It is safe to say thatin the United States at least, division is common and widespread. This does not mean that dividing ourselves based on things like race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. is necessarily a bad thing, because these dividing factors come with their own significance and history.However, dividing ourselves further, based on misunderstood judgements, is of no benefit to us as a whole. These divisions often occur simply due to ignorance and they continue for generations. To break this cycle, it is crucial to start learning about and from each other, rather than letting incorrect judgements lead our conversations.
Ethnocentrism, by definition, is judging another culture by the standards and practices of your own, and applying your expectations to others, based on these standards. Americans may look at something in another country and judge it based on what they, as Americans, are familiar with. To put it into perspective, an American that listens to American pop music may listen to a chant performed by Thai Buddhist monks and identify it as song. The Thai Buddhist monk, however, identifies it simply as chant, since singing is not permitted in his culture. There are inherent differences between what an American defines as song, and what a Thai Buddhist defines as song. This is ethnocentrism in a nutshell: expecting other cultures to live up to the expectations set up by another culture.
While it is perfectly normal and natural to question another culture, this curiosity cannot be laced with judgement. Ethnocentrism can be extremely limitingin terms of knowledge and cultural awareness. It can also limit relationships and further drive bigotry due to a lack of understanding. It is important to be able to look at other cultures through their perspective, rather than immediately jumping to the conclusions that align with the norms of one’s own culture. Your traditions and conventional ideas are not the same for someone else halfway around the world, or even within your own community. Ethnocentrism can be difficult to unlearn but it is imperative to improve the way we interact with each other on a global scale.
Additionally, learning about other cultures and understanding the similarities and differences can help us identify fundamental problems within each and every one of us. All too often, people make assumptions about a culture while only knowing half the necessary information and proceed to try and create an issue. By educating ourselves, it is easy to avoid an unnecessary misunderstanding. Using this knowledge to our advantage, we can familiarize ourselves with the underlying problems that exist on a global scale and work together to solve them accordingly. Also, educating ourselves about other cultures can help us better aid the people of these societies when their own cultural issues arise. For example, it can be extremely helpful to learn about the economic and political problems in Venezuela in order to best identify ways to provide support. Ridding ourselves of an ethnocentric perspective allows us to become engaged global citizens.
Internalized ethnocentrism may be difficult to dismantle but education and information can make a significant difference. Realizing the privilege that we have and how it affects each of us culturally, allows for a better understanding when there is discourse on a larger scale. Understanding becomes easier to come by when there is the proper prior knowledge to support it. It is crucial that we take on the responsibility to become active global citizens and look at the world through numerous perspectives in order to fulfill the unspoken obligations we have to each other.
Bold Magazine 