Single Story: What You Don't Know You Didn't Know

Hey there! First, thanks for reading. Feel free to tune out anytime you get bored or have had enough of my terrible writing, stupid rants, or uninteresting information. 

Today's topic: The "Single Story" 

So, the Single Story is pretty complicated to explain, yet such a simple concept. Think of it as the opposite of what you are NOT shown in education. The single story is the one story that is most prevalent. I always like to give the example of Columbus. We are taught about this heroic explorer who "discovered" this amazing land and ultimately is the reason we are all here today. Where that last bit may be true, we are missing the other side of the story. What we aren't taught is that Columbus inflicted a mass genocide of beautiful people and culture that was here long before Columbus. Columbus virtually stumbled upon this land and decided he wanted it, so he killed (intentionally or unintentionally from disease) everyone who got in the way of that. And if he didn't kill them, he took away a big portion of their cherished culture and naturalistic ways by denying them their land. Not only were they not aloud to partake in their own culture, they were often forced to learn the European missionary ways. And later, they were then denied citizenship into the European culture. Either way they were screwed. 

So where did this get lost in translation? Why do we only see Columbus's story? 

(http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/dominicselwood/100283798/columbus-greed-slavery-and-genocide-what-really-happened-to-the-american-indians/)

Take a look at this super awesome description of the single story (it's actually really interesting-- link below).

http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en


Did you know you that not everything in textbooks is right? I've always believed every word a textbook throws at me. It's a textbook of historical information passed down through generations and adapted to fit into modern society, right? No. Textbook companies are highly competitive because they are always trying to get schools to purchase their books. They go about this by appealing to state standards. By doing this, schools are actually hindering their students' critical lens. Often, a single story will be represented in a textbook. We need to take action by QUESTIONING those stupid textbooks. Don't be afraid to stand out and question the legitimacy of a story. Always think about who is being misrepresented, or not represented at all. 

Without you even knowing it, your brain is being crafted to fit this idea of how people think you should look at a certain topic. Open up your mind (and eyes) to see what you're missing. 

Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope you got something out of this. If not, better luck next time? Anyway, thanks for reading! Comment if you have anything to add or any questions or concerns. :)