Topic > Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gives an amazing speech on the “Dangers of a Single Speech”. He opens his speech by stating that he read British-American children's books that always told of blue-eyed children growing up on a white picket fence with a relatively "good" life. As the years passed, Adichie began reading texts by African writers, who were less easily accessible, who noticed that girls who mirrored her still had a position in literature. This revelation shook the opinions he had developed simply by understanding a simple narrative. Society can rely on misconceptions about a group of people based on what they are exposed to. Society interprets these misconceptions from a perspective it has always been given, without considering the entire story. “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are false, but that they are incomplete. They make a story become the only story.” Nowadays, there are still “single stories” when it comes to groups of people such as African Americans, Mexicans, Muslims, the poor, and many others. Society does not recognize its ignorance towards these groups of people and denies that there is more than a single story to them. Chimamanda's purpose is not to scold his listeners for lack of conscience; wants to convey that these particular misinterpretations are still prevalent in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One misconception still prevalent in today's society concerns the African American woman in America. The media portrays Black women with this “one story” a lot of the time. Black women have this ingrained perception of being loud, overly assertive, sexual, overly independent, bad attitudes, angry, and bossy. As a result, it makes African American women uncomfortable who have to meet counterparts of other races because other races rely on these stereotypes that all Black women are equal. Although this may be the case for some black women as it is for every race of women. An article titled "Black Womanhood: 'Essence' and Its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women" talks about Essence magazine providing images that contribute to stereotypes of the Black woman. Jennifer Woodward says, “The next image is that of the matriarch. It represents the image of the black woman as a mother within the black home. The Moynihan Report of the 1960s solidified this image in the minds of many Americans with the image of a controlling, emasculating black woman dictating both her children and her man their place in her home.”. Woodward explains in the article that presenting African American women as matriarchs encourages the elite to blame black women for the performance or loss of black children. Elite's white male perspective indicates that there is a lack of love and treatment of black children. Black women are also enigmatic and complex and have another side that most writers don't talk about. Issa Rae wrote a book called The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl in 2015. This book is about a black woman who did not fit the common false stereotypes of a black woman. Issa was the opposite of all stereotypes and occasionally felt she wasn't "black" enough. The character in this book was shy, timid, artistic, silly, meek, unrhythmic, and extremely clumsy. Issa Rae wrote about the struggles and upbringing of a black woman seeking her way in the world and ultimately finding her superpowers simply by recognizing who she is. This detracted.