[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 2 - Ethnocentrism

Discussion topic for Chapter 2

Although all cultures across the world display some degree of ethnocentrism, some are more ethnocentric than others. In what ways is your own society ethnocentric? Considering the modern fact of globalization (as described in Chapter 1) do you think ethnocentrism poses more of a problem in today's world than in the past?

Student Response

American society is ethnocentric in several ways, each more so as scope of consideration is reduced by practical societal level – national, statewide, community, etc. We proclaim ourselves as a nation of outcasts and visionaries that carved life out of the hard wilderness to create a place we could embrace life on our own terms. (Yes, there is far more to it than that. This is purposeful condensation of that reality for sake of conversational brevity.) We are loudly proud that we are a great melting pot, a nation that welcomes all and holds no one person greater than another.

But we do.

There is an underlying “Us, not Them” mentality that pervades American social structures– a taught belief that everything we do and produce is better – our military, our cars, our sports teams and political structures. There is a bias perpetuated against other people by those attempting to justify their place in the hierarchy. The term “foreigner” has become a curse word, of sorts, in some parts of the country, used to belittle or cast aspersions on a “blame group”, to set them apart as somehow inferior or incapable, rather than as a simple statement of “from somewhere else”.

Our ethnocentrism also manifests negatively as racial tensions among groups of people, regardless of economic standing or residential locale This ethnocentric bias breaks apart on the smallest societal level where individuals actually are in close proximity and work together one-on-one. It is only on the larger scale where it becomes an effective weapon in the hands of charismatic individuals.

Our national and racial “home team” attitudes pose a legitimate threat to our participation in a global society. We can say all we like that we have overcome differences, that we’ve “grown-up” and “learned lessons” from our sometimes violent national history. Nevertheless, our actions as we treat with each other speak louder than our words ever will. You cannot keep a man’s trust – nor make globally beneficial progress – if you offer him a beer in one hand while penning a curse of his heritage with the other.