Chimamanda Adichie's "The Danger of a Single Story"

If you grow up in a home or culture where you're wealthy and have enough of everything, it is often difficult to grasp the concept that there are people out there struggling to make ends meet.  Your perception on life in many ways is developed from a young age based on what you've seen, what you've experienced and what you have learned.

4.   A popular single story perpetuated by the media in the United States is that "illegal            immigrants" or "aliens" or "Mexicans" are ruining our economy and come here to only tend to our land.  This is a modern day take on the Nazi's portrayal of the Jews, demonizing them for the purpose of uniting the nation against them.  (After World War 1 Germany's economy was in shambles so they set the blame on the Jewish people.)  Political groups in the United States today are utilizing the same tactic.  Stereotyping a single ethnic group and using fear as a weapon to bring in votes.

6.    The danger of a single story perspective more often than not degrades a people's dignity.  A single story miseducates us and highlights the differences instead of celebrating our similarities.  If all we can do is point out everything that is dissimilar between cultures we will never be able to connect and truly understand one another.    

“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

History shows that the single story, when used with the intent of destruction can only divide people instead of bringing us closer together and forming a bond between cultures.  What she states in the quote is completely true, some stereotypes cannot be denied, but it doesn’t define someones entire being.  There are so many shades of the same color, it’s ridiculous to confine it to just one hue.  Not only do people fully accept these single stories, but once they become a part of their consciousness, people begin to drown out any other possible story.  One should never believe they have all the answers, and should always be seeking ways to expand their knowledge.  -Kristi Lindenmuth