By Harry Abrams

 

What is ethnocentrism? It is the tendency for an individual to assume that one’s own culture and way of life represents the norm and is superior to all others. The ethnocentric person sees his or her own group as the center or defining point of culture and views all others as deviations from what is “normal.” For example, In India, cattle are sacred. In America, cattle are slaughtered for food. Is India wrong for making a cow sacred? Some would say yes, because there are so many people starving in India. A rebuttal could be that there are also people starving people in America and we eat beef daily. Is the American culture wrong and the Indian culture right or is the American culture right and the Indian culture wrong? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you might be an ethnocentric person, especially if you are an American and believe the American way of thinking is superior. One should never condemn the way another individual thinks and behaves, but search for opportunities to converse with individuals from different parts of the world and those in America who were born in different time periods.
Before 2003, the United States leadership assumed the Iraqis would adapt to a new form of government. As I observed how America made plans to build a democracy in the Middle East, I knew without a doubt, it would fail. As a sailor on board a United States ship and often visiting with the locals in Iraq, I learned that the Iraqi culture would not be transformed in the same way it was in Germany and Japan following World War II. It never has and never will happen in the Middle East. Here is the reason why: In the Iraqi culture, unlike the German and Japanese cultures, loyalty to the immediate family and extended family comes before patriotism. For example, almost half of all people, even in the cities marry a first or second cousin and are predisposed to favor their own kin in government and business dealings. Have you noticed that all gas stations in town employ people from the Middle East? Their thinking is simple: Why trust a stranger from outside the family?
Americans criticize this as nepotism, but Iraqis consider this behavior as acceptable and even admirable. Am I right to think the American way is superior to the Iraqi way of thinking? Is the Iraqi wrong for thinking that their way is superior to the American way of thinking? Is it possible for the two regions of the world to live together in peace without forcing the other to believe one’s own culture is superior to the other?
There is nothing wrong with knowing the history of your race, but there is everything wrong with thinking that your race is superior to all other races. This kind of thinking divides instead of uniting and produces divided nations and a divided states of America, instead of a united world and the United States of America.
Denigrating other nations and cultures only enhances one’s own patriotic feelings. This kind of behavior does not improve society, but only creates more social problems. What is the solution? The solution for society is to learn to view people’s behavior from the perspective of their own culture. We must learn to examine practices like polygamy, bullfighting, monarchy and racism within the particular context of the cultures in which they are found.
Is it possible for a Christian to be ethnocentric? Does God favor the Jews over other ethnic groups? Did God favor Europe over North American’s native tribes? Does God favor the African continent over other continents? Is God Ethnocentric? If not, why should we be? We must all learn to live with our fellow men and women and when there are questions, pause and ask those questions. Offer relevant and constructive feedback and never think your way is better, but always make an attempt to understand their thinking in the context of their culture. This will help improve society.

Harry Abrams Jr. is instructor specializing in addiction at Port Arthur Community Offender Education.