How Does the Change Begin With Me?

Most public speakers and people we look up to in our society tell us that the change begins with ourselves. Which is quite ironic because it seems as though the people in power do not help to be a part of the change. In our society, there are many Single Stories and polarization happening. There are multiple stories about the past that only have one side, and sub-cultures that have been formed and brought to extreme polarization. The stories have become normalized so that society only believes one story and sub-cultures have become vocally and physically abusive towards other sub-cultures. If the change begins with us, then why isn’t there any change happening right now? How are we supposed to move past extreme polarization and Single Stories if the change starts with us?

Adichie Chimamanda is an author from Nigeria who has introduced the idea of “The Danger of the Single Story” to the world. She was featured on a Ted Talk, and she talked about how in our society, there are many stories that have been told from one person, or only told one side of the story. It’s like when we were kids and when we would into a fight with our siblings. We would go tell our parents our side of the story. Often, our parents would believe us, and they would punish our sibling. That is the exact same way Adichie talks about our society. She talks about how in America, most Americans think that Africa is just a bunch of poor starving families and children that don’t have an education or know how to function in the American society. Americans have been told one story. Yes, there are some parts of Africa that are extremely pore or have horrific things happening, “There are immense ones, such as the horrific rapes in Congo. And the depressing ones, such as the fact that 5,000 people apply for one job vacancy in Nigeria.” Says Adichie. The one-sided single story has led to extreme polarization and stereotypes that have become normalized and has become a major part of our society.

Normalization is a word that is more of a verb than a noun. In our society, normalization has led to assumption. Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show” talks about how a white man was talking about Nigeria and how it is, “Plagued by kidnappings, extremists and bandits, but the government wants to crack down on a new type of criminal, Twitter users.” Noah had brought up the point that, “You never hear a foreign news anchor talking about the United States that way.” The American society has normalized that Africa is just a bunch of rapists, drug dealers, and criminals. The normalization has now created the assumption that all Africans are dangerous, uneducated, and they are a minority in our society. This normalization has spread and now, because people don’t put in the effort to do the research, we are left with a Single Story about Africa. If people put in the effort to fact check and do the research, these Single Stories would not exist.

Michael Wesch is a professor who teaches Anthropology 101. He challenged himself to learn to love something he hated. He talked about the stereotypes in the USA. He used examples such as depending on the car that one drives determines their political views. As the video goes on, he talks about how his sister is a country music loving line dancer. He had always hated anything to do with the country because it has been associated with stereotypical republicans, who love their guns, trucks, and country music. So, he decided to try and change his view and try line dancing with his sister. After spending time dancing with his sister and learning about why she enjoyed dancing so much, he realized that it was more than just dancing, “The lyrics meant something to my sister…the dancing brings people together.” In that moment, Wesch had realized that there was more to line dancing than he originally thought. Which had brought him to looking at the bigger picture; there is more to other sub-cultures than what the stereotypical image that has been normalized, and sometimes, we can learn to like those other sub-cultures if we put in the effort to learning more.

I had the opportunity to challenge myself. I was set-up with a partner, and in half an hour we had a list of deep questions we had to ask each other. I was partnered with Josh. Before talking to Josh, I didn’t know much about him. I assumed that he was a guy that did nothing in class. That sounds extremely rude, but boys in our society have been normalized to be perceived as less intelligent and as people who don’t put in the work. After my conversation with Josh, I realized that we had a lot more in common than I originally thought. I created an Instagram post and wrote the following, “What I realized was that Josh and I have a lot in common. We both prioritize our friends, family and health over money and wealth. In the end, I never thought that me and Josh had so much in common, but I’m so happy I got the chance to connect with a very interesting peer in my class.” If it wasn’t for having the opportunity to challenge myself, I don’t think I would have realized how cool of a person Josh is.

So, the change supposedly begins with us. You. Me. the question is, where do we start? Instead of believing the first article we read when we are scrolling on the web, fact checking and making sure the information we are reading is accurate. When looking at someone when walking down the street, instead of assuming their identity and putting them into a box, think about something positive about that person. If we all do a better job at not normalizing the stereotypes created in the past and start looking at people as people and not assuming them based off how they dress, where they live, what car they drive, or how they act, we may have a chance at changing the way the people perceive others. We should stop pushing people away and start letting them in. Megan Schmidt wrote in her article about empathy, “Our ancestors depended on act of caring for survival.” This is relaying back to the message that I believe is, in order to start a change, the first step is to embrace others, not judge them based off of assumptions that are made up, and to challenge yourself to grow and learn about the world around us.

We are capable of changing, we just have to try.

Photo credit:
Photo curtesy of The Guardian
Photo curtesy of Emily’s Quotes