American Societys Point of View Towards Other Races - Essay Example

American Society’s Point of View Towards Other Races There is no denying the fact that the American society predominantly happens to be a multicultural society and the United States of America happens to be the home to people affiliated to diverse cultures and races. Thereby the American society is largely inclusive in its scope and tends to be tolerant and open minded towards other races and cultures. Yet, it also stands to be true that there is a large section of the populace in the American society that is not only least accepting of other races and cultures, but also distinctly evinces an attitude of superiority towards other races and cultures. It is indeed disheartening to know that in the current times when the world is fast shrinking and people are coming closer, there is still a segment of the American society that is not only disrespecting of other races and cultures, but positively harbors an attitude of disrespect and disgust towards them. Hence, it is a reality that does need to be acknowledged that even in the current times, a section of the American society holds an unfavorable opinion of the other races that gets mostly manifested as ethnocentrism, stereotyping, xenophobia and prejudice. It is a well known fact that America happens to be a developed society that has accrued much progress in the sphere of economy, scientific knowhow, quality of life and military superiority. These economic and scientific achievements of the United States of America do have secured a foremost place for it on the international platform. Yet, this progress in no way conveys that the American people happen to be superior to other people or races. However, sadly speaking, there are Americans who going by the material and scientific progress of America do hold that the American people are far superior to other races. This belief that one’s native race or culture happens to be better and superior to other races and cultures is called ethnocentrism (Mantovani 132). This ethnocentric approach towards other races not only happens to be utterly narrow in its scope, but the Americans adhering to such worldview often commit the mistake of overlooking the fact that though not many nations may be as affluent or developed as America, still each and every race in this world has a unique culture endowed with specific highlights and peculiarities that ought to be appreciated and admired (Mantovani 132). Marked by their incapacity to acknowledge, understand and appreciate cultural differences, many Americans classify the beliefs and customs of other races as being primitive and backward. This approach towards other races and cultures is indeed misinformed and regretful and curtails the nation’s capacity for learning from the achievements made by other races in the field of arts, culture, environment and language. Just because a nation is economically well to do and scientifically more progressive no way means that the people inhabiting that nation are innately superior to the races inhabiting other parts of the world. The other aspect of the American society that betrays its intolerance and narrow approach towards other races is the phenomenon of stereotyping going by which the Americans tend to heap generalized conclusions and attributes on the people of other races (Schneider 225). For instance many Americans tend to be unaware of the fact the Africa happens to be a continent marked by racial and ethnic diversity and happens to be the home to many rich and thriving cultures. Such Americans instead tend to lump all the races inhabiting Africa as one collective whole and endow it with stereotypical notions and attributes. The irony is that this attitude is not merely limited to Africa. Many Americans do hold stereotypical notions about Asians or for that matter Latin Americans, being totally ignorant of the cultural and ethnic diversity defining these races. It is also a fact that many Americans evince their intolerance of other races by pressing for a harsher and stringent immigration policy (Segal 129). Irrespective of the fact that America happens to be one of the few countries in the world that has been built by the immigrants, and the ancestry of most of the Americans with the exception of the Native Americans could be traced to foreign lands, there is a section of the American society that is xenophobic in its approach towards immigration and happens to be supportive of harsher immigration laws aimed at restricting the entry of the people of other races into the United States of America. This panache for inhibiting the entry of other races into America not only smacks of racial intolerance, but also indicates cultural illiteracy based on a total lack of understanding of the culture and achievements of other races and civilizations. America is a democratic nation that upholds the principles of racial tolerance and equality with a greater zeal as compared to many other nations in the world. Still, this is a fact that nobody can deny that racism is indeed one of the salient issues faced by the nation and there are many people in America who are not averse to holding and expressing prejudice against other races, even if they happen to be their fellow citizens. No doubt, a majority of the Americans are not supportive of racism and the American law and jurisprudence has strict measures in place to combat racism and racial intolerance and hatred. Still, there are people who if given a chance do not desist from expressing their prejudice of and hatred for other races and cultures. Though America is a highly developed nation, still it is a fact that a section of the American society is not tolerant towards and accepting of other races and cultures. Many a times this racial and cultural intolerance gets manifested as ethnocentrism, stereotyping, xenophobia, and prejudice. In fact it is utterly disturbing to see that even in the current times when the world is shrinking and the cultures and races are coming closer to each other, there are Americans who harbor such an attitude towards other races and cultures. Works Cited Mantovani, Giuseppe. Exploring Borders. London: Routledge, 2006. Print. Schneider, David J. The Psychology of Stereotyping. New York: Guilford Press, 2005. Print. Segal, Uma A. A Framework for Immigration. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Print. Read More