Dear Mrs. Adichie,
I hope you receive this letter. I am a Business major in Borough of Manhattan Community College from New York, and I completely agree with your idea of spreading literacy to “empower and humanize” broken communities.
Your speech, “The dangers of a Single Story” made a lot of strong points on what compels people to start discrimination and stereotypes on minorities. Moreover, it spoke about how to create a turnaround for more assertiveness and hopefulness using alternate stories. I can relate to this with the Covid-19 crisis happening with Asian Americans. Covid has been difficult and harsh for many Asians. Stories tell us that we’re not alone in any predicament and that there is always hope for change. If Asians can have others be more empathic to their cause, and/or if the source of the virus can be disproven, there might be a removal of the racism and hate enveloping our communities. Having awareness of what is really happening and hearing experiences of others may be hope Asian racial disparity might not last forever. I appreciate your words telling people to be more open to reality.
When I think about a single story being used to invent stereotypes, I can only imagine races trying to create dominance within a country. The truth is actually just misconceptions and rarely prejudice as you said. The majority of people here genuinely like to avoid conflict but are very volatile when it comes to misinformation, as well as compromise to one’s own country of residence. They genuinely don’t like people carrying diseases over from other places. People here should know that Covid-19 may have originated from a lab that the U.S itself funded and probably sponsored. The blame should not rest entirely on the Chinese. Having everyone inclined to facts and details may reduce the racism Asian people now face.
I have read many materials in my literature class regarding the need for literacy and using storytelling to counteract racial bias. I particularly liked John F Swed’s “The ethnography of Literacy”, and Rick Allen’s “Dawn of New Literacies”. “The ethnography of Literacy” describes the decline of literacy especially in the United States with books, but with the rise of other sources. Swed agreed with not being so judgmental with races when it comes to success and achievement. He believed in environmental factors and daily activities as a contributor of literacy skills. He mentioned how literacy is the foundation of livelihood and democracy. It grants assertiveness, wealth, enjoyment, enlightenment, and occupation to people who can read and write. In “Dawn of New Literacies”, Allen showed how digital literacies are taking over and also becoming an integral part of teaching. Educators are developing newer methods and being creative when educating students. Story tellers should also not have much difficulty spreading awareness and experiences. They just need to make the internet more practical and open to those seeking better perspectives.
Thank you for your time reading this letter. I know you have great things ahead of you especially with your great compositions and literacy skills.
