Top Posts of 2012 #5: Navigating and Defeating Negative Stereotypes | Voice of America - English
In the few days before 2012 ends and 2013 begins, we'll be looking back at some of our top posts from the past year, starting with number five and counting down to number one.
One of our most read, and most thought-provoking, pieces from 2012 was Simba?s moving look at how Africans are perceived in the U.S., and his plea for a more balanced perspective. "Do you live in a ?real? house back in Zimbabwe?" Simba said he's been asked. "Do people have cars in Africa?" "How come you speak such good English?" Read it: "" But, he added: "It?s high time the world moves beyond these parochial, dated frames and seriously reorients the way it engages with African people," Simba concluded, adding that while Africa certainly has its problems, so does America. He wrote, "It?s important to realize that Africa, America, and indeed any other place in the world, can never be completely and accurately represented by any one blanket perception." The article generated a lot of conversation, and several commenters wrote in to say that they too encountered negative stereotypes when studying in the U.S., and not just about Africa. Sultan, who came from Pakistan to study in the U.S. in 1972 wrote, "I was asked the most ridiculous questions including 'Do you have fruit in Pakistan.' It seems not much has changed in 40 years." Read it: "" Like Simba, many international students are doing their best to change these negative images. One of those is Abuzar, whose poignant take on being an Afghan in America, and trying to create a new image of his country, was one of our most shared stories of the year. "I had now become the avatar of my country," Abuzar wrote of how he was viewed by American classmates, "and I realized that whatever I said and whatever I did, I was helping create my classmates? perception of what an Afghan person is." Read it: "" He recalled the burden of taking on this role: "But on the other hand, I felt proud to have substituted the predominant American images of Afghanistan with my own," Abuzar concluded. "I would introduce Afghanistan through the eyes of my generation, a generation tired of the animosity and ignorance that had ruled Afghanistan, endeavoring to make the country a better place." And international students like Abuzar and Simba are speaking to a captive audience in the Americans whose minds they hope to change. How do we know? One of our most complex and rewarding endeavors in 2012 was an anonymous survey of American students; an attempt to find out what they really think of international students. 55% of the Americans who responded to the survey said they?d like to have more international students on their campus, and many talked about how much they enjoy learning about other cultures and being educated about life in other parts of the world. Read it: "" "I like to learn about who people are and what their different stories are," said one Oberlin student. "Almost always I learn something new about not only their personal life but how their life at home contrasts with their life in America." "I make an effort to get to know them because I think all of their international backgrounds and cultures are so fascinating and I would be truly blessed to get to experience a small sense of their life through what they tell me," said a North Dakota State University student. But we also found a major hurdle: American and international students aren?t mingling as much as they could be. Only about 50% of the Americans who took our survey said they have more than two international friends. Read it: "" "At my school, international students stick together," said a student at the University of Central Oklahoma. "There?s always a group of two or more in my classes and they rarely try to talk to us, so we sort of just leave them alone. It?s like they don?t want to make friends with us." The survey results generated a lot of discussion, including some suggestions about how to overcome this barrier and get international and American students talking. : Most everyone, international and American, seemed to agree that those who make the effort to reach out reap significant rewards. As Simba concluded: Other top posts of 2012: #4: #3: #2: #1: