NYSTC Equity Challenge-Week 1

Stretching Our Thinking

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  • Last updated October 28, 2021 at 4:00 AM
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Choose one of the options. Tell which option you chose and describe something that resonated with you from that selection.

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The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda tells a story that not all of us can understand.  We only know what we see and when you only see things as the way they are over and over again you believe it to be true.  The fact that she wrote a story about her "authentic self" gives her the ability to tell her truth.  She grew up reading American and British children's books.  She saw the characters unlike her--white with blue eyes.  She believes and lets us understand that no single story makes us who we are.  We need to broaden our horizons and learn of all the stories that lie outside our world.  We need to hear those stories.  She tells us that there are many stories that are stereotyped and she wants us not to make one story the only story. 
diane-kain Almost 4 years ago

The Danger of a Single Story

I chose “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  I love this story.  It brings a new perspective on what identity is and how we not only identify with other people, but how stereotypes influence how we identify other people.  “What struck me was this: She had felt sorry for me even before she saw me. Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning pity. My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals.”  Stereotypes like these are pervasive in American thinking.  Our education in America is lacking in basic cultural knowledge, and our news stations rarely cover anything about Africa above war and famine.  We should be taught about the different socio/economical areas in Africa so we don’t have a single story about people from Africa being all poor.  Our news stations and newspapers need to run more stories covering all the different aspects of Africa so we can have more than just a single story of Africa. People on a whole have more similarities than differences, but we need to make an effort to learn about other cultures so we can identify with others instead of just picking out our differences.
cpiazza About 4 years ago