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Role of Ethnocentrism in American Culture
Role of Ethnocentrism in American Culture
Ethnocentrism refers to evaluating other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture (Hester, 2019). Based on this, ethnocentrism can be explained as judging other cultures based on what an individual perceives as right based on their own culture. Ethnocentrism played a crucial role during the interaction between western Native Americans and white American western migrants; the white American western migrants used their culture to evaluate the western native American culture portraying it as inferior. Based on this, the native people were considered needful of civilization regarding their way of doing things, including how they dressed. This stereotyping played a role in downgrading the natives, which means they perceived their culture as superior. As a result, they wanted to assimilate the natives such that they could abandon their outdated culture and adopt a more westernized culture as a way of civilization. Ethnocentrism is bad for some cultures because it can lead to the erosion of cultural beliefs and other cultural rites deemed primitive by white western migrants.
Ethnocentrism often leads to incorrect assumptions about others’ behavior based on an individual’s norms, values, and beliefs (Panicker & Sharma, 2021). In extreme cases, a group of individuals may see another culture as wrong or immoral and, because of this, may try to convert, sometimes forcibly, the group to their ways of living. Ethnocentrism is a common issue in the United States, and this can be seen at various levels. For example, in America, a person is supposed to look someone in the eyes when speaking to them. Americans believe that looking a person in the eyes means that they are confident in what they are saying or not lying. However, in other non-American cultures, an individual is not supposed to look someone in the eyes when speaking to them as it is considered rude and a lack of respect. It becomes ethnocentrism when either culture believes looking someone in the eyes or not looking someone in the eyes is a better custom than the other culture. To Americans, looking a person in the eyes while speaking is the superior culture; thus, it should be adopted even by non-Americans.
Another example of ethnocentrism is how many Americans feel everyone, including immigrants, should speak English and how people are judged by American people negatively for not speaking English or not speaking English correctly. In the United States, there are many immigrants from different parts of the world, some of whom are competent in speaking and writing in English; however, others have problems communicating in English as they have never been to an English class. These people are often ridiculed due to their inability to communicate in English. To Americans, English is a superior language, and they expect everyone they meet ought to speak English fluently. Finally, American people think that immigrants are taking jobs from American people and that they should not be taking jobs from Americans. It is ethnocentrism because American people believe that only American people have the right to have American jobs. All these beliefs that America has a superior culture impact America’s international relation, especially regarding religious beliefs. Most Americans are Christian and tend to perceive their religion as dominant over the Islamic region. As a result, there has been a conflict between American and Middle-East countries as America associates Muslims with terrorism (Byman, 2021).
References
Byman, D. (2021). The good enough doctrine: Learning to live with terrorism. Foreign Aff., 100, 32.
Panicker, A., & Sharma, A. (2021). Ethnocentrism: Enemy of Productive and Happy Multicultural Workplace. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(5), 756-760.
Hester, J. P. (2019). Guest Editorial: Ethnic, Ethos, Ethnicity, Ethnocentrism. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 12(1), 2.
Amyiah Burton
13th The Documentary
Amyiah Burton
History 232-06
1/22/2020
African Americans have never been absolutely free even after the emancipation. The ratification of the 13th Amendment was a chance for slave owners and supporters to draft a law that had loopholes to keep African Americans in chains, literally and figuratively. It was a clause that shifted the definition of slavery from a ‘legitimate" business to a legal method of punishment for lawbreakers. African Americans are suffering from the legacy of slavery a century almost two centuries after 1867. The institutionalization of slavery and the wide racial and partisan disparities and the position of African Americans in American society has been nothing short of slavery. America boasts of these lofty ideals, but on the other hand, it has subjected Negroes to a second class status with the political elite selecting the nobility of their civic creed at the expense of social arrangements that have been in existence for many years.
The black race in America is subjected to extreme stereotyping, economic inequality, and stigmatization for their way of life and isolated by the society. Their purported criminality has resulted in racial profiling by law enforcement to the extent that black people are arrested, and many of their rights are violated in the process. There have been documented and undocumented cases of black people being physically beaten by the police during arrest and held at police stations beyond the requirements of the law.
The 13th is a documentary by Ava DuVernay, which focuses on the Thirteenth Amendment very significant legislation that resulted in mass incarceration in the United States. Besides covering this epic event in history, the film is gorgeous, reminiscent, and infuriating exploration powers, roots, and permanence. The film showcases the account of those wielded power and those made to kneel by this power, their roots, and their permanence. From history, the economy of the Southern state was decimated. The primary sources of income for the South, slaves, were no longer obliged up and serve as free labor for their fields. There was, however, an exception was made for criminals who, according to the law, were eligible for enlistment as slaves as part of their punishment. In the first restatement of a strategy by the South, hundreds of slaves who had started enjoying their freedom were enslaved again courtesy of trivial mistakes and minor charges. This informed the beginning of Duvernay’s examination of the evolving iterations.
The cycle was such that when one method of subservience-based injustice and terror subsided, another rose in its place. The list used by Duvernay in this documentary included the Jim Crow era, lynching if black people, Nixon’s race for the presidency, Reagans War on Drugs, President Clinton’s three strikes, and the compulsory sentencing rulings and the cash-for-prisoners in effect today. The cash for prisoners is a model that bail and incarceration firms use to generate millions of dollars.
The 13th, however, concentrates a bit more on the cash-for-prisoners model and even portrays the tally of the prisoners to go through the system on-screen. The use of context, in this case, is very important because although history still has significance, it is necessary to create awareness of the situation of black people today. The other does a perfect job to remind the world and black people that they are still not considered nothing more than just that, African Americans. America does not see beyond their color. The use of the 13th Amendment as the thesis for this film is appropriate and creates a path that allows the film director to exhaust the evolution of prejudice against black people over the years.
Bibliography
Harris-Perry, Melissa V. Sister citizen: Shame, stereotypes, and Black women in America. Yale University Press, 2011.
Luxe. "Thirteenth Amendment Documentary." YouTube. Video file. October 16, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WU608Z2678.
Pope, James Gray. "Mass Incarceration, Convict Leasing, and the Thirteenth Amendment: A Revisionist Account." New York University Law Review 94, no. 6 (2019): 1465-1554.
Role of Art in Reflecting Issues
Role of Art in Reflecting Issues
Name of Student
Date of Submission
Role of Art in Reflecting Issues
The role of arts in the society has been an undermined theme in the current world. However, at any given time, arts are a clear reflection of the society at large. It contributes a lot to individual, moral, cultural development. Learning arts in this particular semester has expanded my perspective on various issues of different paradigm in the society. As it can be seen, arts affect and influence nearly all the perspectives in the society at large. As an arts student, I can comfortably confirm that there is a sense of satisfaction that comes from learning arts on a daily basis. The role of arts should not be limited to understanding language effectively and instilling significant personal values that permit civilization to continue but it explores different arenas. The purpose of this paper is to explain what I have learnt from this course especially in expanding my personal view of the world. Additionally the paper will explain why the personal view has changed my appreciation of art.
Life in a Day: 24 Hours in the Life of the World is an artistic work that has made me appreciate life in its simplicity. The bold adventure is inspiring in every sense by use of things that people fear, those things that people love and their economic way of life. People from all walks of life in the world told their stories in the most vivid way. For instance the fragility of life is shown when the young Japanese boy goes to the shrine of his mother and whispers a greeting in his local dialect. It shows that people appreciate life by visiting the grave as it is engrained deep in their culture. In addition to death, diseases bring an impromptu change in the social way of life. In that American family in the film, it can be seen that the young boy is emotional l of the fact that his mother has cancer. The collection of videos from different parts of the world instills a sense of appreciation by viewing the world as a generally good place. Despite the fact that there is violence in some parts, many people continue enjoying it in their own different ways. I learnt new ideas and new ways of generally doing things thus instilling a paradigm shift in the society. The whole world is a valuable source of not only solutions but also concepts of approaching issues (Scott and McDonald, 2011).
Lisa Christine in her art has clearly reflected the state of affairs in the modern society as far as slavery is concerned. The collection of images documents the pain that people undergo as they are enslaved by bounds inflicted on them by the society, On the contrary, the images also show the most horrible abuses that are imaginable by the human mind. Through the photo, the artist clearly outlines way through which mankind remains vigilant of the system while remaining optimistic that everything will change for the better. As shown in the images, people undergo all forms of oppression by doing menial jobs like working in mines that are dangerous to the human life. In one of the images, it shows a person carrying a candle. The candle is a clear illumination of the fact that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Just as in the current society, people are enslaved by different parts of the system. I have learnt that art has the power to clearly depict things that are prevalent in the current society in relation to the slavery and freedom. Through this, power has the power to influence decisions if the relevant people get hold of the horrible images. I have been touched emotionally by the kind of lives people go through at the hand of the oppressive system.
The Arnolfini portrait is without doubt one of the greatest riddles in the history of drawing and art in general. The art encompasses a somber mood at first sight. The art is rich with detail on the way human beings are obsessed with the behavior of domesticated fabric. The work of art was not only a work of art but also a legal painting of the social institutions of the time. it was a wedding certificate. The great details of the portrait show that God is omnipresent. Therefore, they were in a sacred place. Despite the art having a rich history to as far back as the sixteenth century, the painting is as relevant today to as it was in the time before. Through the photo, I have learnt that a work of art holds several meanings in one rich painting. During the time of Anolfini, they approached art from a fixed perspective. However, currently, people experience life differently from one person to another. Through the art, it is clear that the world has both the knowable and solvable aspects. The two aspects get united in a work of art in a fusion that is unique in great detail (Stork, 2004)l.
The art which depicts a young woman with a water pitcher by Johannes Vermeer holds many hopes and aspirations of the society. The picture was created in the year 1662. Looking at the history, one thinks that the photo may not clearly reflect the modern society. The picture portrays a moment of deep emotional domesticity. In addition to that, the woman headdress was for the protection of the human head from the weather and during public events to protect the style of the hair. The relevance of the picture is that the woman lives a life that is perfect and ideal in comfortable household. She is seen smiling softly and deep in thought in addition to not being consumed with the tasks that are waiting in line before her. The photo has a lot of significance in relation to the politics and economic conditions of a particular country.
The map of the Netherlands confirms the notion that women have a role to play in uniting the country. Women especially those from a good and proper social background have a very big role to play in influencing decision making of a country. When one lives an ideal life, they tend to be comfortable with everything that relates to the life they live. I have learnt that women in the society cannot be undermined in their general in the society. I have learnt that art has the power to balance the opposites in a way that the society is reflected positively without quite contrasting each other. Balancing the domestic world and the outside world is critical for bringing vanity to the culture. It has expanded my view of the world by showing that ach person has a role to play in contributing positively to a sane society (Schneider and Vermeer, 2000).
Arts have complex relationship with the society. Understanding art has the power of positively influencing the power of satisfaction in an individual in addition being contented with the fact of having created something for the society. Whether it is politics, economics or humanistic point of view, art has the power of reflecting the issues that are in the society.
References
Scott, R., & McDonald, K. (2011). Life in a Day.
Schneider, N., & Vermeer, J. (2000). Vermeer, 1632-1675: veiled emotions. Taschen.
Stork, D. G. (2004, January). Were optical projections used in early Renaissance painting? A geometric image analysis of Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and Robert Campin’s Merode Altarpiece. In Proceedings of SPIE (Vol. 5300, pp. 23-30).