Lethabo Kgofelo

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As i was watching the video "The Danger of A Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg?si=Ghif8O_zfxaUBT6g I became fully aware that I'm also guilty like Chimamanda's roommate as I use to think that the country Zimbabwe does not have any good qualities because of their bad governance.  The danger of a single story is a real thing as it gives you a bad perspective on something else. This also led to views such as stereotyping the people from Zimbabwe. I also thought that every person that comes from Zimbabwe will be dark skinned only because I have seen a few Zimbabweans with dark skins. I hold myself accountable of stereotype and being mislead by information that is not valid. Like Chimamanda said, single stories create stereotypes and not that they are untrue but they make one sided story. According to Cambridge Dictionary( Stereotype English Meaning, 2024) stereotype can be defined as a set of ideas that people have about a person or group of people. Chimamnda also stated that stereotype robs people dignity and makes recognition of equal humanity. As a black girl that has attended an Afrikaans school since pre school, I can say that i have experienced  stereotype my whole life, it may not be seen as a big deal but sometimes stereotypes shape how we view ourselves. I always wanted to be in the swimming team but "being black" made it a setback as i would think that they only want white kids in the swimming team. This also falls under the concept of Othering which is defined as the process whereby an individual or group of people are given negative characteristics whereareas they are the opposite (Rohleder,2014).

 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story. 2009, 7 Oct. TED [YouTube video], https://youtu.be/D9Ihs241zeg?si=Ghif8O_zfxaUBT6g Date of access: 10 Mar.2024.

Rohleder, P. 2014. Springer Link. Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Cambridge, UK.https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_414 Date of access: 10 Mar. 2024.

Walter, L. 2024. Cambridge Dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/stereotype Date of access: 10 Mar. 2024.