Culture Relativity and Ethnocentrism
...across and posted on the message board concerns a common criticism of cultural relativity. This statement mentions the fact that during Hitler’s regime the murder and torture of the Jewish people should be condoned by cultural relativity because at this time it was a cultural norm. This basically opens the door for all hideous crimes committed by nations to be excused quoting the phrase cultural norm. Hopefully as time wears on the definition can become more explicit and stop the manipulation that surrounds it at present. Something that should be considered is that we are all ethnocentric, upon realizing this we can begin to start looking at the world with a clearer concept of cultural relativity. Ethnocentrism: There is as I see it a couple of ways to define ethnocentrism, one of those is making false assumptions about other cultures and people based on our own limited knowledge or put another way judging others cultures by using our own as the measurement (the your wrong were right attitude). Ethnocentrism is as I said earlier is a problem we all suffer from and can surface in minor ways, as an English men I often here the remark oh you drive on the wrong side of the road there. Which really should be you drive on the opposite side or words similar to that. A major problem with this concept is the fact it leads us to misinterpret or misunderstand others. We lose the point others make to us by distorting the things they say or do to suit are own culture and society. Racism is an issue that although condemned by most nations, is still in most if not all communities across the globe. Of course the main problem of racism is the lack of understanding towards another culture, African American for instance are still fighting the stigma of slavery (which some people still believe makes them 2nd class citizens). Myself as an Englishman, I continue to fight the class war imposed on us during the feudal system, so how long it will take for slavery to be abolished from our minds I’m afraid there no real answer to that yet. An in appropriate way this is seen, is the way mixed couples are frowned upon by either side of there race and discouraged from forming any strong ties. Ethnic cleansing is another subject that comes und...