Short Story & The Coming of John

Part One: 

According to Chimamande Adichie, the danger of a single story is that it creates a stereotype and can be misleading. Single stories makes it hard for people who have bought into the story, to view the people in the story as anything else but the story. Single stories often reduces people/cultures to a narrow, and a lot of the time negative perspective. She introduces a igbo word "nkali" which translates to "to be greater than another". She introduces this word to talk about how those in power control people's narratives. According to Chimamande Adichie, stenotypes are a problem because they don't tell a complete story and can cause people and things to be viewed as simple instead of their complexity. The most important idea I will take with me from this talk is to remember to seek out multiple stories instead of buying into one and that becoming my perspective on something that is more complex, like people. 

Part Two:

In the short story, the author compares and contrasts the lives of John Jones who is a black man and John Henderson who is a white man. Both of the men are educated but their lives are vastly different because of their race and how they were treated because of it. John Jones is initially living a carefree life until he becomes aware of the injustice he faces because of his race. John Henderson remains privileged and unaffected by the injustice. I think he chose to write a fictional story instead of a real one because it gives him a better chance at showing a broad problem rather than just giving one real life situation. Education changes John Jones by opening his eyes to the racism and injustice that is around him all the time. I think education can definitely change a person by making them see so many things much differently than they saw before and open their eyes to different perspectives. I think just like Chimamada Achidie talks about how not having a single story can open your eyes to the truth, the short story suggests that education can also open your eyes to the truth. 

Jim Crow:

During the Jim Crow era in the south, African Americans faced severe racism through segregation and discrimination. African Americans and white people were segregated from each other with schools, in transportation, public spaces and pretty much everything. African Americans always had the inferior parts of these places. While Black citizens were technically allowed to vote, there were tactics used to suppress their ability to do so. Lynchings and racial violence against African Americans was also very rampant during this time.