In
Chimamanda Adiche' s " A Danger of a Single Story” she stated that
"She felt sorry for me even before she saw me, had default position
towards me as an African, was a patronizing well- meaning pity." Adiche
was making a point about how her college roommate had a single story about
Africans. She didn't think that Adiche knew how to use a stove and was shocked
to see how well- spoken Adiche was in English. This was all because Adiche' s
roommate had only been exposed to the single story of Africans.
While
listening to Adichie’s speech, I thought about how I have been a victim of a single
story. I can relate to what Adiche was saying about how her roommate didn’t think
she could speak well and thought that what is shown on TV is the only way that
Africans live. Since my parents were born and raised in Senegal, many people have
asked me if they lived in a village, didn’t have running water, and hunted wild
animals? None of these things were true. My parents were raised in middle class
African homes and didn’t have to struggle to get food.
Another
point that Adiche made that I can also relate to is the fact that so many
people think that Africa is a country. I was so glad to hear that she included
this in her speech because I had to education one of my friends who thought
that Africa was a country. Aside from that she also could have stated how some
people believe that Africans are Nigerian. I also had to explain to some people that
not all Africans are Nigerian and that there are many different countries in Africa.
The
point that Adiche made about her college roommate having a single story about
Africans led me to think about how the media's portrayal of Africans impacts people’s
judgment of how all Africans live. When Africa is shown on the television or on
the internet, all that is shown is people starving, people dying of infectious
diseases, and people running around naked trying to hunt animals. What isn’t
shown is how the majority of Africa is. Most of Africa is civilized and most Africans
aren’t dying from infectious diseases.
Why does the media only
portray a single side of places that are not considered to be on the western
side of the world?
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