Chimamanda's A Single Story
I received a link to Chimamanda's talk on "A Single Story" from a friend. He said he'd found it inspiring. It was that and also mostly brought home to me the value of "exposure". We Nigerians like to use that word and I was quite impressed that Chimamanda did not once use it!
When we Nigerians say a person is not "exposed" (what is the person, a roll of film that, mind you, failed to develop?) we usually mean that the person is limited in experience of the world and is unaware of sociological nuances that are important tools in the repertoire of any person who wishes to "make it" in our world! Chimamanda's talk brought to light the fact that not only Nigerians can be a faulty roll of film - "unexposed"!
Americans (Northern) have always driven me crazy with the way they assume that Africa is a country and that English is a language spoken only by white people. They are not to blame as they only know what they have been told and shown by their media. I was amused that Chimamanda used the same line I use when faced with the ignorant white Americans - are all white American males serial killers with bodies buried in their lovely, luscious gardens (now we know why their flowers do so well!)?
An immigration officer (in Seattle, Washington) told me that because I was Nigerian and female, I had to have gari and other such food items in my bag and my husband's wealth had to be from dodgy means (419 perhaps?). I simply smiled and told him that based on his logic, he, being American, white and a male between 27 and 45 years must be a serial killer and that this being America, I needed to be very worried about my safety since there were gang wars everywhere and drive-by shootings were the norm. He was horrified and said that was not true. I calmly insisted it must be. He said the vast majority of Americans were peaceful and law abiding and that these criminals made up less than 3% of their population. I simply kept mum and stared at him. Then, after a few seconds, he got it. He only had a single story about Nigerians. If I were not "exposed" like he was, I would have believed that American males were that way.
Chimamanda's "A Single Story" should be our guide to "exposure". Let us do away with stereotypes - they are the results of "single stories".
When we Nigerians say a person is not "exposed" (what is the person, a roll of film that, mind you, failed to develop?) we usually mean that the person is limited in experience of the world and is unaware of sociological nuances that are important tools in the repertoire of any person who wishes to "make it" in our world! Chimamanda's talk brought to light the fact that not only Nigerians can be a faulty roll of film - "unexposed"!
Americans (Northern) have always driven me crazy with the way they assume that Africa is a country and that English is a language spoken only by white people. They are not to blame as they only know what they have been told and shown by their media. I was amused that Chimamanda used the same line I use when faced with the ignorant white Americans - are all white American males serial killers with bodies buried in their lovely, luscious gardens (now we know why their flowers do so well!)?
An immigration officer (in Seattle, Washington) told me that because I was Nigerian and female, I had to have gari and other such food items in my bag and my husband's wealth had to be from dodgy means (419 perhaps?). I simply smiled and told him that based on his logic, he, being American, white and a male between 27 and 45 years must be a serial killer and that this being America, I needed to be very worried about my safety since there were gang wars everywhere and drive-by shootings were the norm. He was horrified and said that was not true. I calmly insisted it must be. He said the vast majority of Americans were peaceful and law abiding and that these criminals made up less than 3% of their population. I simply kept mum and stared at him. Then, after a few seconds, he got it. He only had a single story about Nigerians. If I were not "exposed" like he was, I would have believed that American males were that way.
Chimamanda's "A Single Story" should be our guide to "exposure". Let us do away with stereotypes - they are the results of "single stories".
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