On the Outside
An outsider can be considered as one who doesn’t fit in, who is left out, or who just isn’t wanted. Imagine how it feels to be that alone: isolated, depressed, maybe even angry. It’s terrible. Being excluded at home, school, or by society in general, whether for race, gender, looks, religion, class, or simply the way you act, can take its toll on someone’s feelings. The way “unique” individuals are treated is awful, and we definitely need to do something about it.
Socially, there are many categories you could be associated with; you could be an insider, a border liner, a purposefully excluded outsider, or a rebel who just doesn’t want to hang with others. Many people, including insiders, waste a lot of time thinking about into which category they belong, but personally, it has never crossed my mind. The way I see it, we are all human, but we each have our own fingerprints too. None of us are really the same, or different. None of us deserve to be alone.
In fact, stereotypes can cause people to feel like outsiders. But, what are stereotypes? According to Mr. Medina, they are “popular/ common/ widespread beliefs about a group of people that may or may not be true.” If you think about the definition, you’ll probably realize how common they are. Maybe you considered most of the ones you heard funny, but think about how much they can hurt someone. Stereotypes are the reason that some ethnic groups find it harder to get jobs. They are the reason why some people don’t feel accepted at school or at work. They are the reasons why some poor souls are severely depressed and even suicidal. And these are the reasons why they need to go.
Not even I am immune to stereotype discrimination; I’m the polar opposite. Both of my parents are foreign with very diverse backgrounds, and I am an African American with fairly dark skin who just happens to wear braids every single day. As a result, when I was younger, people would always call me names like Little Wayne and Bob Marley. You don’t even want to know how many times I’ve had the “n-bomb” dropped on me. It’s a terrible thing for a little kid to go through, or anyone for that matter.
A perfect example of how stereotypes can affect society is in the book, “The Outsiders”. In this book, there are two rival classes of people, the Socials (rich kids), and the Greasers. The whole story is written from a poor boy’s perspective, one who has had a very rough upbringing and who has only witnessed the evil side of the Socs: the side that gets seriously drunk and jumps his friends. But then, he meats a girl named Cherry. She says that not all Socials are alike despite the Greaser’s beliefs. And says something very important: “Things are rough all over,” meaning that nobody, no matter who they are, is free of problems. This, later, leads to him realizing that people just can’t be defined as names of classes. People can only be people.
Nigerian scholar C. Adichie also addressed the issue of discrimination in her Ted Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story.” She said that getting exposed to the same story about a people over and over again will make you believe it’s true; she even had personal examples of this.
One of her examples took place when she was just growing up in Africa. Her mother hired a little kid named Fiddy to help her around the house, and all she would ever tell Adichie about him and his family was that they were poor and less fortunate. Because this was all she heard about him, she began to think that poverty was their only trait. When she visited Fiddy’s hometown, she saw a beautiful basket woven by his brother and was completely shocked. She never thought that the boy’s family could be poor and hard-working at the same time. It just couldn’t be, right?
Another occurred when she just came to America and was going to college. When she met her new roommate, the girl thought that Adichie came from a third-world country where people sang tribal music and didn’t know how to cook on a stove. After witnessing other stereotypes and looking up Africa on Google, Addichie realized why her roommate thought this way. When Americans think of Africa, we think of a “country” with big beautiful safari landscapes and barely any civilization. Nobody thinks that Africans could possibly have the same technological advancements as we do. Apparently, they can’t be anything but primitive beasts.
While still living in the U.S., she heard lots of Mexican stereotypes about them crossing the border and stealing welfare. She had never had any exposure to them except for the stories that had been told to her. But when she went to Mexico, she didn’t see anything unusual. She saw people going to work and living their lives. None of the ones she saw were getting in big trucks and trying to get to the U.S. She was ashamed and disappointed in herself for almost believing that all Mexicans were like the people in the tales she heard, especially after being stereotyped herself, as an African.
So after sharing all of these experiences, she imparts some wisdom to the audience. She says that stereotypes emphasize how we are different instead of how we are similar and that when we reject the single story, we regain a type of paradise. What if we listened to her? What if the whole world refused to believe in the stupid tales we usually tell? We really would gain a sort of paradise.
Turning our focus away from Adichie, epiphanies, despite stereotypes, challenge individuals to become better people. An epiphany is a sudden realization that could change the course of your life. A perfect example of how a person can turn completely around, who just so happens to be a sort of hero to me, is Malcolm X. Malcolm X played a great role in the civil rights movement. He said that all African Americans should strive for education, and was the foundation and inspiration to the Black Panthers, a group of people who stood up for black rights. He wasn’t always perfect though…
Malcolm Little, born May 1925, was a foster child because of his parents’ unfortunate car crash while he was young. At first, he was a very smart student committed to being a lawyer, but when his teacher said that pursuing his dream was “No realistic goal for a nigger,” he dropped out of school and began his new life as a criminal.
He was, in 1946, arrested for burglary and stayed in jail for 7 years. During this period, Malcolm furthered his education and associated himself with the N.O.I., Nation of Islam, a group of the Muslim religion. They believed that the whites were fighting to keep black people from success and wanted to have a country of their own. But when he took a trip to Saudi Arabia, he met and befriended many people with blond hair and blue eyes. Coming back to America, he no longer spoke exclusively for the African Americans, but delivered his message of peace and social justice to all races.
In addition to Malcolm X, there is also an example of a life changing epiphany in the book “The Outsiders.” Johnny Cade is a character who goes from a zero to a hero with a heart-warming story.
Johnny grew up, like Ponyboy, as a greaser, but his life was much more difficult. He was abused by his drunken parents and got almost fatally jumped by socs that also had a little too much to drink. All of this stuff happening to him made Johnny a nervous wreck. But when he stabbed Bob out of self-defense and went into hiding with Pony, he had some time to reflect on himself. Sitting with Pony and talking helped Johnny make realizations that later led him to jumping into a burning building and saving multiple kids’ lives with Ponyboy. He wasn’t the same boy anymore; he was brave, strong, and extremely tough (if you’re an outsider fan, he was tuff too). Though he died soon afterwards, he was having the time of his life and never regretted what he did.
Reading the “Outsiders,” and learning about stereotypes and epiphanies has helped me to mature in my way of thinking. I have realized the possible impact of my or anybody else’s actions on others and this has allowed me to grow. Though this is just a class assignment, the message portrayed is very important to spread throughout the world, and we can all help contribute to change. Stereotypes and outsiders can all be eliminated; all we need to do is work towards it.
Bibliography
Hinton, S.E. “The Outsiders.” London: Puffin Books, 1967. Print.
“Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story.” www.ted.com. Web.
October 7th, 2009.
“Biography.” www.malcolmx.com. Estate of Malcolm X.
http://www.malcolmx.com/about/bio.html.
Socially, there are many categories you could be associated with; you could be an insider, a border liner, a purposefully excluded outsider, or a rebel who just doesn’t want to hang with others. Many people, including insiders, waste a lot of time thinking about into which category they belong, but personally, it has never crossed my mind. The way I see it, we are all human, but we each have our own fingerprints too. None of us are really the same, or different. None of us deserve to be alone.
In fact, stereotypes can cause people to feel like outsiders. But, what are stereotypes? According to Mr. Medina, they are “popular/ common/ widespread beliefs about a group of people that may or may not be true.” If you think about the definition, you’ll probably realize how common they are. Maybe you considered most of the ones you heard funny, but think about how much they can hurt someone. Stereotypes are the reason that some ethnic groups find it harder to get jobs. They are the reason why some people don’t feel accepted at school or at work. They are the reasons why some poor souls are severely depressed and even suicidal. And these are the reasons why they need to go.
Not even I am immune to stereotype discrimination; I’m the polar opposite. Both of my parents are foreign with very diverse backgrounds, and I am an African American with fairly dark skin who just happens to wear braids every single day. As a result, when I was younger, people would always call me names like Little Wayne and Bob Marley. You don’t even want to know how many times I’ve had the “n-bomb” dropped on me. It’s a terrible thing for a little kid to go through, or anyone for that matter.
A perfect example of how stereotypes can affect society is in the book, “The Outsiders”. In this book, there are two rival classes of people, the Socials (rich kids), and the Greasers. The whole story is written from a poor boy’s perspective, one who has had a very rough upbringing and who has only witnessed the evil side of the Socs: the side that gets seriously drunk and jumps his friends. But then, he meats a girl named Cherry. She says that not all Socials are alike despite the Greaser’s beliefs. And says something very important: “Things are rough all over,” meaning that nobody, no matter who they are, is free of problems. This, later, leads to him realizing that people just can’t be defined as names of classes. People can only be people.
Nigerian scholar C. Adichie also addressed the issue of discrimination in her Ted Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story.” She said that getting exposed to the same story about a people over and over again will make you believe it’s true; she even had personal examples of this.
One of her examples took place when she was just growing up in Africa. Her mother hired a little kid named Fiddy to help her around the house, and all she would ever tell Adichie about him and his family was that they were poor and less fortunate. Because this was all she heard about him, she began to think that poverty was their only trait. When she visited Fiddy’s hometown, she saw a beautiful basket woven by his brother and was completely shocked. She never thought that the boy’s family could be poor and hard-working at the same time. It just couldn’t be, right?
Another occurred when she just came to America and was going to college. When she met her new roommate, the girl thought that Adichie came from a third-world country where people sang tribal music and didn’t know how to cook on a stove. After witnessing other stereotypes and looking up Africa on Google, Addichie realized why her roommate thought this way. When Americans think of Africa, we think of a “country” with big beautiful safari landscapes and barely any civilization. Nobody thinks that Africans could possibly have the same technological advancements as we do. Apparently, they can’t be anything but primitive beasts.
While still living in the U.S., she heard lots of Mexican stereotypes about them crossing the border and stealing welfare. She had never had any exposure to them except for the stories that had been told to her. But when she went to Mexico, she didn’t see anything unusual. She saw people going to work and living their lives. None of the ones she saw were getting in big trucks and trying to get to the U.S. She was ashamed and disappointed in herself for almost believing that all Mexicans were like the people in the tales she heard, especially after being stereotyped herself, as an African.
So after sharing all of these experiences, she imparts some wisdom to the audience. She says that stereotypes emphasize how we are different instead of how we are similar and that when we reject the single story, we regain a type of paradise. What if we listened to her? What if the whole world refused to believe in the stupid tales we usually tell? We really would gain a sort of paradise.
Turning our focus away from Adichie, epiphanies, despite stereotypes, challenge individuals to become better people. An epiphany is a sudden realization that could change the course of your life. A perfect example of how a person can turn completely around, who just so happens to be a sort of hero to me, is Malcolm X. Malcolm X played a great role in the civil rights movement. He said that all African Americans should strive for education, and was the foundation and inspiration to the Black Panthers, a group of people who stood up for black rights. He wasn’t always perfect though…
Malcolm Little, born May 1925, was a foster child because of his parents’ unfortunate car crash while he was young. At first, he was a very smart student committed to being a lawyer, but when his teacher said that pursuing his dream was “No realistic goal for a nigger,” he dropped out of school and began his new life as a criminal.
He was, in 1946, arrested for burglary and stayed in jail for 7 years. During this period, Malcolm furthered his education and associated himself with the N.O.I., Nation of Islam, a group of the Muslim religion. They believed that the whites were fighting to keep black people from success and wanted to have a country of their own. But when he took a trip to Saudi Arabia, he met and befriended many people with blond hair and blue eyes. Coming back to America, he no longer spoke exclusively for the African Americans, but delivered his message of peace and social justice to all races.
In addition to Malcolm X, there is also an example of a life changing epiphany in the book “The Outsiders.” Johnny Cade is a character who goes from a zero to a hero with a heart-warming story.
Johnny grew up, like Ponyboy, as a greaser, but his life was much more difficult. He was abused by his drunken parents and got almost fatally jumped by socs that also had a little too much to drink. All of this stuff happening to him made Johnny a nervous wreck. But when he stabbed Bob out of self-defense and went into hiding with Pony, he had some time to reflect on himself. Sitting with Pony and talking helped Johnny make realizations that later led him to jumping into a burning building and saving multiple kids’ lives with Ponyboy. He wasn’t the same boy anymore; he was brave, strong, and extremely tough (if you’re an outsider fan, he was tuff too). Though he died soon afterwards, he was having the time of his life and never regretted what he did.
Reading the “Outsiders,” and learning about stereotypes and epiphanies has helped me to mature in my way of thinking. I have realized the possible impact of my or anybody else’s actions on others and this has allowed me to grow. Though this is just a class assignment, the message portrayed is very important to spread throughout the world, and we can all help contribute to change. Stereotypes and outsiders can all be eliminated; all we need to do is work towards it.
Bibliography
Hinton, S.E. “The Outsiders.” London: Puffin Books, 1967. Print.
“Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story.” www.ted.com. Web.
October 7th, 2009.
“Biography.” www.malcolmx.com. Estate of Malcolm X.
http://www.malcolmx.com/about/bio.html.
Stop Motion Video
Racism Around Me