The Danger of a Single Story

Stories are one of man’s greatest tools. Through stories, we can help the people of the present relive adventures and experiences of the past. Through stories, we can temporarily escape the stress and struggles of everyday life and relax in a world of our creation. Through stories, we can share the lessons we’ve learned throughout life with the rest of the world so we all can benefit. However, stories can also be one of man’s greatest weapons. A single story is capable of changing the world, and while this can be used in a positive way, it can also be used in a negative way. A single story can portray a group in an inaccurate and offensive light, and unfortunately this is common in modern day society. One example is how Mexicans are stereotyped as illegal immigrants – you don’t have to go very far to hear someone make a joke about Mexicans and landscaping. Another example is how poor people are stereotyped as drug addicts – while some may in fact be addicted to drugs, the vast majority are most likely just at a rough place in their life and desperately do need the assistance they are asking for.

An example more personal to me is how the Republican Party is often judged off a single story, the most prominent example these days being Donald Trump. Unfortunately, many people view the republican party as a bunch of upper-class, snobby, racist fools who want to deport millions of people and despise the democrats with every ounce of their being. These opinions are formed off of Donald Trump’s campaign, the fact that he wants to deport 12 million illegal immigrants, ban Muslims from entering the country, and decrease taxes on wealthy corporations. Trump himself does not attempt to do any damage control either - he soaks in the publicity and thrives off the controversy, but ultimately, at the end of the day, he ends up causing much more harm than help.

Listening to these stereotypes and watching the public eat up the inaccurate garbage mainstream media dishes out for ratings is one of the most frustrating things to do. While unfortunately at least one “Republican” is in fact a snobby, racist fool, a large portion of the party, including myself, is not like this at all. In fact, we’re quite the opposite. I fully support the democratic idea of offering illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship; deporting 12 million people is not only a waste of time and financially unfeasible, but these people have lives in America, families in America, and although they may not be paying taxes, they’re still contributing to our society in a critical way. I’m also vehemently against banning Muslims, or any group of peaceful people for that matter, from entering the country.

America is great because it’s a melting pot of cultures and nationalities, and as soon as we start passing legislation that undermines the values our country was founded on, especially one as extreme and insensitive as banning an entire group of people, we have let the terrorists win and failed our people. Not to mention that the vast majority of Muslims are, in fact, peaceful people. Additionally, I also don’t have a fuming hatred of Democrats. It is, again, actually quite the opposite; I marched alongside thousands of Democrats at the Democratic National Convention. These Americans were marching against Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s corrupt workings against Bernie Sanders, and while I may not agree with Sanders’s political propositions, I most definitely do not agree with unethical political practices, and was more than happy to march alongside my fellow Americans to prove that point and support a victim of crony politics.

My Voter ID card reads “Matthew J. Schmidheiser: Republican,” but I’m not racist, snobby, or a fool, nor do I have the desire to deport 4% of America’s population or resent those whose political views differ from mine. But unfortunately this is how mass media often portrays the Republican party to the American public. This misrepresentation of political parties, as this happens to the democratic party as well, is the primary reason our two-party system has become so flawed. People no longer vote for the candidate with whom they agree, but instead vote for the candidate their party puts up to the plate. “Those Republicans hate culture, no way am I voting one of them into congress.” “Why would I vote for a Democrat? They’re just going to take all my money and give it to the drug addicts on the streets.” This act of defining a party by a single story matters because it’s what’s digging the hole our country is struggling to climb out of. People vote blindly instead of in an informed manner, and this allows politicians to get away with dishonest platforms and corrupt behaviors. We’re one of the most fortunate countries in the world to be able to vote for our leaders, and we need to take advantage of this right. Voters need to research the candidates running and not mindlessly believe the mainstream media, and they need to speak up against injustices and actions they disagree with. It’s not just a right, it’s a patriotic duty.

Stories can be one of man’s greatest resources, but can also act as the bane of his existence. Through a single story, one can change the world for the better, or for the worse. A single story can paint an inaccurate picture of a group or issue, and that’s why it’s important to not only form your opinions based off of several stories and facts, but also to make sure you yourself are not spreading false information through single stories.