The United States is an amalgamation of different communities, races, and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the earliest inhabitants of the modern-day united states were the western Native Americans. However, the white American immigrants fleeing European persecution would find their way into the United States. However, the interactions between the two groups were largely influenced by ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism occurs when one group feels its cultural approach is superior to the other. Ethnocentrism is fraught with cultural bias, both conscious and unconscious. Sadly, the phenomenon pervades modern society. The following paper assesses ethnocentrism concerning the early inhabitants of the United States and modern society.
Ethnocentrism significantly affected the interaction between the Native Americans and white American immigrants. One of the major effects of ethnocentrism in the early interactions was the bias exhibited by the white immigrants against the Native American community members. The white immigrant, for instance, viewed the culture of the Native Americans as weak and wrong. Subsequently, they attempted to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, the major religion of the white American immigrants (Kamensky et al., 2019). Additionally, they sought to introduce their form of education to the Native American community. The Native American community education system involves the elders educating the younger community members. However, the immigrant introduced formal schools and formal education. Moreover, ethnocentrism drove the calls and eventual removal of the Native Americans from their lands to give way for the immigrants to institute cotton plantations (Kamensky et al., 2019). This move went against the land tenure approach of the Native Americans while also ignoring their cultural grounds.
Ethnocentrism continues to pervade modern society. Members of certain communities continue to feel that their culture is superior to others. This is often actualized through judging other cultures based on one’s beliefs rather than acknowledging cultural and experiential differences. An example of modern-day ethnocentrism is the expectation that all inhabitants of the united states should speak in English. This belief ignores the cultural beliefs and experiences of other cultures. Additionally, judging the diets of their cultures. Americans could view the diets of other communities as gross and disgusting. For instance, Americans could believe that eating guinea pigs is disgusting. However, this is essentially judging other people’s cultures unfavorably based on one’s cultural superiority (Wilkins et al., 2019).
Ethnocentrism is also evident in international relations. An example of ethnocentrism is colonialism (Filc, 2015). Colonialism was predicated on the belief that certain communities were inferior, hence applying colonialism to subjugate their territory. Colonialism resulted in the introduction of imperialist cultures and value systems. Moreover, the continued effort by western nations to introduce western ideals such as democracy across the globe is another form of ethnocentrism. This approach essentially asserts that western culture is superior to other civilizations. However, an ideal position would allow all communities to explore their political beliefs freely.
In conclusion, the paper assesses ethnocentrism concerning the early inhabitants of the United States and modern society. Ethnocentrism influenced the relationship between Native Americans and white Americans, as highlighted by efforts by the whites to introduce their cultural beliefs and values. Nevertheless, ethnocentrism is apparent in modern society and international relations.
References
Filc, D. (2015). Latin American inclusive and European exclusionary populism: colonialism as an explanation. Journal of Political Ideologies, 20(3), 263–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2015.1075264
Kamensky, J., Sheriff, C., Blight, D. W., Chudacoff, H. P., Logevall, F., Bailey, B., & Beth, M. (2019). A People and a Nation: A History of the United States (11th ed.). Norton.
Wilkins, S., Butt, M. M., Shams, F., & Pérez, A. (2019). The acceptance of halal food in non-Muslim countries. Journal of Islamic Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1108/jima-11-2017-0132
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