Introduction
Have you told a story of a community or narrated an event about a person before?
If yes, did you tell the complete story, did you narrate everything about them, did you tell both the good and bad sides, posivite and negative, strengths and weaknesses of the people, was your story based on what really happened or a product of proper knowledge about them, if no, you are guilty of the single story
What is The Single Story
The single story is an incomplete story that is one sided( usually negative). It is a story based on lack of knowledge about the person or group. It is a story that robs and denies people thier dignity and identity, a story that humiliates, degrades and dehumanises. It is a story that presents one side of the story as the whole story.
A single story aims at pleasing and gaining the popularity, interest, favour and acceptance of its listeners. It is a story based on sentiments, emotions, prejudice, anger and lack of knowledge. A single story is subjective, myopic and selfcentred.
Hegel's Single Story of Africa
Friedrich Hegel, a German philosopher told a single story of Africa and Africans. He had a nihilistic attitude towards Africans. He presented Africans as less human and unable to reason.
He denied Africans rationality and reduced Africans to the level of emotions. He saw Africans a primitive and unable to carry out any meaningful exercise. Africans can do everything except the ability to think and reflect.
He viewed Africa as a dark continent. A continent with no historical development and creativity. An unproductive and stagnate continent where people parade in jungles and deserts with no shelter, law, morality and place where people live on tress.
Hegel argues that Africans have no religion. There is no sense of the Divine or Higher being who posses absolute power over created things rather, Afrians depend on man which gave rise to sorcery, witches and fetish activities.
He portared Africa as a lawless continent with no government, no administration and political constitution. He saw Africa as a place without order. A place where cannibalism and tyranny prevails. A place where a fellow man feeds on another man.
He presented the black man as inferior to White. To him, there is no difference between Africans and animals. He detached everything and anything good from Africa.
These views of Hegel had a negative influence on Africans and this has placed us on perpetual bondage and intimidation from the global World. People still view Africans with an inferior mindset.
For Hegel, the name Africa should not be mentioned let alone, be discussed because it is not part of the World history. He closed up all discussions on Africa.
Evaluation
There are two sides to every story. It becomes is a problem when a story is told based on one side (negative side) without mentioning the positive side or atleast, leaving it open for discussion. Hegel was categorical on his views on Africa and he believed strongly that there was nothing meaningful about Africa.
Stories can create a strong impression on the minds of people. Present a group as only one thing and that is what they become. To insist on the bad side is to overlook the many other beautiful stories about them.
A single story creates stereotype and the problem with stereotypes is that, there are incomplete not that they are not true.
Surely they where difficulties like bad roads, corruption, illiteracy, cannibalism, sorcery, poverty, lack of infrastructure, etc in Africa, but they are also good stories about Africa that were not of catastrophe, war, tyranny etc,.
Africa had advanced places with technological innovations, places with good roads, education, shelter and morality. Africa has also produced great minds who have contributed to the Worlds development.
Lessons
No man can detach rationality from another man because rationality is a fundamental human characteristic. All men are rational
Africa is not a dark continent. It is a luminous continent with rich cultural heritage, a continent with growth and development, inhabited with great intellectual who have contributed to the Worlds civilization.
No continent or person are superior to the other. Every culture has it's own values peculiar to them. The lack of understanding of ones culture does not imply it's none existence. The human race is one.
Conclusion
We should have a balanced story because stories matters alot. Stories have to power to empower or dehumanize.
Hegel got it wrong when he closed up all discussions about Africa. Some of his views were correct but his story was one sided. No nation is a finish product. Even the Western Worlds had thier own dark moments. There is always room for development.