Randell WoodfieldRandell WoodfieldLoupu NyenlekewoiMarch 30, 2011INT 202Mr. SayersSummation PaperWhat is diversity means to a person, I have always wondered about this while in my INT 202 (Exploring Diversity) class? We discussed the various topics but culture relativism, , ethnocentrism, stereotype and prejudice stuck with me. I am writing you this information as an African person to feel proud about your culture and change some prejudice or stenotypes you have. I came to learn that we all have prejudice, stereotypes and our culture influences us as a person. This can lead to discrimination of a particular person or group. We might also feel that our culture is the best which is called ethnocentrism but I learn that all culture is beautiful and unique in its own way. Every way of life of a given society is relative to their culture beliefs.
I am going to discussed culture relativism through the views of our African traditions. I have come to appreciates my African culture notion of a person is not separate from the world; they are united and bond with the natural and social environment one live. Which means in most western society independence is more suited but in our culture we are bound by the people and community we live. For example a female cannot leave her parents house until she is married. This might seem like women are held in contempt but the logic of this practice is that she needs security and another family to take care of her when she leaves. I have always have problems with this practice being brought up in a western society but to my surprise the Indian culture practice this same form of traditions. This make me questions some of my notions on my African tradition I felt was wrong. For example the Female circumcision, I have always judge and attack this practice. Even though I am still against this practice but have seen the reason why my tribe centuries ago choose this practice might have had a cultural relativism of their time. I have been thinking lately about this African proverb “A person is a person through persons”. Our culture of each ethnic group centers on family and can be found in each groups art, music and oral literature. Our culture beliefs in interrelationships and how no man can stand alone. Independence is taught a lot In western society, that good and all but our traditions of sticking together should be appreciated We can argue about what practice of a society is right and wrong but saying a particular society practice is right is some of the issues we discussed.
When I came to United States African culture I saw my culture in portray negatively. African culture was portrayed in negative moral judgments on how we organize our lives. This practice leads to others seeing themselves superior and never having to stop and ask why these people live this way. Ethnocentrism can be practice by everyone. For example African people think American women I too open and wild when it come to sexual experiences. I know growing up we was always told while you exposing your body like American women and not leaving some mystery for your husband to explore. This is to show that we all have an ethnocentrism attitude to our cultural beliefs. Another form of ethnocentrism we discussed in my class is the ability human has to see their way of life as better than others. This comes from a notion of survival of the fittest, because every race and people wants to see their kind survive. This has been done through generations of western societies in colonize countries who infringe their beliefs on those they taught was inferior to them. An example is through one of the presentation of the movie Sarafina when the white of their society refuse to teach the students of the blacks about their heritage. This was due to the reason that the white people taught their beliefs were better and the black South African ways was not good. This can lead to some stereotype of the other culture.
Stereotype can be form by others of another group in order for them to understand the attitude of that group. One of the stereotypes we discussed in class was the notion of African American women being loud and aggressive. I told my class about a story of how a police officer stops me and somehow expected me to be rude and aggressive but instead I was the want afraid of him. We discussed by all means we all have some form of stereotypes of other groups. For example we disused my stereotypes I had stated early about how American women I view by my people. My classmates were very open about their stereotypes that they have of different groups within our society. For example the stereotypes of
s, “African American men don’t come from outside the U.S. I’ve had some that are white, but not other Caucasian men. There are some instances of Asians, of Native Americans, of Latinos and of Native Americans in some cultures. They look like real people, they are real. But there are a number of stereotypes they have or are told not to think about.”
Often a stereotype about a person or group can be a result of some other fact. If an Asian woman is a little shy about how much “big” her mouth can get if she gets a lot of compliments from a black man, she may be doing it to get a few compliments. If it’s a white woman it is probably to get more Asian customers (like the Asian woman at the bar). But the stereotype that a black woman with a black mouth is always getting compliments from a white woman is a result of the fact that white people do not want the two of them to get along, and therefore their behavior is in competition. As I was sitting up, I could tell by the tone on the phone that most white people would never talk about black people, who are more physically active and more social, with black people they treat them the same as if they belonged, and in fact even treat white people as though they were like some kind of equal. To me every person in class is equally as vulnerable, but one problem I had was how to understand white people being afraid of black people, especially that they treat it as though it was something negative. To me at least it does seem like being fearful of being treated positively is something to be ashamed of.
In my own class I found that all the black people that were watching me were very supportive. However, some of the black people that responded to my class who were extremely rude to me, were very serious about saying so and to be more sensitive towards their reactions, so I was much more comfortable when I said things to them that I didn’t even consider being funny. The racism in class became more and more obvious because of this as it seems they all began to feel the pain of being in a relationship with a black person as though he was a different set of behaviors and that was becoming more and more common. Because of this I began thinking that all the black folks that were watching me were like “that kid was so mean to me just last night he used his mouth or was like no one was going to hear what was going on”. These were some of the racist slurs I heard at school. Many of the racist comments I got from people that have been through some of these experiences. But I was only able to talk about a small part of what I saw with a very small group of people.