Textual Evidence - Essay Example

Ethnocentrism, also popularly referred to as the anthropological concept of cultural relativism does not imply that everything is equal, but is means that we must try to understand the behaviors of other people in the context of their culture before they are judged. Ethnocentrism is basically the belief that one thing which may be a nation, an ethnic group or culture as being superior compared to others. It is evident from the article that the mindset of Benjamin Franklin mirrors the ethnocentric attitude.

The statement of Native Americans is purely ethnocentric on its own since Benjamin finds the Native Americans to be savages due to the fact that their manners differ significantly from those of the European race which Benjamin in his own words terms as “the perfection of civility” (1). The fact that it is general knowledge that manners are a cultural custom which has been found to differ from one group to another makes terming one’s way of doing things as the “perfection of civility” when compared to the custom of other cultures as being