Page 29 - Reflections on the Danger of a Single Story

This Ted Talk was so interesting. While watching it, I kept asking myself if I have had a single story about someone or if people have had one about myself. I think most people have a single story towards a particular place or ethnicity. To me, it seems like a single story is similar to a stereotype. I think people have single stories of different places or ethnicities based on what is on TV, what they read, or even see in movies. I think the problem is when the single story stops people from getting to know someone. I liked the way it was put in the Ted Talk, when you are exposed to one side of something and don’t do research for yourself it is easy to believe what you are constantly exposed to. Single stories can be a detriment to society.
My experience with single stories:
My parents are both immigrants. My mother is from Portugal and my father is from Italy. When I was younger I grew up in a very Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn and was unaware of the single stories people had about Italians. When my parents decided to leave Brooklyn and move to Orange County, NY, this is when I noticed people had single stories of Italians. When people found out that my father was from Italy and I have cousins who names are Alfredo, Anthony, Luigi, Mario, Gianfranco, etc; I would be asked such stereotypical questions; such as is my family in the mafia, do I eat pasta everyday, are cannoli’s my favorite dessert, if make my own tomatoes sauce, and if I speak with my hands. Although some of these things were true, I never liked the way it was brought up and asked. It always seems to be in a mocking manner. I remember going home and telling my mother and father. They would always just say these are things that people see in the movies and on television and not to get offended. I am proud of my heritage and in college if people would ask me these types of questions; I was ready to have conservation around the questions and wasn’t offended by them anymore.
ALEXANDRA RUGGIERO