tooth soup

photo credit: Rusty Stewart

I have just

finished watching the beautiful, eloquent novelist Chimamanda Adichie give a speech on ‘the danger of the single story’ (thank you to Aditi for tweeting about it, else I might have missed it in the TED talks feed). She speaks on the danger of allowing one’s self to assume that the representations of a people in the media are indicative of the people as a whole. In essence, allowing our views of a race or country of people to be governed by a single story of that people. She cites her own weakness during a trip to America, where the saturation of the media by reports of Mexicans abusing immigration laws and rorting the medical system compelled her to believe this image. When she actually visited Mexico and found a people that were happy where they were, and not desperate to escape across the border, she felt a deep sense of shame at the fact that she had been taken in by the single story of the Mexicans as told by the American media.

It struck me from early in her talk that this idea of a single story could very easily be applied to that of the single story of the Aboriginal as told by the Australian media. Throughout my life I have been told many stories of Aboriginals by many different sources: a censored version of the history of colonisation told by a patriotic social studies teacher during high school; bitter essays on the impact of accommodating Aboriginal benefits in the national budget; racist jokes told over and over again by children, adults, and those who should know better. Even the photo used at the top of this post is an example of the single story of the Aboriginal. Could I as easily find a picture of an Aboriginal child chilling out in front of a computer, or catching a bus to school with his friends? These tellings seem to me to be different chapters from the same single story of the Aboriginals, one that we have allowed to be weaved through our indifference to seeking out more stories, stories told by themselves or translated by those who have at least lived among them. I am guilty of this. Before I met my now very dear friend Steph, I had not considered seeking out stories of Aboriginals, content to have my views shaped by the incidental information offered by the media. She pointed me in the direction of W. E. H. Stanner’s essays on Aboriginal life, and with the addition of just one story, my perception was instantly changed. As my prejudice was uncovered, I was shamed as Chimamanda was shamed when she encountered the Mexicans.

In her talk, Chimamanda says:

‘The danger of stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.’

We must seek out multiple stories, or at the very least keep in mind the existence of multiple stories, so that when contact is made we do not fall prey to a prejudice of pity, anger, or scorn. Only in this way can an open and meaningful connection between two human beings be achieved. I am not a great studier of Aboriginal history or their modern social behaviour, but I invite anyone that is to comment. I’d love to hear whether my application of Chimamanda’s arguments is accurate or indeed relevant.

You can find Chimamanda’s video here.

You can find W. E. H. Stanner’s book of essays for order within Australia here.

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