Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk on “The Danger of a Single Story” was one that I have already watched before. Viewing it the second time taught me something new: bias is ever-so-present in media today, from books to television to the internet. It is up to the creators, producers, and educators to not turn a blind eye to bias. Bias is formed easily when there is not enough diverse representation of people’s beliefs. As long as people have lived, we’ve categorized others into stereotypes. Some stereotypes do have a function; they can almost be representative of a collective. However, we should not let that stereotype pervade into our entire judgment of a person, community, or culture. We need to realize that there are many exceptions, and it is up to us to represent and acknowledge those exceptions.
Now that we, communication lab students, are media creators on the internet, we must also adhere to some guidelines and standards on how to present our creation without slipping into holding our own bias. When Adichie gives us the anecdote of her roommate being amazed at how great her English is given that she grew up in Africa (which is a continent, not a country!), we should use that as a lesson to not assume things or underestimate people. The beauty of life is that we can learn and correct our mistakes. As content creators, we’re given a very heavy handed tool, one that needs to be level and fair for everyone.