THE SINGLE NARRATIVE REVISITED
In every situation, no matter how dire or hopeless, a single story (to quote Chimamanda at a TED talk) can never cover all the nuances. Just consider this.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-trapdoor-to-a-tale-of-nazi-era-sacrifice-1436482024
Jews betrayed by Poles and subsequently protected by Poles even with their lives! Are Poles then good or bad people? Are they anti-semites or not? Quite a dilemma, isn't it? Reminds me of "Shindler's List" both the real story and the movie.
How many Africans, who otherwise followed the South African struggle against apartheid, can claim to know the travails of Ms Ruth First, Joe Slovo and many other whites who gave their lives to the effort?
In the years before and after Selma in the southern US, many whites were brutalised and murdered for joining Dr Martin Luther King in the fight for racial justice. Or simply for expressing sentiments in that direction. Hence the expression "nigger lover" routinely thrown in their faces.
In truth, the KKK is still very much alive together with its many apologists. However it is not about to overrun the rest of straight thinking white society as it wants us to believe. This is clearly illustrated by a good many of the responses and revelations in the aftermath of the Charleston, South Carolina.
People like Governor Nikky Haley appeared to have sat on the fence all these years. They have now, in the fullness of time, allowed themselves to be swept along by the relentless tide of history, actually leading the parade from (where else) the front!
In the never ending Nigerian crises, a young man Chris Mayrock immolated himself in 1968 in New York in protest over the starvation death of Biafran children. We were told earlier that the Americans just didn't care. Achebe has reminded us that author Auberon Waugh named his infant son Biafra. Meanwhile Igbo activists are yet to agree on how to immortalise Chris Mayrock. That's political correctness for you.
Finally on the East-West cultural divide between Ndigbo and Omo'Odua. I have written earlier that it is no way near as bad as it is made to appear. The youthful exuberance that is vented anonymously as extreme and illogical positions on internet platforms does not in any way define the relationship. A good many of the contributors actually have serious mentors on the "opposing" side. As for the elite in professional settings, they certainly know on which side their bread is buttered. As an Igbo, I have observed, without an iota of consternation, that these Yoruba will not leave our women alone. That shows how much they "hate" us by marrying so many of our girls! There is God-o!
In every situation, no matter how dire or hopeless, a single story (to quote Chimamanda at a TED talk) can never cover all the nuances. Just consider this.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-trapdoor-to-a-tale-of-nazi-era-sacrifice-1436482024
Jews betrayed by Poles and subsequently protected by Poles even with their lives! Are Poles then good or bad people? Are they anti-semites or not? Quite a dilemma, isn't it? Reminds me of "Shindler's List" both the real story and the movie.
How many Africans, who otherwise followed the South African struggle against apartheid, can claim to know the travails of Ms Ruth First, Joe Slovo and many other whites who gave their lives to the effort?
In the years before and after Selma in the southern US, many whites were brutalised and murdered for joining Dr Martin Luther King in the fight for racial justice. Or simply for expressing sentiments in that direction. Hence the expression "nigger lover" routinely thrown in their faces.
In truth, the KKK is still very much alive together with its many apologists. However it is not about to overrun the rest of straight thinking white society as it wants us to believe. This is clearly illustrated by a good many of the responses and revelations in the aftermath of the Charleston, South Carolina.
People like Governor Nikky Haley appeared to have sat on the fence all these years. They have now, in the fullness of time, allowed themselves to be swept along by the relentless tide of history, actually leading the parade from (where else) the front!
In the never ending Nigerian crises, a young man Chris Mayrock immolated himself in 1968 in New York in protest over the starvation death of Biafran children. We were told earlier that the Americans just didn't care. Achebe has reminded us that author Auberon Waugh named his infant son Biafra. Meanwhile Igbo activists are yet to agree on how to immortalise Chris Mayrock. That's political correctness for you.
Finally on the East-West cultural divide between Ndigbo and Omo'Odua. I have written earlier that it is no way near as bad as it is made to appear. The youthful exuberance that is vented anonymously as extreme and illogical positions on internet platforms does not in any way define the relationship. A good many of the contributors actually have serious mentors on the "opposing" side. As for the elite in professional settings, they certainly know on which side their bread is buttered. As an Igbo, I have observed, without an iota of consternation, that these Yoruba will not leave our women alone. That shows how much they "hate" us by marrying so many of our girls! There is God-o!
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