and there are now different stories advocating this matter as an issue destroying this story as a single.

21. Blog Post #2

    The stories and points that Adichie brought to the attention of her readers really opened my eyes. I have lived in this country for 18 years, and these large issues that she discussed have always been present but never this prominent. When she talks about how her roommate only had one story about Africa, I believe she was getting at the point of that the media creates this single image of one place and they carry it with them until their is something to change that perspective. This makes sense in the current world because it happens everywhere. Race may be the biggest carrier of this issue but there are other issues that have this same thing going on.
    An article I read talked about how President Trump is upset with the NFL for not punishing the athletes who refuse to stand for the National Anthem. Before I listened to what Adichie had to say, I thought that the kneeling was rude but I did not think of it to be a huge deal or something that should be this blown up. After listening to what Adichie had to say, my eyes were opened to see how it makes perfect sense why people are not standing. I think this because her main point was many people have just “one story” for a place that has millions of stories. And in this case, America has one “‘story” or image for someone who does not look like the average American. Trump is against them kneeling for the main reason that he thinks he is doing great things for everyone when really he is just getting rid of people who do not fit into his image of American. So going back to Adichie’s point, having one story for one place is not fair. You must dig deeper to find the real stories behind all of the places that Trump wants to block out and all of the places that the kneeling stands up for.

22. An ongoing issue within the Trump Administration is that of immigration and what to do with all the Mexican immigrants who flood over the border everyday, clawing their way into our country from their terrible one, filling it up with unwanted, freeloading people who take jobs away from the rightful citizens and how a wall must be built to stop this invasion. This is the common perception of illegal immigration in the United States, as Adichie says, this is a “single story”. Immersed in purely American culture and propaganda it would be easy to see reason why we must build a wall to keep all these terrible, poor Mexicans out, yet American culture is neither the only, nor always the right culture. When looking at the subject of immigration from an educated perspective, the blinders fall away. Yes, Mexico is the source of many illegal immigrants, we share a large border, it is easy to cross. Yet, is equally easy to come into Mexico from another nation and then into the US, as is it easy to see all the other immigrants who enter our nation, albeit mostly legally. Illegal immigrants often find work in construction, repairs, or sanitation and yes, these are American jobs, yet Americans are not the ones who want to fill them. These men, women, and children who cross our borders simply take what is available for work, it is not their fault we left these jobs open. Building a wall, might indeed stop the majority of illegal immigrants from Mexico, but that wall will have to be tall, sturdy, and manned by guards, all of which is exceedingly expensive and, despite popular belief, Mexico is not going to pay for it.

    This image of illegal immigration is often viewed as a “single story” of poor Mexicans living in poverty, desperate to escape to the US, and yet the centuries of Mexico’s history and its people’s culture are often ignored. Thus, a stereotype is born. Immigrant Mexicans are not the only Mexicans, and not all immigrants are even Mexican to begin with. Taking the blinders off to see the whole truth is an important step to opening up our eyes to the stories missing from our thoughts. What is the real tragedy, is that most people are not aware of these blinders in the first place, so immersed in their single stories as they are, unwilling to see any other truth but the one truth they have been told, the one story repeated over and over again until it blots out any other opinion, tucking it neatly away as an irregular minority. Single stories do not only affect our private ideas but our actions as well, our votes, our politics, our money. Single stories voted Trump as president, the majority’s belief that he is the answer to the specific problems he mentioned in his campaign. Single stories elect all our presidents, we would never reach an agreement if we all heard different kinds of stories, just look at the Democrats and the Republicans, they can never get anything done and they only heard two… or is that the problem?

    Blame cannot be placed solely on Adichie’s single story idea for blinding us, as a nation, as a world, to the larger truth. To know the other stories, responsibility lay with the people to be willing to see them, to go a step farther and look for them might be asking too much for too many, so all I ask is that when a story falls on a society members lap, is held up before their very eyes, is that it is not turned aside and tucked away into a corner for not fitting into a neat definition but that instead it is expanded upon. Adichie said in her talk that to kill single stories, the world must essentially be filled with stories, but that only works if the people in it are willing to read them.

23. After listening to Adichie’s speech, I was very touched on the personal stories she had told. She did an amazing job with identifying the “single story” aspect that is not only relevant in today’s world, but as a child growing up in Nigeria and connecting it to her life. Although her speech was only about 20 minutes, I feel as if my views have changed on stereotypes because no one knows the real story of who someone is and where they have came from except for themselves. In addition, she discusses stereotypes. Stereotypes are often deemed as negative and can often be misleading. Adichie portrays an example of this when she talks about her friend Fide and his family. 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 of them”. All in all, Adichie knew nothing about this family except that they were poor because that is what she was told by her family. However, it turns out that yes Fide’s family was poor, but hardworking individuals as well.

    Someone who I can relate this topic too that praises stereotypes galore is President Trump. God bless us all. Trump is someone who basis their opinion of others based on a group and not the individuals themselves. He does this with Mexicans specifically because of the immigration status. Not only does Trump heavily believe that every single Mexican is an illegal immigrant in the United States, but he assumes that every Mexican is a drug dealer, poor, etc. who are making America a crappy please when in reality Trump is the only person running America downhill. He also stereotypes Muslims and Middle Easterners who just like Mexicans, are trying to provide that “American Dream” for their families and turn their lives around. Muslims are stereotyped as being “terrorists” and what not which is obviously the only thing that we know about them. Adichie tells us about her American roommate and how “she asked if she could listen to what she called my ‘tribal music’, and was consequently very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey”. Her roommate had assumed that since Adichie was African, that all she knew was tribal music when in reality, that was the implied stereotype. I think that it is only fair to know the background of someone’s story first before having a single thought of judging them. However, I do not think that the stereotypes and judging will ever stop.

24. After listening to Chimamanda Adichie’s speech on “single stories” I felt that I could relate to today’s world. Adichie explains her journey through life on how she has been effected by a “single story” and how she was even caught herself using a “single story” for someone else. Adichie’s definition of a “single story” is when you hear a version of someone or some place and believe that is the one and only truth. These stories can be seen as stereotypes, with Adichie growing up in Nigeria she was effect by the stereotype that her college roommate had from her living in Nigeria. She asked her to hear her kind of music or even surprised that she knew how to use a stove. When in all reality Adichie wasn’t really different from her roommate at all.
    In today’s world, one of the very debatable topic related to our President Trump, is how he would like to build a wall to stop the amount of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Our “single story” of this topic is that all Mexicans are illegal immigrants because they came from Mexico. When really that’s just one side of the story, there are many people from Mexico who do go through the long and hard process to become a legal citizen in American and are being stereotype from where they are from. Adichie even touched on this topic in a way too. She talked how Mexico is just a place where people are sneaking over the border, fleecing the health care system, and being arrested at the border. The sad thing is that these “single stories” will never go away, but it is our job to take the “single story” and find the other half of it too

Comments are closed.