The Single Story

The danger of a single story is the huge gap for misunderstandings of a person based on what someone else perceives or knows about "their group", according to one story they may have heard. Adichie spoke on the existing dangers in a single-sided story. Adichie stated this; “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.”  She told a story of her experiences regarding these stereotypes. Since Adichie moved from Africa, her roommate assumed what she knew about Africa, to be Adichie's exact situation. She assumed she lived on a wide flat land in a tiny house with dirt floors, with a lack of education, and a lack of resources.  When in actuality, Adichie's circumstances were nothing of the sort; much different than what her roommate believed before knowing Adichie. Her roommate knew this one story that she associated with Africa. Throughout our lives, we hear and believe various versions of a single story, without taking that step to seek out one individual's true experience. This concept is a vital one to grasp so that we can better understand our community and defy ignorance. For my visual of these ideals, I created a small concept map to demonstrate two parts of my identity that may hold misconceptions about who I am as a person. As Adichie said, it's not that these single stories and/or stereotypes are not true in other cases, but it's not the only story that exists with certain factors of one's identity.  This can cause division as we may never see all we have in common if we don't give someone the opportunity to share who they are.

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare