Ethnocentrism In The United States

Ethnocentrism is defined as the tendency to judge other people and cultures by the standards of one’s own culture and to believe that the behavior, customs, norms, values and other characteristics of one’s own group are natural, valid, and correct while those of other’s are unnatural, invalid and incorrect. For example, in Funny in Farsi Firoozeh experiences ethnocentrism from citizens here

I believe Americans may be somewhat more ethnocentric than people in other Western industrial nations. This might be the case because many Americans feel superior and more advanced than other ethnic groups. Most of the time, Americans ignore the fact that different cultures and ethnicities make up America. A few of many reasons why Americans may feel exceptional is because of all the opportunities their country offers them, how well the government values the people and how other countries appreciate America. Even though America is multicultural, the way Americans take pride in their country may come off as ethnocentric. Linton Ralph’s article “One Hundred Percent American” assures that the American culture is shaped around all kinds of ethnic

But is this what is happening? No, not at all. America used to be the center for cosmopolitanism. This was the country of immigrants coming together and forming as one but recently it seems otherwise Nussbaum says “Our nation is appallingly ignorant of most of the rest of the world. I think that this means that it is also, in many crucial ways, ignorant to itself.” This feeling of love and devotion to American is harmless but once it starts shunning people out it becomes serious and on many levels, ignorant. On what level does patriotism become critical and is it

For those of us who are a different ethnical group such as Hispanics and Latinos we are believed be individuals who come from Mexico and bring drugs along with criminals. Being the daughter of two immigrant parents I am expected to fail as compared to those who are of a higher and white family. However, the thing is that we are labeled as failure due to the ethnicity that we have running through our veins. Being born in the United States there will always be someone who believes that they are the center of attention and that the world revolves around them. For individuals of this ethnicity such as myselves we aren’t given many opportunities or materials that will benefit our futures. For example, some schools may focus more on students that came from higher and better schools rather than the poor schools. They will quickly label us and make assumptions that we’re never going to learn, get well paying job and that many girls will end up pregnant rather than staying in school.

As Albert Einstein stated “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.” Nationalism first became a problem in America around the 19th Century when the Louisiana Purchase began in 1803. Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase there was the Embargo Act in 1807. The most recent act of nationalism was the weekend of the 12th of August in Charlottesville, Virginia. Nationalism has affected America in more than one way. For example, nationalism can bring apart people rather than bring them closer together. Nationalism is when a group of people who strongly believe in an idea come together and argue or fight against another group of people who think differently.

Since its inhabitance, competition and dominance has been a concept that remains prevalent throughout American life. Past ideologies such as Manifest Destiny, Cultural Imperialism, and Ethnocentrism are all practices and beliefs comprising what it means to be American for many citizens, while also continually shaping outside perception of Americans today. On one hand, many countries have and continue to fully embrace American culture, globalization, and the rise of capitalism. In contrast, many countries have and continue to reject America’s stride for world assimilation regarding their ideals and values.

The United States of America used to be known as the world’s largest melting pot. Meaning many different ethnicities and backgrounds coming and living with one another, and sharing each other’s culture. This can also be defined as assimilation. The United States of America has slowly drifted away from assimilation to isolating those who are different and diverse.

Jingoism intwined with governmental policy and “a majority…of Americans…grant[ing] spontaneous consent to foreign policy militancy” influences policies related to foreign and national security in the United States.1 European history of colonialism and imperialism impacted the development of foreign policy and national security. In Culture, National Identity, and the “Myth of America,” Walter L. Hixson leniently critiques American foreign policy, while advocating towards a more “cooperative internationalism.”2 Melvyn P. Leffler in National Security, Core Values, and Power fails to formulate an engaging argument for national security policies reflection of America core values. In reference to foreign and national security policy, both Hixson and Leffler refer to the impact of hegemony, with Leffler’s mention succinct and without specific detail. In the United States, foreign policy leans towards jingoism, while national security policy develops from general core values.

To start off, education is huge when analyzing ethnocentrism. Throughout my years of social studies and history classes the textbooks emphasize the victories of America, the times in which people from the U.S. were heroic and brave and fought in the face of hardship. However, these historical accounts merely account for a single side of the story when in fact there were many more events to be shared. The textbooks tilt the perspective of the important events to show the Americans as winners. They do not show triumphs against the U.S. or times when our people were defeated as much as they do the victorious moments, for that would display weakness. There is an article in the book that speaks about this topic specifically. Writing the textbook in an ethnocentric way denies the students the much more objective chance to learn about other cultures outside of the U.S. (Textbook, pg. 68) This act of showcasing the successes of America in a way that disregards any other country or culture tells the reader that America is the best, that we are superior and undefeatable. Emphasizing superiority then in turn creates an inferiority of others as well. (Textbook, pg. 68) The students, at a very young age are told that the United States of America is a country that wins. These books are taught

Ethnocentrism is defined as, “having or based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others.” Society is impacted by everything from media exposure to political agendas. A good example of this can be found in America’s recent history with countries in the Middle East. Issues ranging from energy and oil to a campaign against terrorism have created strained relationships between the United States and countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, it is nearly impossible to watch an evening news program on American television that does not contain a story related to current events in the Middle

A concept that has helped me to understand the social world is ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is defined as the attitude that one 's own culture is the best and others are inferior. On the micro level, it is now clear to me that I have demonstrated ethnocentrism in my dealings with individuals and this might account for some of the problems that have come about in individual friendships. On the macro level, ethnocentrism has helped me to understand why world peace is so elusive.

Cultural relativism suggests that whatever any culture does is acceptable and we must positively judge other cultures’ practices—it is “right” for them. Who am I to judge differently? Cultural relativism arises out of a concern not to impose our cultural values on other cultures. The problem with believing that all values are

Before a discourse of the specified topic can be laid out, definitions of a few terms must be distinguished. Firstly, nationalism and patriotism are two distinctly different concepts that are often used interchangeably to represent a similar school of thought. By no means, are they mutually exclusive or unrelated ideologies, but nationalism and patriotism differ in their approaches to expressing love for one’s country, respectively. These definitions can be best understood on the shoulders of essayist and drama critic, Sydney J. Harris, “The Difference Between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility while the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to a war (Harris, 1953).” While the latter definition may be a bit extreme, the general impression is still applicable. An understanding of the dichotomy between nationalism and patriotism, and how

Although the article can be a bit crude, he referenced one episode about a strict family from California and an indulgent family from the Midwest. Seeing as both

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.