Part One: Ted Talk
1. According to Adichie the problem with a single story is that it can lead us to make false assumptions and encourage untrue stereotypes. The context of a single story can prevent us from forming more complex views.
2. "Nkali" is a noun that refers to power. Adichie thinks that through power people are able to encourage stereotypes. Adichie things that Nkali helps to play into the narrow mindedness and false stereotypes people in the western believe.
3. I think that the most important thing I will take away from this TED Talk is the importance of being open to other perspectives and receiving information, especially when it is a topic you don't know much about.
Part Two: The Coming of John
1. John Jones a black man, lives a difficult life due to discrimination. He is discriminated against at school, in public, and even at home now that he is educated. Jones was never handed the opportunity to go to school he had to work very hard for everything he had. John Henderson a white man lives a very privileged life. He earns respect through his father, and has always had any opportunity he wanted.
2. I think that DuBois chose to write this as a fictional story, because if the story was written based off of a real story it would be too persona. At the time the book was written a true story could have made people mad or uncomfortable, by writing it as a nonfiction DuBois successfully shares realistic black stories, and helps to influence change through white readers.
3. John Jones views education as a privilege, and hoping to use his education not only to better his own life, but to help better the lives of other black individuals. Jones becomes defeated by education, it was really hard for him to keep up loath his white classmates. Education helped Jones to see just how bad the inequalities are. While John is at school he learns about all of the stereotypes white people have formed. When John returns hoe he can't help but notice them as well, Jones also struggles to fit in once he returned to his home town.
I think that education can change a person. In school you develop many critical thinking skills, and are also exposed to a lot of different people. Education also helps you to learn to interpret other people's stories better, and can also help to change your views in a negative or positive way.
4. Adichie talks about the problem with a single story. She states that it can make you narrow minded and can lead you to believe in discriminatory stereotypes. DuBois writes his story with two different perspective, that of a black man and that of a white man. By writing about two different stories DuBois is able to make a compelling point about discrimination and stereotypes. Both Adichie and DuBois believe that stories are best understood and interpreted when they represent more people in a truthful manner.
5. I chose to learn about what life was like during Jim Crow. I watched this video that gave a brief overview of daily life for African Americans during segregation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wY-ZZogyJo
One of the things that stood out to me was that African Americans had to have separate graveyards than whites. This just goes to show how unnecessarily extreme segregation was. The lady in the video uses the segregation of hospitals and cemeteries to make the point that "everything was segregated form lift death". She still talks about how African Americans lived happy lives outside of segregation, but that in public they lived lives of fear. It made me sad to learn that children always had a moment of realization when they finally learned what segregation was. Learning about these expense is heartbreaking but necessary in order to ensure that we continue to move forward as a society.
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