Intense Preference For Own Group example essay topic
Alan Singer (1994: 285), looks at ethnocentric ty as a 'political and religious movement that uses historical information for the creation of unifying cultural symbols. ' Today, there are Afrocentric's, Eurocentricsandassorted other-centric's. Their goal is to study their culture, understand it on its own terms, recapture it, and make it more a part of themselves. Ethnocentricity is the ethnically, or culturally, bound way of viewing one " sown ethnic origins.
In its vituperative form, it espouses superiority over other groups. In its earlier, passive form, it gathers knowledge of its own culture to use to strengthen that same culture. We all have a need to belong to a community we can call our own. The building or re-creation of such a community allows us to appease this need. However, when the same building or re-creating becomes limiting, when it locks the doors to our understanding of others or acknowledging belong to a different community, it is ethnocentric ty bordering on racism.
Bibliography
Souza, D (1995) 'Is Racism a Western Idea?' American Scholar, 64 (4), pp.
517-539. Pettman, J (1986) 'What Is Racism?' Anti-Racism: A Handbook for Adult Educators.
A GPS. Canberra. Pp. 3-10. Singer, A (1994) 'Reflections on Multiculturalism.