Racial and tribal misunderstanding.

  

Date Posted: 1/20/2013 10:34:22 PM

Posted By: 30303450  Membership Level: Bronze  Total Points: 5

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Ethnocentrism is a way of putting ourselves at the centre and judging all others by our standards. It is the root of most tribal and racial misunderstandings. While we consider superior and exalt our customs,we look down with scorn on those who behave differently from ourselves. They are lazy,unintelligent,immoral,un-enterprising and materialistic. The more different these people are from us,the stronger the condemnation.
But this outlook raises a key question-what are the criteria for making these judgement? In each society,customs evolve to meet specific needs. It is when outsiders judge these customs against their own,particularly when they are very different,that they find them absurd,illogical or even downright savage.

Here in Kenya as in many parts of Africa,old people are held in very high esteem. Custom demand respect for the old,and in some cases,superstition enforces it by threatening that if the old are treated badly,their ghosts will take revenge on those who were unkind to them. The old people therefore enjoy a great deal of respect;they are consulted in decision-making and they continue to head their households even when their sons are grown up. We find it inconceivable that people could treat their old people in any other way.

When we learnt that some nomadic tribes in Australia and Brazil used to kill their old,we immediately label them as barbaric and uncivilized. And yet,for those people,it was a perfectly practical thing to do. They had to walk long distances in search of pastures,often with enemies in pursuit. The old were a burden and if captured would be tortured to death;it was kinder to kill them.
A further example of apparently strange behavior is the treatment of old people in some modern European families. They put their old rn homes of the aged,a practice which we may find cruel and selfish. Within the framework of these societies,however,this

is quite acceptable. None of those ways is superior to the others. They are all ways of coping with the problem of the old and as long as they do not create discord in the society they are justifiable.

Variations abound in all forms of behavior. What,for example,is the standard form of greeting? For some of us,the American nod of the head and 'Hi'may appear too casual and impersonal. To the Americans ,our elaborate handshaking and exchange of courtesies may appear too ritualistic and a waste of time. Bagand women kneel in greeting. Those sensitive about equality of the sexes may find this behavior objectionable. The French hug and kiss when they meet friends-some Africans may find this embarrassing.

The increased speed of travel has in a sense created a world community. There is even some validity in talking about the international man-one who can travel to any corner of the globe equipped with international language,dress and manners. But shall we become sufficiently internationalized so that we are no longer ethnocentric or shall we always remain intolerant?

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