Danger of a Single Story

Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Ngozi’s TED Talk is an example of her story about her encounters with others who had their own stories. She covers the problems that happen when people have one story and one type of story. She used so many example that explain how one story or experience you have cannot be the only one you open your mind to. She explain the danger of reading one type of book. How from those books she only believed that blond haired, blue eyed, English people existed in stories. These stories closed her mind to the many types of people there are as well as that there are more people like her. This is something that took me almost to college to really experience. I had two people of color in my entire high school, though I had read and know of the many other cultures that exist, it wasn’t until college in the south that I experience communities different then my own. This video was another reminder to never use the experiences and stories I’ve heard to categorize new people who I meet. This has been something I was able to start practicing in college but something that I will continue as a teacher. Everyone has their own story specific to them, No story I hear will be the same for someone else. It is important that I understand that everyone student has their own story. That I don’t assume something because how they look, how they talk, or where they have come from. This topic is very similar to the discussion I have in my anthropology course. We take a look into other cultures but we are always reminded that no matter how much reading and studying you do there is no way to understand a culture or someone’s life unless you are immersed in their lifestyle and culture. It is important to know students have their own life story but it is also important to teach them of other’s stories. So that they are not closed minded by their own experience and they are aware of the dangers of a single story.