Reflective Essay: Ethnocentrism

Throughout this semester, as a class we have had to keep a personal blog, which was used to reflect on what we learned through videos, articles, essays and our text-book.  In this essay I am going to reflect on what I have learned or unlearned throughout the duration of this course. Through learning different theories and realities I have begun to look at the world through a “multi-perspective approach.”

As we began the year we looked, and discussed many different core concepts, such as sociological imagination, and global sociological imagination. The one concept that really stuck out for me was ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism is a core concept that we as a class discussed at the beginning of the semester, and has followed us right through the course. I have even discussed it in my Anthropology course. At the beginning I had no idea what it meant or how it manifested itself. Ethnocentrism is, according to W.G. Summers “the ‘view of things on which one’s own group is the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it.’” I still did not understand exactly what it meant until we stopped and discussed what it meant. It was like a light going off inside my head, I now realized what it was, and that I was ethnocentric without even knowing it.

I understand now what it means. In my own words it means, to think that my own nation is better than everyone else’s, and other nations are lower than mine because mine is superior.  I became aware that whenever I spoke about Canada or other countries, I would say that Canada was much better than, say the United States, in our policies, morals and ideals, but that was not the case. May countries are much better than Canada in their ideals and morals, but I would not hear of it.

When I realized I was wrong, it changed how I viewed the world, how I listened to people, and how I spoke to people. It changed my way of life. In anthropology we spoke about this concept as well, and it helped me look at Cannibal cultures, not as gross and immoral, but just as a different culture, no better or worse than mine.

A topic that ethnocentrism helped me think and discuss about was “racism.” As we discussed racism, we had a group discussion about which country was more racist, Canada or the United States? Many said that the U.S.A. was much worse than Canada, because they were more open in how they persecuted people. Immediately, I understood that many people were being ethnocentric, and that Canada and the U.S.A. are equal in how racist they are.

Over the duration of this course I have changed to a in the way I view situations, there is always more than one story. The way I view people, we all have similarities and no one is better or worse than anyone else. And it has also allowed me to grow academically as a person. I feel like I have broadened my mind in certain aspects, and I have only take one Sociology course. This course has been a lot of fun and has encouraged me to make new friends and learn new things to expand my horizons.

Social Justice Event – November 10: Ghana Field School Students Colloquium

I went to the Ghana School Event where Kwantlen students came back and talked about their experience in Ghana and the places they volunteered at. I learned so many things from this event that it is hard to decide which part influenced me the most.  The fact that all these students came back from their jobs to speak about their experiences in Ghana, was very inspirational. I observed that they all not only gave their time and skills but they also received so much more back. They were able to share stories and give young children joy, but they also received love, encouragement, and lessons.  All of the stories were very interesting, because they not only shared their accomplishments, but also their fears. It made me realize that even though most of the students were nervous about going on the trip they went anyway. Yes, they need to go for their school program, but they all said that they also wanted to go to learn and help others. It was very moving. My high school did something similar, but they went to the Philippines where, our school has helped build a town. I remember they always came back with stories of joy and laughter, but also stories of change and discovery, and that is what I saw during the presentations.  I also witnessed a sense of community between all the students that went, to me they felt like a family, joking around with each other, reminiscing, and comforting one another. I was surprised by how close the member seemed to be, but after, I thought, why wouldn’t they be? Some of them spent a long time with each other and got to know each other well. So not only did they experience a new place, but they also, in some cases, made lifelong friends. Friends who will be able to remember the fun they had and how much they grew together.

 That was another thing I observed. They all spoke about how they had grown in the weeks they were in Ghana, especially the ones who had not traveled a lot. They all said that they grew mentally and emotionally in the time they spent there. It was motivating to hear how much they changed. All of the students talked about how welcoming the people were in Ghana, a wedding group even stopped to take pictures with them. Many said that even though many people in Ghana did not have everything we in Canada have, they were happier than any Canadian was. It was eye opening they said, and for me it was also. I am very glad I went to this Social Justice Event because it really opened my eyes to the impact of others.

Group Discussion

Types of Segregation: Genocide in Rawanda

Group Discussion: Racism in Canada and the U.S.A.

I think that the USA and Canada are very similar, in the perspective of racism. I think it is ethnocentric for a Canadian to say that Canada is less racist than the United States. In one of the videos we watched in class, one of the speakers said that for the elite crimes are named differently than the crimes of average citizens. This reminded me of a story, I read about in the newspaper. I can’t remember if it was in the US or Canada, but a high ranking man, stole a ring from a jewellery store, and it was not said that he stole it, but that he pocketed it. It was unbelievable!

Race (Video)

Affective Reading

The most recent movie we watched in class was about race. There were so many things I learned from the movie. I knew that race was a social construct because I learned it in cultural anthropology, but I did not know that every individual from the same “race” has less in common than they do with a person from another “race.” That blew my mind!

While I was watching the movie I felt that everything they were saying made sense. If you think about it there is no biological evidence for “race,” and yet some people still think there is. I felt enlightened by the amount of interesting information that the movie told. The information about the so called “mongrels” and how the holocaust was an example of people trying to eradicate the mixed people was so interesting to me.

I believe that, as it said in the film, “race” does exist, there is no doubt about it, but that it has any biological backing, no I do not believe that. I believe it is important for all humans to begin to realize that we are all the same species and that is not going to change. We must begin to appreciate each other as we are, or there are going to be more wars to come.

I know that there is a very big movement toward race equality but also to begin to not look at the person as their skin but as the people they are inside. Without this realization, I know that our world will never be a happy and joyous place.

Total Institutions (Video)

Affective Reading

In the video about total institutions, I felt nervous and a little scared that in a simple experiment such as this one; human beings could lose themselves to a situation.  The students pretending to be the officers of the jail really took on the role of officers forgetting that the other students were not really criminals. The students were all probably nice kids, but as soon as the situation began to lead, the students just followed suit, not realizing that they were harming other human beings.

                I have seen a documentary about this incident before and back then I thought it was really scary. I think I felt scared because, it was not that any of those students were bad, evil people, but in the experiment they turned out to be malicious and hurtful.  Something they probably did not expect to be. They became governed by their positions of power, not realizing it. I think that is the scariest part. They did not even realize that they were actually taking on the persona of their position. This could happen at any time to anyone, regardless if they are a friend or a boss. If they are in a position of power they will take on that persona and as we saw in the movie, could potentially hurt everyone around them.

I believe that the experiment was very successful in showing the world what could happen to anyone of them. The students were not in positions of power outside the experiment, and yet they immediately took on that persona, to the detriment of the other students.

I know it is difficult to not take on roles when we are put into them. It even happens to young people. When older children are put in charge of his or her younger siblings for the night, that child takes on the persona of the parents, ordering the other siblings around, asserting their authority by threatening to tell their parents the bad things their siblings have done, etc. It happens to us, as humans every day; we must begin to realize what happens and try to avoid devastating consequences.

Not Just One Story (Video)

Affective Reading

After watching this video in class I felt a realization that I was not the only person in the world. My ideas were no the only ideas and my way of thinking was not the correct way to view or think of the world. By the way the speaker talked about the issue of single-mindedness, I felt that the danger of this way of thinking, will not only affect the world but also me, as an individual. I feel now, that it is an important issue that must be discussed in thorough.

Now that I realize the importance of this issue I think that as an individual it is my responsibility to ensure that I watch, in my self, for single-mindedness. Just like ethnocentrism, in my opinion, single-mindedness is ingrained into our culture and individual lives. Listening to Chimamanda Adichie’s stories about the different people she met and stereotypes that they had about her and many other people, was enlightening. This got me thinking about the things that I say, about other cultures or people, not knowing anything about them or their traditions. I usually only look at the bad, and do not consider the good. Now that it has been brought to my attention, I am able to pick out my single-mindedness, and hopefully correct them through asking questions and research.

I believe that it is every individual’s responsibility to ensure that they learn a significant amount of views or stories before making any assumptions. I also believe that Chimamanda Adichie was correct in saying that we as citizens of the world, “must look at all the stories and reject the single story,” because most often the single story in incomplete and false.  

I know that every person in the world, including myself, rely, mainly on single-mindedness. I know that it is a flaw that can destroy relationships and allow false judgments. I know now that ones life is not based on one story, but on millions of stories, and that is what makes each individual person. It is the same with nations and countries the single story that we receive from people is usually not the whole truth.