I guess unpopular opinion:

We should not keep teaching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie if she refuses to publicly acknowledge and condemn her own transpho

The Danger of a Single Author

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2021-08-01 17:30:11

I guess unpopular opinion: We should not keep teaching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie if she refuses to publicly acknowledge and condemn her own transphobia.

Drafting my thoughts in my mind, my first instinct is to tell the story of a long-awaited and much-anticipated family reunion/celebration. My father turned 80 on Thursday, and my mom planned an amazing destination vacation for all three of us sisters, our spouses, and their six grandchildren, and my oldest son’s girlfriend was included, too. My sons are the oldest grandchildren at 26 and 23, and the youngest grandson is 16. We are a loving family and care about one another very much. And, we are also fraught, as it seems most US families are now, with differing opinions about racism, politics, masking, vaccines, climate change, economics, etc. (My parents lean toward centrist/liberal, and vote Democrat.) Like reading a novel and not looking at it through my teacher’s lens, I can’t seem to be in large social situations without taking a writer’s anthropological stance and observing the fascinating interactions. But that’s probably just a coping mechanism to get me through potentially emotional scenarios. We had an unspoken accord not to bring up any ‘controversial’ topics (see: debate anyone’s humanity) and focus on my parents’ love for us and ours for them.

We are at the point where we can still tell each other we love each other and set our boundaries. My father might be sliding into dementia. (I am not ready to process that yet.) Some things he said to my younger son were harmful. The words broke my son’s heart. We talked about it, cried about it, and my son knows that I, his brother, and dad are here for him 100%. My younger son is the one who is most like my father–they have enjoyed a loving kinship and bond since my son was born. And yet, my dad still said harmful, fatphobic things. His filter was gone, and this week, I had to weigh confronting him about it or just working it through with my son. And no thank you- I don’t need advice on this.

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