Roberta Hernandez

“The Danger of a Single Story”

I can relate to what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was saying about single stories. So
many times, we do not realize the stereotypes we have formed of others until you realize you
have been stereotyped. Like Ms. Adichie, my college roommates had an idea of what I was like
based solely on my name (Macias back then, Hernandez is my married name), just as I did with
theirs. On move in day I was not surprised to see a tall strawberry blonde girl walk into our room
and introduce herself as Jeanette Michalec, she was everything I expected her to be, then
moments later a short, fuller figure girl walks in, and in an Indian accent introduces herself as
Rhidi Ghandi, the only thing that surprised me about Rhidi was how thick her accent was. I can
only imagine how I was perceived when I opened my mouth and introduced myself as Dina
Macias (I go by my middle name normally) and not Roberta and that I speak fluent English. Our
first day together we talked about where we were from and our backgrounds and what we
thought of when we received our information packets with our roommate information, all three
of us said we figured out there was a white girl, a Latina and an Indian. But the one thing both
Jeanette and I did not think of was Rhidi having an accent, but we were exactly as we had
imagined. I did not know these two other girls before attending Baylor and to see how much
information is given away when we stereotype based on a name is intriguing.
I gave a lot of thought to what Adichie said about “the first story is not the complete
story.” Like my roommates and I at Baylor, we thought we had each other figured out based on
the information packets we received, but what those packets and our first impressions did not
teach us was how alike Jeanette and I were in regard to being pressured by our mothers to be
perfect and always a lady and how we had no idea we would end up at Baylor for college one
month before we met. We also did not know that Rhidi had just become a citizen of the United
States and that is why she was starting college at the age of 28. So many times, we think we
know how the story is going to end by the mental shortcuts we learn while growing up and yet
more often than not, the story hardly ends or progresses like we thought. On paper we think we
know what we need to. We think we know that a person with a name like Dina Macias is a
Latina who has brown skin speaks Spanish fluently and some English and has dark hair and only
eats beans, but Dina does indeed have brown skin and speaks English fluently and only some
Spanish and only has beans when she goes to a Mexican restaurant. By not taking the time to
“read more stories” we limit ourselves to learning about others and having an appreciation for
other cultures and traditions.
Another thought that I had was on using stories to empower and regain paradise. Just as I
was surprised to learn about Nigerian success like the lawyer challenging the law on Nigerian
women needing their husband’s consent to renew their passports, it is through stories that we
learn not how different we are but learning how alike we are, no matter the geography. It is
empowering to see how stories can spread the good as much as the bad but also shows how much
emphasis we all place on the single story without realizing that we do. I feel like Adichie was
telling us to say our stories to regain the sense of peace. When details are left out and only partial
truths/information is given, then we only create a partial truth and that is truly where the danger
lies because though it maybe the truth it is not the complete truth, thus not the complete picture.
Just like the half-truths Baylor sent me about my roommates, I thought I knew who and what my
roommates were all about, but it was not until we shared our whole story did we learn who and
what we were.
When this video began, I was taken aback, not because of the title or the way the speaker
was dressed, but because of her accent. Like Adichie’s college roommate I too was surprised
how well she speaks English, but what caught me off guard was how much I learned about how I
stereotype. I know stereotypes exist, but what I did not realize was how our perceptions play a
big role in the stereotypes we create. Stereotyping is dangerous because you short change
yourself to learning, to meeting new people and ultimately from experiencing life. After
watching this video I realize everyone has more than a single story, some of us have full
collections but we do not let ourselves read past the first story.