The author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie delivered a TED talk titled “The Danger of a Single Story,” about how stereotypes limit and shape our thinking. She talks about a curious incident in one of her speaking engagements in the United States. During the question and answer time, a student said that it was such a shame that Nigerian men were physical abusers, like a character from one of her novels. With more than a hint of irritation, she responded that she had just read a novel called American Psycho—and it was such a shame that young Americans were serial murderers.
The student had a single story about Nigeria—a whole country full of people who abused and were abused. Ms Adichie wanted him to see that one cannot believe they understand the mentality, motivations, and aspirations of a whole country based on one single story.
Today is election day. We will wait for results, and then some of us will be delighted with the results, while others will be devastated. The losing side will create a narrative about the winning side, and vice-versa. We believe that we are all correct and the others are all wrong. There are no mistakes on our side. The others are animals. This kind of thinking is described in the book Less than Human by Dr. David Livingstone Smith as dehumanization.
Dr. Livingston Smith explains: “Dehumanization is the belief that some beings only appear human, but beneath the surface, where it really counts, they aren’t human at all.”
The other side is seen as an animal, either vermin or beasts of prey that must be eliminated or at least, subjugated. When we have one single story, and from that story we determine who other human beings are, we limit our vision, and shape our perception, trying to fit people into a “one size fits all” narrative. When a group dehumanizes another group, when they have only a limited perception of others, they diminish the richness of human beings by seeing them as less: less intelligent, less savvy, less physically capable, less strong, less human. We are using single stories in this country, imagining that we are acting morally and compassionately, while the other side is not. When we trap human beings in a single story, we created fertile ground for the seeds of atrocities and destruction.
Tonight, and throughout the time it will take for us to figure out the political future of our country, I urge you to abandon the single story of hatred, name calling, and anger. Let’s see the US for what our country is—a mishmash of people, who live, learn, love, and breathe the same air we breathe, drink the same water we drink, eat the produce of the same earth we eat. Many people with many different stories, with many different reasons for voting the way we vote, all with the right to their dignity and opinion.