A Single Story Response

A Single Story

2. Many things like ethnicity and race can cause people to start  “single story.” Every day people make racial remarks and look down on people because of their ethnicity.  Many people stereotype African Americans because they are different then them.  History has created these problems for us.  Throughout time people have been influenced to hate or dislike a certain group and it has carried over to our culture today.   Martin Luther King Jr. might have had a successful civil rights movement but our country is still full of racism today.  Women finally have the same rights as men in this country but that doesn’t stop some men from thinking they are superior over women.  Just one rumor or one piece of history can lead to development of a “single story.”

6. There are many dangers of a “single story’ perspective.  It can lead to the splitting of towns and states.  It could lead to wars and many deaths.  A “single story” perspective has lead to others being mistreated by the government.  One wrong thought from a leader can cause a whole race to be mistreated.  The dangers of an “single story” perspective are endless.  A white thinking they were superior over blacks has lead to the blacks being mistreated in places like South Africa and the U.S. These countries are still affected by racism today.  All because of a “single story.”

7.  Many actions could reduce harmful stereotypes.  People could be thrown in jail for racial remarks.  The government could fine people for their racial remarks and stereotypes.  Nobody would like to give up his or her money.   Simply teaching the opposite race why they should not look down on these people can challenge “single stories”.  Show them the greatness of this other race and how they are below them but equal to them.  Give the race that has these “single stories” a new understanding for this race that they think is terrible.

“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.  They make one story become the only story.” – Chimamanda Adichie

            One rumor or one story can cause people to look down on a different group of people.  The story could be false but could stick in that person’s head for the rest of their life.   Many people here one story about a person from an opposite race and just assume that those people are bad or below them.  These people are to naïve to notice that there race is doing the same thing.  People in the U.S. stereotype Muslims to be terrorist and a threat but don’t notice that there are white terrorist living all around the world right now.

 Like Chimamanda Adichie stated people in the U.S. just assume people from Africa to pour or “tribal.” This is simply because that is all we here about Africa.  How pour they are.  This is what we have been taught and told by media.  This stereotype against them has all been created by a “single story.”  One story about the suffering in Africa and we assume that the story applies to the whole continent.