Ethnocentrism and Racism, Slides of Cultural Studies

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Ethnocentrism and Racism

And their development of cultural clashes

Racism

• The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

Official Racism

• Passing laws that put a racial group at a political, economic, or social disadvantage, and sanction persecution based off racial characteristics - Ex. “Jim Crow” laws in the United States or Apartheid in South Africa

Ethnocentrism

• Judging another culture based off the values and beliefs of one’s own culture. Often associated with extreme beliefs of racial/ethnic superiority.

Examples of Ethnocentrism

• Eugenics – Attempting to improve the genetic makeup of the human race through selective breeding
• Imperialism/Colonization – The forced replacement of indigenous cultural traits in favor of “superior” European ideals.

Extreme Ethnocentrism

• Extreme beliefs of superiority sometimes lead to desire to remove “impurities” resulting in Ethnic cleansing