Ethnocentrism originates from the word “ethnos” which means groups, nations, tribes or people who live together. And centrism means center. Therefore, the combination of the two words conveys the idea that one group or nation is superior to the other.
Anthropology defines ethnocentrism as someone's vision. that your ethnic group is above all other cultures. This happens in. different strands of society, whether cultural, religious, social or em. relation to the supremacy of skin color.
Usually a person or a group that demonstrates. ethnocentrism, understands that their culture is better than the other and that works. an outlet for prejudice and unfounded thoughts regarding others.
In many cases, the attitude of an ethnocentric person takes over. a position of ignorance in relation to other cultures, races and peoples, o. that generates intolerance, xenophobia, prejudiced attitudes and many others. evils that society faces today.
This proves potentially dangerous when a nation over. powerful contacts a more fragile culture. This happened, for example, when the Portuguese invaded indigenous lands here in Brazil and devastated them. their dwellings, catechizing their peoples as if the culture of the Western people were. superior to theirs.
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Cultures differ in many parts of the world. Although a. globalization has brought nations closer in one way, disrespect in another. it has also gained strength in recent days. Jokes for example in relation to. skirts worn by Scots (kilt), or with the indigenous habit of wearing little or. no clothes, are examples of ethnocentrism.
There is the so-called “cultural relativism” that seeks to understand the. differences in relation to the diversities of the world. As long as ethnocentrism aims. go against any difference, relativism seeks to explore these strands of. way to appease the situation.
This ideology aims to specify the difference between right and. the wrong according to each culture, aiming to show that good and evil is. relative to each. It means what is wrong for a given. group, it may not be for another.
The strong mix we see today of races, peoples and cultures. different in Brazil comes from the time of slavery, where many peoples. immigrants started to be inserted in Brazilian soil, many of them against. own will, as was the case with African slaves.
And although this diversity is beautiful, unfortunately many. people insist on proclaiming themselves better than others, which results in no. an increase in intolerance in the nation and, with it, innumerable disturbances in daily life. of citizens.
It is always good to remember that the origin of ethnocentrism is well-founded. from the cradle. Prejudiced family environments generate citizens. prejudiced people. If within the family, a child encounters intolerance. religious or prejudice against cultures other than their own, the tendency is that. this paradigm continues with the next generation.
Therefore, prejudiced inheritances can generate discrimination. passed from father to son, generation after generation until the break of this cycle. dangerous.
There, at the time of Brazilian colonization, the Jesuit priests. mentioned at the beginning of the article, tried to insert a different culture than. indigenous peoples and African slaves were used to it.
By catechizing these peoples, the imposition gave the impression that they had no right to speak. Their culture was considered inferior to the peoples of the West and this ignorance generated prejudice against indigenous customs and against African peoples, including in a religious sense. Lack of knowledge of other peoples is one of the reasons that lead to hatred and intolerance.
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Intolerance in a religious sense refers to the diverse. ways of facing God, preached by many peoples in different parts of the. world. Having your own religion means one thing. Hate the form of worship. the next is quite another. That's where ethnocentrism comes in.
One way to synthesize this kind of thinking is. again attached to the crib. Tolerant families help their children to be. tolerant and respect the opinion of others in every way, including. religious.
Otherness refers to a more "open-minded" connotation in relation to the differences. This ideology sees that although we are all the same. before God, we have our own characteristics that distinguish us from others.
And this makes us perceive the neighbor as ourselves. This word, alterity, refers to the idea of having a vision of the other. In others. words, alterity means that we observe the differences between the two. cultures when we look to the next.
It was in 1906 that sociologist William G. Sumer created the. concept of ethnocentrism, defining the word as someone or a group who themselves. feels superior to others. This concept has been around for many years. An example. that's when the invaders of Rome were called hair barbarians. natives.
We differ from each other in many ways. Be. difference in race, culture, skin color, religion and even the manner of. see life. And these differences are part of our DNA and our formation. It is normal for us to see these diversities.
Even in nature in general this happens. Did you know, by. example, that there are more than 10,000 different species of apple? That's right, a single fruit has so much diversity, why can't the human being?
This happens to animals too. There are several species. from the same class of animals and we admire them all. Nature too. reproduces different types of flowers and different vegetables, and each of them has the. its role in the environment.
Ethnocentrism makes the big mistake of not just trivializing. these differences as well as demoralizing them. Believing that the other is worse. because he has darker skin or slanted eyes, or wears little clothing or wears. feathers on the head. Does it change what the person really is?
The false idea of superior race generates violence and lots of it. regrettable situations, as was the case in Germany at the time of the Holocaust. THE. Hitler's idea of racial superiority resulted in thousands of deaths. of Jews, men, women, elderly and children.
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