By: Sally Idehan
From as far back as the Colonial Era, and even after colonization , what we might now call the neocolonial era, Africa and Africans have been and are still being presented or looked at in a derogatory way; their worth, value and importance remains questioned. This paper will therefore focus on the dangers as well as the effects of having a single sided story exist about a person, tribe or nation. This paper will also look at the negative stereotypes associated with people of color, especially Africans residing in Africa as well as Africans in Diaspora. In addition, a brief description of about another group of people, the African Americans, who originally are decended from Africa; African born Americans or Africa naturalized Americans. In the course of the work, references will be made to Chimamanda Adiche’s “The Danger of a Single Story,” "When They See Us,” a 2019 American drama, created, co-written and directed by Ava DuVerna and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Binyavanga Wainaina’s How To Write About Africa, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as well as other useful internet sources to back up my arguments and give volume and essence to the topic being discussed. In addition, reasons why it is imperative to do away with making judgments and or decisions equipped with nothing but a single idea, perception and perspective about anything, anyone and any situation will be the subject of emphasis. The paper also provide suggestions on how to create a different story of ourselves, what we need to do to make others see us in a more positive light, how we can move forward and measures we need to take to stop these negative stereotypes.
References:
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. ‘The Danger of a Single Story. TED Talk’. Retrieved From, 2009.
Wainaina, Binyavanga. “How to Write about Africa”. Kwani Trust Nairobi, 2008.
Achebe, Chinua. ‘An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness’. The
Massachusetts Review, vol. 57, no. 1, 2016, pp. 14–27.
Moore, Gene M. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Casebook. Oxford University Press on Demand, 2004.
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