Last week I went to a seminar called « Ethnicity at Work » in London. I learned that minority ethnic groups in the UK struggle to grasp the networking model and “political behaviour” that is fairly common in the business world today – and therefore they lose out on career opportunities. Another consequence is the creation of “in- and out-groups” and stereotypes are reinforced; “they are not like us”.
One of the participants recommended having a look at a TED video with the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (“Half of a Yellow Sun”). Having read the book, I thought it would be a tough emotional experience, but instead I felt enriched and inspired by her talk “The danger of a single story”. So, rather than reading my reflections about the topic, I invite you to watch this video (almost 20 minutes) and ask yourself afterwards:
– In what way do single stories impact generalizations and stereotypes?
– What single story do you often hear about ethnic groups in your country? How can you access more stories?
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
Chimamanda is a speaker with reflective humour. Enjoy !
