The Power of a Single Story

In her TED talk "The Dangers of a Single Story," Chimamanda Adichie explains that when we take stereotypes at face value and use them to describe a group of people by a "single story," we are often missing a large part of who they are. She illustrates this with many comical examples including the observations one might make of Americans if their only experience with them was the novel American Psycho (see the picture below for her observation). While this is clearly an exaggeration, it still illustrates the point: we should look beyond the single story.

But, there are instances where the single story is more convenient; where we only want a small snip of someone's personality. For example, a college application. An icebreaker activity. A Facebook or LinkedIn profile. A resume. In these moments, many of us struggle to define ourselves, to boil down all of our experiences into one single statement.

This week in his column, David Brooks wrote a piece entitled The Biden Formation Story, which referred to Stephen Colbert's interview with Vice President Joe Biden on The Late Show. During the interview, Biden told his single story to the audience, what Brooks refers to as his "formation story." In that story, Biden described his reluctance to run for President after having undergone the emotional trauma of losing his son this past year. But, while his story was meant to explain why he decided not to run, the story he told was one of a true candidate.

Brooks argues that "every presidential candidate needs a narrative to explain how his or her character was formed...some experience or life-defining crucible moment that then defines the nature of their public service." In essence, they need the single story that Adichie refers to. They need a way to express who they are and why they are here.

In this context, I agree with Brooks. Without the single story, "a candidate is just a hodgepodge of positions and logos." As a people, we want to elect someone who we can relate to, who can lead our country to greatness, and who can make the world a place we want our children to live in. A single story is powerful; it shapes how we think of someone - for better or worse. Right now Hilary Clinton's story is more about scandal and defensiveness than about making a difference. Biden, on the other hand, has the potential to make his story one of redemption, to rise up and accept responsibility for the American people.

As we get closer to the 2016 election, it will be interesting to see how these stories change. Will Biden enter the race? Will Hilary share her story with the world? But, no matter what the result, the single story will live on. Adichie advocates that we push to learn more beyond the single story, to get to know someone beyond their accomplishments. I would like to think that because we want people to be informed, we give them the opportunity to learn more than the single story. That is why we have so many televised debates and discussions with the candidates. The reality, however, is that most people will only ever want to know the single story. The key to determining this race will be how the candidates tell their stories. A story told at the right place and the right time might just win the election.

Images compliments of:
AZ Quotes
West Point - The US Military Academy