Prejudice (racial)

Along with generalizations also sometimes comes prejudice. Prejudice is defined by the dictionary as "unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group." Although prejudice may not seem like it affects very much in our daily lives anymore, it is still prevalent whether we realize it or not.

This election year especially has proved to be one of the most revolutionary and remarkable elections that has ever graced this nation. Whether you support Obama or not, his feat of becoming America's next president is an astounding accomplishment. Only 40 years ago it would have been impossible to think that a Black man could hold merely a political office, let alone lead our nation as the President.

Most people have a problem with things that are different from what they know or are used to. However, more people seem to have a problem with the stereotype of the President and this is why I believe Obama's slogan for change was so alluring to people who are fed up with the way the economy is right now and the situation in the Middle East. Because of their inability to cope with change, some people have created horrible ways to counteract and unite against races or religious groups they don't support and it's intolerable.

True Generalizations About Americans

(Don't be thrown off by the title, when I say "true generalizations," I mean generally speaking). Plus, it is usually generalizations about the ways of the culture that are true, not necessarily actions of viewpoints of individuals. 

In an article, "The Young, the Rich, and the Famous," the author writes about American greets (which I mentioned in an earlier blog). However I believe it is a generalization that holds true. when Americans greet one another there is not necessarily a response expected, it has become a type of ritual we have become accustomed to because we have been exposed to and use these greetings multiple times a day.

The author also comments on the individual privacy and independence that Americans value. I think this is also true of American society because most of us growing up are given our own individual private space, a separate bedroom, from our parents. Sometimes by other cultures this can be viewed as anti-social or not wanting a close relationship with other people or family. The author also gives the example of American parents seeing their child fall but letting him pick himself up on his own. This type of independence is not seen in her native Thai culture where parents rush to help their kids up when they fall. The American tradition is also for children to leave home when they become 18 years old and either start work or head off to college. It has become the custom of the U.S. to teach children to become progressively independent from their family and to help themselves from an early age. 

A Good Foreign View of America

Understanding how other people view America can be helpful because it allows interactions to be easier and more enjoyable. If a foreigner thinks that you are condescending or trying to impose your ways on them, then they are less likely to be accepting towards you. If we, as Americans, consciously make an effort to try and dispose of the stereotypes that people from other countries hold, maybe they will eventually disappear. Views of America are varied and usually are one extreme or the other.

In "My American Glasses," one author, Ramos, sings high praises for certain aspects of the U.S. He admires the idea of diversity and "heterogeneity" that creates the "varied number of cultural inputs from the most diverse origins." He undoubtedly hold the view that America is virtually a large "melting pot" of cultures from all over the world and admires this.

Americans and Stereotypes

In Distant Mirrors, one author pointed out that many people in America have very narrow-minded concepts of people in the Middle East, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Merely hearing the word Islam can invoke incorrect ideas about all Muslims in many Americans' heads and we are influenced by what we hear form the media. In general, the media portrays all Muslims as terrorists but we know this is not true. We know that this only accounts for a very small percentage of Muslims. 

Nevertheless, our stereotypes of Muslims and Middle Easterners persist, often because of the preconceived notions that the media has led us to believe. Maybe the media in other countries can account for the generalizations that foreigners believe about the United States. By reading about the authors' attitudes towards and experiences in America, we can gain better insight of how people in other countries view America. Understanding how other people view America can be helpful because it can allow interactions to be easier and more enjoyable. If a foreigner thinks that you are condescending or trying to impose your ways on them, then they are less likely to be accepting towards you.

Cultural Greetings

I decided to make this blog about Crossing Cultures, my first year seminar that I had last semester. I really enjoyed it and learned many things about different cultures because of the variety of the people in our class. One of the most interesting things we learned about in that class was that different cultures or societies view our "greetings." 

Many of the authors in the books we read commented on how in the United States  people appear to be more caring than they really are because we say "Hi, how are you?" One author commented that she thought the person really wanted to know how she was and went into a long spiel about her feelings and the other person had a confused look on their face. In our culture, these greetings have become ritualized. We don't think about when we say "How are you?" and we don't expect a detailed answer back. These exchanges have just become habit in passing. So next time you ask someone how they are doing, listen to their answer and lend a genuine ear.