Letter

Dear Ms. Adichi

My name is Jiayang Guan, a male born in China who moved to New York when I was 13 and has lived in New York for 8 years. I am currently a full-time student at Manhattan Community College in New York. I am studying American social literature this semester, so I learned about you and your “The danger of a single story” speech from our class materials.

After watching your speech. The idea that “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story” is a powerful concept, which is also my favorite sentence in the entire speech. You speak of the danger of complex reducing and diverse individuals or groups to a single, oversimplified narrative. When we rely on a single story to understand a person or a group, we are only exposed to a limited perspective, and this can lead to the perpetuation of stereotypes. Stereotypes are not necessarily false, but they are overly simplistic and often miss the nuances and complexities that exist within any given individual or community.

For instance, if we only hear one story about a particular culture or ethnic group, it is easy to form a biased and incomplete view of that group. Just as I learned in my literacy class, following significant events and conflicts involving Middle Eastern countries, these communities have experienced misunderstanding, prejudice, and violence. People have begun to apply a stereotype to all individuals they perceive as hailing from the Middle East, assuming that “anyone wearing a burqa is a violent terrorist.” This undoubtedly impacts the lives of people from the Middle East, as a small fraction of individuals involved in these international conflicts has led to a blanket label of “warlike, terrorists” being unfairly imposed on everyone from that culture, causing immense injustice and undeserved harm to those peace-loving individuals from that cultural background.

“There are some unpleasant people from every country in the world but generally most people in most countries are good.” This is what I heard from a commenter, and I think it was said very well, that a single incident or a small group of individuals cannot be taken as representative of an entire race or culture.

As a Chinese, an individual of East Asian descent, I have also encountered persistent stereotypes about our culture, such as the idea that traditional robes are commonly worn, that boys often have long braids, and that rooftops are predominantly covered with tiles, among other common misconceptions. I recognize that these stereotypes have been perpetuated through various means, including media portrayals, historical events, and other contributing factors. It appears that those who hold these stereotypes often draw their knowledge of ancient China primarily from movies, television, or historical records, which may be the sole sources of information available to them. While some of these stereotypes related to clothing and architectural styles are relatively benign, they do not necessarily reflect the reality of our diverse culture. Nevertheless, it’s worth acknowledging that these stereotypes are not inherently harmful, yet they do not provide a complete or accurate understanding of the complexities of Chinese culture. However, the global COVID-19 pandemic, which occurred a few years ago, magnified stereotypes about people of East Asian descent. Television, news outlets, and the internet widely propagated the notion that the COVID-19 epidemic “originated from an individual in China who consumed bats.” This narrative was further amplified by speeches from the Trump administration. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, these stereotypes have resulted in significant harm not only to Chinese people but also to my East Asian friends from other countries, like South Korea and Japan, who have been unfairly stigmatized as “the cause of the virus’s spread.” Tragically, this has led to disturbing incidents like physical assaults, stabbings, and even pushing individuals of Asian heritage onto subway tracks. These events left my family and me apprehensive about venturing out in public during that time. This kind of negative stereotype of a race based on hearsay without thinking and without any investigation, is horrifying.

Drawing from the insights you shared, I have learned key methods to combat stereotypes: educating oneself about diverse cultures, challenging personal biases, expanding social circles, championing inclusivity, actively listening to others, scrutinizing media portrayals to promote understanding and create a more equitable society. Thank you for sharing, your speech is really great! Also thank you for taking the time to read this email.

Best,

Jiayang Guan