Question

Three key concepts discussed in Chapter 1 are social distance, ethnocentrism, and theDillingham Flaw. Can you offer any examples of any of these from your own experiences and/or observations with family, friends, and neighbors, on campus or at work?

Answer 1

Ethnocentrism is a belief that the individual themselves are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage. This can be purely related to problems of both racism and prejudice.
In history, ethnocentrism has been widely observed. European imperialism, as the practice of taking over the other lands, which was heavily practiced by the European countries from the beginning of sixteenth century. Colonies of United States, India, Africa in etc. were some of the colonial regions that the Europeans tried to control from overseas. They believed both Africa and the Americas to be primitive societies based on hunting and farming, and felt that they needed to take over these nations in order to bring them up to speed with modern technologies. Traces of this sense of European ethnocentrism are still evident today, like in schools in Europe, world studies courses tend to focus solely on the history of the United States and Europe, and ignore other parts of the world.
So, in conclusion , ethnocentrism is a powerful force that weakens human relations. Despite the cultural differences, we are all still human. There is no intrinsic difference between Hindu and a Christian, a black and a white, a Chinese citizen and a American citizen, and so forth. We can all take in the part that the history and the errors of our ancestors do not make us blind but make us wise.