No Matter How Many Books

 There is a film covering our eyes. It’s on all of ours, really. No matter how many classes we take, how many books we read, how much we educate ourselves, the tint of ignorance that we grew accustomed to early in our lives will likely never leave us. It’s something irreplaceable, truly unique to our experience as a citizen of the world. And because of this, there’s not much convincing other sources of information, whether these sources be people or things, can do to get rid of certain things that are ingrained into our minds. 

While I was reading Americanah, this thought sprung into my mind. It’s been there for a time longer than I can calculate, but a certain line that I read brought it to the front of my consciousness once more:

“He can read all the books he wants but the bush is still in his blood” (326).

Now, it’s important to note that the narrator is reading out the thing that Kayode had said to Emenike, Obinze’s colleague in London whom he had met in Nigeria, in grade school many times. In a sense, this statement really is true. Some people will not see past one’s education, one’s talent, one’s knack for anything in any particular subject. Some may only see one’s origin, one’s appearance, and come to a false sense of understanding regarding a person’s character. Again, that’s all because of those experiences with other people, ideas, and situations earlier on in life. Further outside influence can’t do much to change those viewpoints on others, as we all may have come to know about our own strong-held ideals. It comes from the inside, that effort to take a different viewpoint. But who knows if those who are holding ignorant stereotypes onto others are all willing to even consider that another viewpoint even exists with reason?