The Single Story of African American Men

We live in a world that is heavily influenced by the mass media and our perceptions of people.  We are constantly being shown images, videos, movies, news stories, and memes that portray black men as criminals and thugs.  These men are seen as dangerous, rebellious, and troublesome just because the color of their skin.  If you are to Google “black man arrested,” one of the top stories to come up is entitled Study: Nearly half of black men arrested by age 23.   Countless of news articles depict black men being arrested for drug possession, gang activity and abuse.

(http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/20/nearly-half-arrested/4669225/)

There is no shortage of black male actors who, in movies and tv shows, play drug dealers, pimps, con-artists and other forms of criminals.  These characters further perpetuate the single story that black men are dangerous and no respect for the law.  The movie “No Good Deed,” playing in theaters now, epitomizes the fear of black men in the United States--we fear someone just because of the color of skin.

Even memes show this single story.

In conclusion, this single story of black men is extremely limiting and very degrading.   It is unfair that we would profile the majority based on the actions of just a few.  I have to admit that I have at times fallen to this single story as I too have locked my car doors as a “sketchy” African-American man has walked by my car.  It has been very enlightening to talk about single stories and realize how they affect my life and how I look at people.