Single stories tend to originate from one’s lack of knowledge of other people and from simple misunderstandings. However, these stories can have a harmful intent to suppress groups of individuals as a byproduct of prejudice.
Especially in childhood, people are vulnerable and impressionable when faced with single stories. Literature and media that are made available to the public tend to tell only a single story which causes overgeneralization and assumptions about others.
A clear example can be observed in college life. For example, in a 2009 TED Talk, Chimamanda Adichie recalls her roommate having a default position of pity towards her due to the misconception that all Africans have struggling, poor backgrounds.
However, Adichie faulted her own self by claiming to make a similar mistake to others. Given the strong media coverage on immigrants from Mexico, she too bought into the single-story by assuming all Mexicans are immigrants. Such anecdotes serve to emphasize the manner by which stereotypes are formed due to a lack of information and that one story should not serve to define a group of people.
Cultural and political power have a strong influence on stories. Power works to not only spread a story but also persist in certain ideas related to it. This can often be used to manipulate the way stories are told, when they’re told, who they’re told by, and how many stories can be told.
Utilizing power to manipulate one’s understanding of others is exemplified in Adichie’s trip to Mexico that was subsequently taken after originally buying into the single-story about immigrants.
Upon arrival, she found that Mexicans were not nearly as harmful as the western media of America portrayed them to be. Moreover, influential western stories caused those like Adichie to engender a limited understanding of the characters that appear in literature due to the fact that foreigners weren’t a part of them.
The political system has always been prone to reducing complicated issues to simple fables. Nearly every problem is solved by finding an oppressive or corrupt group to place the blame on.
In the event that America is beset by the stagnation of wages, it isn’t because of intrinsic problems in the structure, but rather the result of criminals sneaking across the border or banks. Stories have become markers of identity too, a phenomenon that is beset by political correctness.
To express solidarity, one must embrace a story that is socially approved. If one differs from the original story, it is a sign of false allegiance. One must embrace the approved story in order to prove non-complacency in a system of oppression.
American politics and single stories extend to the realm of criminal justice as well. It was constructed within a system of racism and slavery that often enables police brutality, and has led to over-incarceration that has devastated neighborhoods, individuals, and families. Experts wildly disagree on how much incarceration reduces crime, but this is partly due to the fact that serious criminals commit multiple crimes.
This is the reason why the first few stories written by Adichie included white-skinned characters playing in the snow rather than characters that reflected on her life in Africa. She became enlightened through discovering African writers which saved her from possessing a single story of books and becoming another victim of cognitive bias.
The establishment of one perspective that shows people as only one thing repeatedly is what they eventually become. In conclusion, Adichie responds to such misconceptions by reiterating how important it is to spread diverse stories that oppose individual ones.