Single Story Stereotypes

688 Words3 Pages

As human beings, it has become very easy to fall into a trap of being mindlessness. When we read or hear something, we often accept the information as true because we do not go as far as verifying the information we received. Everything we hear on TV or read online is only one piece of the puzzle, by not looking at the bigger picture we succumb ourselves to the “single story catastrophe,” Chimamanda Adichie spoke about. A single story is powerful, it influences and creates our perception of cultures we are not tied to. People become close minded and only focus on the single story they were told or heard about. The single stories Adichie spoke of in her speech prove how stereotypical people can be because of someone’s economic state or the color of their skin. Stereotypes emerge because of these single stories. Although they are not entirely untrue, they are incomplete. This can cause people to be bias. Understanding a person’s lifestyle is impossible if you are viewing it from a single side, there is so much more to a person than the single story everybody knows. After telling a single story so many times, people start to become it. I believe that a single story only captures the …show more content…

For years now, all people of color have been labeled as illegal simply because their skin color is different; however, this assumption is not always true. U.S. citizens have generated the idea that Mexicans have come into the United States for health care benefits, welfare and other government assistance. These stereotypes of Mexicans are mainly formed through media coverage. Instead of showing the progress Mexicans are making in their schools and successful business ventures that have been started by Mexicans, the media is showing Hispanics illegally crossing the border and how low education their standards are. The media adds onto the stereotypes which we do not want to be seen