Ethnocentrism In Your United States
Ethnocentrism can be defined as the evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture. One practice that is done in the United States that is done differently by another culture could appear as not normal to us. We all have different definitions of what the right or “wrong” way of doing something is, but brought up and executed by another culture, the procedure may be done differently. I see this, as being negative because a lot of issues we see in our society is that people jumping to conclusions based on what they think they know, not off of what they know from experience and real life. Tension and conflict tends to arise frequently with ethnocentrism and this could be a negative effect because with more trouble, comes additional issues and lack of proper communication. Let’s take racial profiling for example, it being a huge issue in the news, blacks are perceived in a negative way that they are violent and disrespectful. Many assumptions such as this one has led to such conflict because when you think that a single race or person is going to act a certain way, you will act a certain way as well towards them. The other day online I saw that a few individuals put a project together in Texas. They had one African-American man and one Caucasian man carrying a gun out in the open, which is a right that every American has. When a cop saw that the white male was carrying this gun, he approached him with no defense and asked him questions as to why he was carrying it around, a very peaceful conversation, and then let him on his way. When this same situation was tested with the black male, a police officer stopped him and drew out his weapon in self-defense and called for back up. This is a perfect example of how ethnocentrism is portrayed as a negative social experience. In the United States, personal space is something that is stressed so strongly, and in European culture, personal space is