The Danger Of A Single Story By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The lecture, â€Å"The Danger of a Single Story† by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, demonstrates how stereotypes create a single story in people’s minds. She says these stereotypes are half truths because they are incomplete; therefore it keeps people away from the reality. She claims this is â€Å"the danger of a single story†, because it stops people to think of others are capable of contributing positively to society. Adichie’s lecture helps one to understand how these stereotypes impact people by creating a single story which changes people’s perception of others. The article, â€Å"Michael Brown and Black Men† by Charles M. Blow critiques the â€Å"single story† the media presents about young black men. Blow argues that black men are always shown as â€Å"bad†¦show more content†¦Through her personal experiences, Adichie helps people to understand how these stereotypes only divert minds, which keep people away from the reality . She had a single story about their houseboy that could not perform any other work rather than housework. Adichie says, â€Å"Then one Saturday, we went to his village to visit, and his mother showed us a beautifully patterned basket made of dyed raffia that his brother had made. I was startled. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something† (Adichie). She talks about their houseboy, Fide who performed housework at their house. However, when she met his family, she was surprised to see their working capability because she had a single story about his family that they were poor. Therefore, she could not imagine them doing craft work because she assumed that Fide and his family were able to do the housework only. In the article, Blow also describes how the stereotypes make people to believe in one thing strongly rather than believing at different things. Blow writes, â€Å"Black Missourians were 66 percent more likely in 2013 to be stopped by police, and blacks and Hispanics were both more likely to be searched, even though the likelihood of finding contraband was higher among whites† (Blow). Blow describes how white people are more likely to commit crimes, but they are less likely to be searched than black and Hispanic people. Black people are targeted because they are minority and media