The “Danger of a Single Story”

Chimamanda Adichie’s The “Danger of a Single Story” is a really powerful speech that addresses the bias people all over the world are subjected to on various topics solely because of what they get to read, consciously or subconsciously. Some stories are so one dimensioned that people end up making conclusions that are not only wrong but as the novelist puts it, “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.”

More often all over the world, we encounter situations where a single story is formed about a particular group, portraying one thing through and through till many people believe it to be the actual truth. This is mainly common with politicians and the media. Politicians are the main culprits of selling propaganda to supporters till their supporters believe it to be true. A case instance is the Germans and the Jews in the Hitler era. Adolf Hitler brainwashed his supporters to believing that the Germans were a pure race and the Jews contaminated their purity. End result? The world witnessed one of the worst moments in history; the holocaust.

The “Dangers of a single story” calls for varied information about places and people for conclusive judgment. More often than not, we have judged individuals based on the little we know about them only to find that we were way off the mark. Africa for instance is often portrayed to the world as a really dark and poor continent. Nothing positive is ever highlighted about the continent and many Americans and other people all over have fallen victim of even assuming that Africa is a country and not a continent. Comedian Trevor Noah in his 2013 stand-up comedy, “African American”, makes humor about the single story and how it shaped his childhood. Despite the fact that he is born to a Swiss father and South African mother, he has always encountered problems outside Africa where people make embarrassing statement about Africa and his skin color that can only be due to ignorance.

Stories make us who we are. Adichie notes, “The stories have been used to expropriate and label, but can also be used to empower and humanize, can destroy the dignity of a people, but also can restore this lost dignity.” Information is a powerful tool if used correctly. If we manage to avoid the dangers of single stories, we can actually gain useful insight into the subject of interest. For example, Africa is a beautiful continent with different areas that offer different experiences. Beyond the negative spotlight that is shone of Africa, there is a lot that is diverse and that offers a completely different taste, which should be a good thing. The negative spotlight makes Africa a shunned destination by people outside Africa even though the continent is rich in experience and culture. The Middle East region of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and many other countries are mostly shown as chaotic places. This is further from the case. The media circulates a single story which brings out a negative image of the Middle Asia.

It is only when we travel, read widely, open our eyes and allow ourselves to think beyond what we are fed that we can really get to understand and appreciate other people that we had previously misunderstood due to misinformation.  Without properly getting the full story about a place or people, it is not possible to properly engage with those people or place. Wars have been fought because of misinformation arising due to single stories, people have been wrongly judged due to misleading single stories about them. It is only when people get the correct and complete view of a story that the dangers of stereotype due to single stories will be tacked conclusively.