RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Adichie Weighs in on DSK vs Diallo "the maid"

The admixture of arrogance and ignorance is always sad. Shall we ever have less of it?

Chimamnda Adichie was asked her view on the DSK scandal. She gave it. What wrong has she done? Her interviewer appreciated that Chimamanda is a leading light as a woman and writer and asked for her opinion on an issue of great moment for many fair minded people all over the world. She gave it clearly and honestly, and without fear or hindrance. She should be commended for that. She was critical of powerful people and institutions. That takes courage and integrity.

DSK let himself, his family, his employers, and his country down. He knows this. He resigned his employment position promptly after the story broke. He did not deny his shameful act. Everyone I know who followed the story after it broke had something to say about it. Why should Chimamanda be criticized for answering questions she was asked on a matter that may not matter to some men but does to most women?

I have always suspected that there are people who work from ends to means. The post below is one more evidence that there are still such people. They wait for an opportunity to use the words "babbling unadulterated drivel" about somebody they do not like. The Chimamanda Newsweek interview was that opportunity. The opportunity was taken without regard to rationale or reason.

It is laughable that one of Africa's more respected rising young female writers is put down so disgracefully on this Forum by a virulent forum participant who masquerades as an intellectual and critic. Is there a hint or more of envy here? Is it too preposterous to expect a commentator who knows what they are doing to disagree with an expressed opinion without calling people they disagree with names? We know why that happens. Some people call other people they disagree with names because they are unfulfilled beings who have nothing else to say.

Chimamnda was sought and interviewed because Newsweek's Editors know that she is good for their business. They know that their open minded readers would want to know her views of the strange story. The editors know that the decision to not take the case against DSK was controversial to say the list.

Dialo for many people was a victim. DSK it has been said got away for two reasons; who he was and who his victim was. It was not alright but it is not okay.

oa

 

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ikhide [xokigbo@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 11:38 PM
To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com; Ederi@yahoogroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Adichie Weighs in on DSK vs Diallo "the maid"

Newsweek must be having a very slooooow day. Evidence: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weighs in on the DSK/ Diallo maid case with an armada of psychobabble and stereotypical nonsense here. 

Hear Adichie: "I know women like Nafissatou Diallo. Women who, like me, are West African but, unlike me, do not have the privilege of education or a middle-class upbringing. On television, she was familiar: the skin tone that suggested cheap bleaching creams, the ambitious hair weave, the melodrama. An American friend of mine thought her interview too theatrical and therefore unbelievable. Instead, I saw a woman speaking a non-native language, and so compensating with gestures; a woman both grateful and intimidated to finally tell her story; a woman whose way of looking at the world is vastly different from that of most of her viewers. Diallo comes from a place where melodrama is not unusual, and often suggests truth as much as lies."

My response: Adichie is babbling unadulterated drivel. Must she say something all the time? I sometimes wish these "African writers" would think about the consequences of their utterances. Who cares whether Diallo is a small time Walter Mitty turning tricks for a quick buck? Why is this now turning into a novel? Are we not human beings? Are we not entitled to our own losers, just like the other? If this character had been from the hills of Tennessee would newspapers have gone to her "village"? Why can't we have common criminals like the other? WHAT is wrong with this picture?

- Ikhide

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