The Danger of a Single Story | Chimamanda Adichie

 The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores the potential negative impacts of a "single story" and traces the history of these myths in her Ted Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story." Chimamanda contends that while exceptional events frequently result from genuine misconceptions or ignorance of others, they can also be planned specifically to exclude other groups of people out of prejudice. People are "impressionable and vulnerable" when it comes to single stories, especially children. Chimamanda contends that the majority of the time, the media and literature available to the general public only tell one side of a story, which results in generalisations and assumptions about other racial and ethnic groups. I really liked how Chimamanda started her speech with a little bit of humour. In addition, I liked how she always explained her point of view through a real-life example that happened to her.

 

Chimamanda discusses the reasons why generalisations are made using two primary examples. She remembers an instance when her college roommate had a "default position of well-meaning sympathy" toward her because of the notion that everyone from Africa comes from a difficult, impoverished background. Chimamanda also explicitly criticises herself for contributing to the "one tale" plague, demonstrating that she shared the same error as many others. She "had bought into the single story" because of the extensive media coverage of Mexican immigration, instantly associating all Mexicans with immigration. These tales highlight how prejudices develop as a result of insufficient information, yet one incident should not be generalized about an entire population.

I just want to share an example that happened to me that's similar to the one that happened to Chimamanda. When I first arrived in Canada, I started going to school. Everyone was obviously interested in my ethnicity since Canada is a multicultural country. As I told them that I was Egyptian, all that came to their minds were camels and the Pyramids. Now I'm not saying camels and the Pyramids are bad things to resemble Egypt with, but the problem was that they thought that I went to school on a camel and that I lived in the Pyramids. They only knew that Egypt had a desert, camels, and the Pyramids. They don't know that Egypt has beautiful skyscrapers, the Nile River, beautiful cities, and many more. That's the sad part. They only know around 10% of what Egypt actually is.

The key takeaway from Chimamanda's speech is that "to build a single story, show a person as one thing, as only one thing, again and again, and that is what they become." In response to these misconceptions, she reiterates in her conclusion the value of sharing various experiences rather than concentrating on a single one. According to her, rejecting the single-story phenomenon enables one to "regain a kind of paradise" and view individuals as more than just one incomplete concept.

This speech taught me many things. It taught me to never judge someone or something based only on what I've only been told about them. Moreover, I will try to do some research or ask for more than one singular story before thinking about judging. Lastly, I will try to never judge in general and try to first interact with and know the person without having any idea about them prior.