Comparison Of Chimamanda 's Ted Talk On How Dangerous And Powerful A Single Story

the disastrous effects that colorism and racism can have on a whole culture and how African-

However, the media also plays a major role in promoting some negative effects and stereotypes in our society. A good example of stereotypes is the way African American males are described. The media normally depicts them negatively as violent, cruel, criminals as well as having other antisocial behavior that the causations don’t have. These negative representations of dark guys are promptly obvious and passed on to general society through the news bulletin, films, music features, realty TV and other programming and manifestations of media (Abraham & Appiah, 2006). As a result, the media has created a crooked and damaging perception of black African Americans in the public’s eye thus promoting hatred and racism which all affect the lives of the blacks (Holt, 2013). This

One controversial miss perceptions are black lives particularly black males in America. Viewed by a lot of people as thugs, gang bangers, and crooks, theses harsh and untrue things of what the majority of the population perceives. A group of individually regularly looked at and put under scrutiny, its people constantly put under a microscope if near the scene of any crime, or harassed verbally by authority figure. We must not let our perception of black males cause a divide and allow the stigmas that are attributed to them to instill fear and cause hatred in our nation.

When you look at the amount of African American stars on television, it is easy to tell that stereotypes of African Americans are being portrayed negatively. Since the 1960s, black television has thrived in many different ways. From “Different Matters” to “Insecure”, African Americans have tried to get rid of this stigma. African Americans are constantly shown as. However, with the increase of representation comes an increase in misrepresentation. The amount of discrimination has risen exponentially in the United States. This is due to the increased hatred and miscommunication of black struggle and black problems in the world, causing an inhumane belief and standard of regular African Americans in the world.

Although there has been a lot of progress made over the past years, there are currently many various problematic issues in this world that are contributed to by discriminatory behaviour and belief systems. Back in 2015, MTV’s White People had the goal of bringing notice to that. The writer of the film, Jose Antonio Vargas, wanted to show caucasians that race was not just an issue for those of color; it affects everyone. The idea for the documentary was  excellent, but feel short when delivered. Part of that could come from poor editing, MTV’s documentary history, or even just the lack of variation in those interviewed. This film could’ve been a really good conversation starter, but the entire thing just felt rushed and left me feeling disappointed.

In today’s society mass media has major influences on the beliefs/perceptions one may have on certain ethnicities or controversial topics. Media outlets have the power to shape certain situations and place people in an image that may not always be accurate. As stated in an article by Narissra M. Punyanunt-Carter, Communication research and theory suggest that the mass media is an important source of information about African Americans and media portrayals contribute to public perceptions of African Americans(2008). Further, it was mentioned that media outlets such as television may cause viewers to conceive, alter, or even reinforce their beliefs and opinions about African Americans ( Punyanunt- Carter, 2008). For Instance, in the Netflix documentary called “13th” Media outlets consistently used the word “Super predators” when describing the numerous African American men who were being arrested in the 80’s during the war on drugs era. The constant use of the word super predator can persuade viewers to believe that ALL African American men are super predators when that is not the case! Just because there are a few African Americans who are seen on Media outlets committing heinous crimes does not mean that all African Americans are criminals. As stated in a scholarly article by Tony Weaver, Media outlets create a narrative that portrays African Americans as lazy, violent individuals, who are prone to crime. The Misrepresentation of African Americans in media has

“I turn on the news each night and what do I see again and again? African Americans alleged to be killing, raping, mugging, stabbing, gangbanging, looting, rioting, selling drugs, pimping, ho-ing, having to many babies, dropping babies from tenement windows, fatherless, penniless, and Godless” (Moore 59). The media has devoted too much time and space perpetuating these negative views of African Americans and far too little time describing the background problems of African-American communities. “What is not a crisis is not usually reported and what is not or cannot be made visual is often not televised” (Racist America 154). The news media respond quickly and with keen interest to the conflicts and controversies of racial stories. For the most part, “they disregard the problems that seep beneath the surface until they erupt in the hot steam that is the live news story, ‘The suspect is a black male’ we’ve all seen it” (Racist America 154). The media has not studied important events in the African-American community today. Issues such as urbanization, education, and poverty, just to name a few that have and will continue to have a

Stereotypes of people, places, or things leave a large gap between the truth and what is known as the truth. In the speech "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Adichie, Adichie explains the dangers and importance of single stories. The use of her past experiences as evidence to explain the damage these stories can cause, both to the listener and the person, place, and/or topic of the stories gives power to her speech. The author’s

Racism, known as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” (Oxford, 2013) When an individual mentions the word ‘racism’ almost all the time it will be referred to a black individual, not white nor any other race, but black. Over the years racism has repeatedly occurred whether it was said or done; some showed racism by the words they used, while others presented it by the racist acts they committed. Racism towards the black community has not only been shown by other races, but also by individuals who were there to keep them ‘safe’. Very contradictory yet true, that a black man’s worst

The stereotypical misrepresentations of African-American women and men in popular culture have influenced societal views of Blacks for centuries. The typical stereotypes about Black women range from the smiling, asexual and often obese Mammy to the promiscuous Jezebel who lures men with her sexual charms. However, the loud, smart mouthed, neck-rolling Black welfare mother is the popular image on reality television. The typical stereotype about Black men is the violent, misogynistic thug, and the ever-enduring pimp. These images portrayed in media and popular culture createpowerful ideology about race and gender, which affects daily experiences of Black women in America. With few healthy relationships portrayed in the media, Black women

“The sensitivity around stereotypes and distortions largely arises, then, form the powerlessness of historically marginalized groups to control their own representation.” Since Black people are the minority, they have no control over how they are represented in the media. As Shothat had mentioned in his article, “In the media there is a tendency to represent Black males as potential delinquents.” The misrepresentation of most Black males, affects them significantly; therefore, since they

“Just Walk on By” by Brent Staples was about a successful young black male that was stereotyped for the color of his skin. Staples couldn’t even walk down the street without people clinching their purses or walking on the opposite side when they saw him coming. This is a clear example of what racial stereotyping is like in this country. So much that a prosperous writer and editor can be depicted as threatening and dangerous. There is a long history of racial stereotyping and discrimination against African Americans in this country. This originated in the American slavery days where whites created many racial stereotypes that still resonates today. Although better, there are still acts of stereotyping in the 21st century. From media scrutiny to racial profiling which more often than not leads to death, racial stereotyping is still at large. There are also many negative effects to stereotyping physically, mentally and emotionally. There is many researches that indicate stereotyping effects the ability to learn and influence ones self-assessment. It must be a way to eliminate the negative stereotyping against African Americans. In order to end racial stereotyping, we must start from the beginning and understand the effects it has on these certain groups.

On an everyday basis we tend to get sucked in on peoples “Single Stories” or these single stories are told about us, a story of a stereotype. For both Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Brent Staples that was the case. The Ted talk “The Danger of a Single Story”, and Brent Staples “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”, warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a huge misunderstanding of who that human really is. The effect of these fiction stories are so powerful that they can change the way we think, act, feel, and overall change the ways in which we navigate in our everyday day to day lives.

The population of the United States of America has been one of mixed race since its very beginning. Boatload upon boatload of enslaved Africans provided a labor force which would fuel the American South’s economy for many years, until national abolition and the subsequent civil rights movement created a primarily biracial population of blacks and whites. The US has come a long way since those days, and today every child born into the US is taught from an early age the evils of racism and the shameful actions committed by slave-owning US citizens in the past. From textbooks to televisions, the modern USA seemingly works tirelessly to teach its population that discrimination by race is wrong and that all races are equal. This has led to a great national complacence among whites, and a widespread belief that the US has mostly eradicated racial prejudices. But it is not so, and despite a population almost entirely composed of people who would not consider themselves racists, racism still pervades in the US. In many cases modern racism occurs at the hands of whites who almost absolutely are completely unaware of their discriminatory actions. In the films “Frozen River” and “The Visitor” racism was touched on repeatedly and played an evident part in the messages they were trying to portray.

From the TED Talk video “The Danger of a Single Story,” I think that the speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wanted to tell us that we need to read more and know different stories about one place because there are more than one story exist. We should not judge other without knowing themselves. Furthermore, she said that we should not easily believe everything we heard from media because they only give us one impression. I especially felt close to her when she described how she felt after she realized her American roommate teetered her as African not Nigerian. (4:13) Moreover, she had only a single story about Africa. (4:49) Those paragraph remind me when I was in college in New York, my American classmates did not know the differences between Japanese and Chinese or