The Result of Imperialistic Ideology on Culture in Africa

April 12, 2019 by Steven Strauser Leave a Comment

Photo credit: Credit: Ed Kashi/VII – CPI News Corp

Over the last few hundred years, the pan-African societies and culture has gone through many changes and much adversity. One of the most historical changes that has been detrimental to the continent has been the division of people, land and cultures during the European colonization of Africa. The division of land was imposed by imperialist European countries and leaders. The Dutch, Germans, French and English, to name a few, through imperialist ideology and policy are responsible for shaping much of the cultural dynamics in Africa. The landscape has been divided into very distinct cultures and countries within the continent. This division has caused much of the human suffering and ongoing regional conflicts. In this piece we will examine two major impacts of how imperialist ideology and policy shaped the overall culture in Africa. The two main topics we will focus on are conflicts stemming from socio-economic policy and the conflicts resulting from the incorporation and division of religious doctrine.

Africa has always been known for its beauty, resources, nature, scenery and endless open landscapes. Between the year of 1870 and early 1900, Europeans discovered these enriching entities and through aggressive diplomatic pressure, military invasion and hostile suppression, set forth toward the motherland with intent to occupy the land. The Europeans were motivated by the economic, political and social factors that were in place at the time of the discovery. As the invasion ensued and new lines were drawn in Africa, what was called “the great scramble” for Africa, would change the continent forever. One of the outcomes that has caused much conflict was the socio-economic policy imposed by the British. The new policy of governing laws, taxation and social processes led to the the dilution and dismantling from the African culture. The specifics of this occurrence was illustrated well by Dr. Moses Ochonu who is an associate professor of African history at Vanderbilt University.

“Modern Nigeria emerged through the merging of two British colonial territories in 1914. The amalgamation was an act of colonial convenience. It occurred mainly because British colonizers desired a contiguous colonial territory stretching from the arid Sahel to the Atlantic Coast, and because Northern Nigeria, one of the merging units, was not paying its way while Southern Nigeria, the other British colony, generated revenue in excess of its administrative expenses.” (Ochonu, 2017).

What we learn from this was the British built an infrastructure that stretched over various communities of people. The infrastructure and systems that were built were unmanageable, unrealistic and were not sustainable by the global leaders that enacted these policies. After years of Britain’s influence on Africa’s culture and policy, not only were the systems not working but when the British fleeted after Africa gained its sovereignty back, it was too late. This event led to wars that are still going on to this day. Not only was this socio-economic policy and strategy a disaster, it also lead to other cultural impacts like the influence of new from the Muslim conquest to the crusades, the surmounting war in Africa religious doctrine.

Throughout history, religious indifference has caused the death of millions of people throughout the world. One of the present day conflicts in Africa that stem from the European imperialist colonization are the wars caused from religious inequality and domination. … Affected natives converted into Christianity because colonizers presented their religion as a sign of protection and prosperity in one hand and declared false to the natives’ culture and tradition on the other hand.” (Mehood, 2017). After Africa gained back its independence, the lines that were once drawn, vanished. With no infrastructure, the transformation of religious doctrine and the arrival of new religions ideology and policy, Africa is facing severe consequences.

“As a religious problem, the problem of suffering is, paradoxically, not how to avoid suffering, but how to suffer, how to make of physical pain, personal loss, worldly defeat, or the helpless contemplation of others’ agony something bearable, supportable – something, as we say, sufferable.” (Geertz, 1973)

Furthermore we can see that global imperialism, even with good intention can have detrimental impacts on a culture and society. There is an old saying that goes “the road to hell is paved with good intention.” (N.a). Having good intention to colonize land that possesses what one most desires can oftentimes lead to destructive dehavior and cause unforseeable damage. In the case for Africa, it has been just that. In the midst of a land that is beautiful, there is much pain and suffering. This suffering as we can now see stems from a failed socio-economic policy and a division of religion doctrines by the means of an imperialistic ideology.

Written By: Steven Strauser

Pennsylvania State University – Organizational Leadership

Work Cited

Lewis, M. (1977). Culture and Conflict in Africa. Millennium – Journal of International Studies. Volume: 6 issue: 2, page(s): 175-181. Retrieved on April 10th 2019 from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03058298770060020601

Mehmood, R. (2017). A critical study of African and South Asian transformation in the result of British colonization. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, 54(1) Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/1918824015?accountid=13158

Moller, B. (2006). Religion and conflict in Africa with a special focus on East Africa. Danish Institute for International Studies. Retrieved on April 11th 2019 from https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/20975/RP_06_6.pdf

Peter Abrahams. (1954). The Conflict of Culture in Africa. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), 30(3), 304-312. Retrieved on April 9th 2019 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/2605750?pq-origsite=summon&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

Ochonu, M. (2017). The roots of Nigeria’s religious and ethnic conflict. Pri News. Retrieved on April 11th 2019 from https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-10/roots-nigerias-religious-and-ethnic-conflict

Who Really Am I?

September 7, 2018 by Madeline "BigAngel" Escobar Leave a Comment

WHO AM I???

Culture is a beautiful thing! Belonging to something and having a sense of identity is amazing! but what if you feel like you don’t belong in any specific culture? What if your own culture is foreign to you? What if your own culture treats you like an outsider instead of one of their own? Culture and diversity can be difficult to understand and interesting to learn about. In the book by Moran et al. he says that “Traditions express a particular culture, giving its members a sense of belonging and uniqueness.” (Moran, R., Abramson, N., Moran, S., 2014). But what was my culture, what Tradition?

Puerto Rican? New York Rican? Gringa?

In New York City, the hispanic community does not view me as a hispanic they claim that my Spanish is too well spoken (ha ha) and when I travel to Puerto Rico, the Puerto Ricans do not view me as a Puerto Rican-American. They call me “gringa” or New York Rican, because I do not speak the Puerto Rican “slang” that I really did not learn because I was not raised there. I did live in Puerto Rico for seven years and I learned about the culture and the amazing food! However, I always felt like an outsider because I was always treated like an outsider because I was different from them. The same thing happens when I visit the Puerto Rican neighborhoods in New York City, I feel like an outsider because I am not like them at all. I was not raised in the Puerto Rican neighborhoods. I do not speak the way they do, they call me a “white girl” So who am I? What culture can I identify myself with? So where do one belong when they do not belong anywhere? Moran et al. says that intentions are important and just like culture perceptions count. (Moran 29). There are different perceptions as to how people view you or interpret who we are. Depending where you are physically, what town, what country, the perceptions of you vary.

Moran says that parents influence their children (Moran 2), while I agree that parents do influence their children and they pass down to their kids what they learned from their parents and from their grandparents. The “vertical identities” as expressed in Andrew Solomon’s book, Far from the Tree, which is cited in Moran et al. (Moran 3). I agree with that point of view, however, I strongly believe that our environment plays a more dominant factor in our development as well, the acquired traits which Solomon refers to as “horizontal identity”.

I spent my childhood in New York City and my teenage years in Puerto Rico but never identified with either culture.!! I often asked myself

“WHO AM I?? where do I belong”?

I was born to a Puerto Rican father and my mother was descendent from Galicia, Spain. So what does that make me? They were so very different! It was so confusing! My mom was very light skinned and my dad had an olive complextion. My dad was a devout Catholic and my mother was a demure and conservative protestant. Growing up I didn’t know which religion was the right one! I just went with the flow. Being the oldest of five children I pretty much made up the rules as we went along. We weren’t allowed to speak English at home, so we basically spoke sign language all day long to avoid getting yelled at by our father. Since my brother was born deaf, it worked well because he was always included in all of our conversations. Our parents never learned sign language, they thought it was just too difficult to learn! The girls were taught to grow their hair very, very long long and never cut it. To wear dresses at all times, because pants were for the boys. We were taught that bicycles were for the boys and girls were prohibited from riding on them. Girls were not allowed to speak to other boys that were not your brothers or part of the family. We were expected to behave in a “demure” fashion and not overly friendly toward the boys. The boys were allowed to do pretty much anything and everything.

My father walked us all to school every single day! and we lived right across the street from the school!!! The kids at school used to call me a “mama’s girl”. Ugh!

When I turned 14 years old, I begged my dad not to walk me to school anymore because the kids made fun of me. So he said he would watch me from the window, as I turned the corner and he could no longer see me, there was a gang in front of the school and they put a knife to my throat and mugged me and I only had a dime in my pocket! They were going to stab me when the school security guard intervened and saved my life! After that I didn’t mind that my father walked me to school or that the kids called me “mama’s girl, however, my parents were afraid and decided to move to the a strange Island of they called paradise by the name of Puerto Rico shortly thereafter.

Puerto Rico was beautiful and the air smelled so good, but the people were strange. The people looked strange to me, they starred at us, spoke in a foreign language, and much too fast. I did not understand them. They laughed at my pointy shoes, they laughed at the way I spoke Spanish. Even my cousins called me names, something they always called others was “Jíbara” which were a class of unsophisticated class of Puerto Ricans who were often ridiculed for their peculiar dialect. Others thought that all five kids were all deaf mutes because we used sign language to communicate at all times.

Spanish, English or Spanglish?

We were afraid to speak Spanish so that we wouldn’t be made fun of and at home we were afraid to speak English because our dad would get mad, so we became experts at sign language. So what does this have to do with culture? Everything I guess, we became unique and different in our own way. Not belonging to any specific culture but creating a world of our own. How about a little Spanglish? (Alphaomegatranslations.com)

In search for a better understanding of the Puerto Rican culture I read a book titled “When I was Puerto Rican“ written by Esmeralda Santiago. It was very interesting, she also had the same experience but in the reverse. I could identify with most of it but not all of it. However, I saw some of the same trends, but I did not know what childhood would have been in Puerto Rico because I was grew up in New York as a child and did not know any of the children school songs or customs that everyone in Puerto Rico spoke about. While she yearned for a Puerto Rico that was home to her, I yearned for the New York that was home to me. How frustrating it was!

I couldn’t wait to go back to New York! I did not go back to New York until I had graduated from the University of Puerto Rico (I learned how to read, write and speak Castilian Spanish). By that time, I was already an outsider to my fellow New York Ricans, they claimed my Spanish was too proper. The Puerto Ricans in New York spoke broken Spanish (and broken English), I was and outsider once again.

I moved to a mixed and neutral neighborhood, and I focused on my music, performed Spanish songs at different events and then focused on raising a family. Puerto Rico became a place to spend Summer vacations on our favorite beach, “Crash Boat”. Swinging in the lazy hammocks at the rhythm of the ferocious waves of the ocean.

A new Identity?

So… with all that said a new culture and a forced new identity emerged not by intention, but by necessity. Never emphasizing on any specific customs, my daughters were taught to wear both dresses and pants, to ride a bicycle if they wanted to. They were taught to respect others, to embrace differences, they were taught that people communicate in many different ways. They were even taught sign language! Taught that there is no right or wrong way, but many different people and may different ways. We have learned as we are all different we can all be the same.

I wanted to learn more about my heritage so I had my DNA tested by Ancestry.com and as it turns out, I am 76% European, mostly from Spain (Galicia) , a little Italian, a little Greek and a little Irish and native American Indian. So many different cultures to learn about!

Works Cited:

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. (9^th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Who am I [Image] retrieved http://www.lovethispic.com/image/53167/who-am-i (Sept 5, 2018)

Keep Tranquilo and Habla Spanglish [Image] retrieved from : alphaomegatranslations.com/foreign-language/localizing-with-Spanglish/ (Sept 5, 2018).

DNA Summary, Retrieved from: http://www.Ancestry.com (Sept 5, 2018)

Santiago, Esmeralda, (2006) “When I was Puerto Rican” New York: Da Capo Press

Embracing Culture

March 17, 2018 by mxs1204 Leave a Comment

American Sociological Organization

Culture is very important when it comes to inclusion and diversity. For many years, these words have has a negative connotation associated with them. For some individuals in this country, culture and diversity can be metaphoric with the word different. When we think of someone being different from us, inherently we can feel uncomfortable. In the late 1990’s the word diversity made an entrance into most corporate environments. Diversifying the workforce became essential to all major organizations.

Image result for hofstede culture pyramid

Global HRD Culture

Hoffstede (2001) defined culture as a “mental program”. In his explanation, he focused on how the mental program can include values, behavior and ideas from individuals of a certain social belonging. Social belonging is references individuals from a certain; country, region, workplace team etc. Furthermore, Hofstede (2001) details that there are different behaviors, values, beliefs that fall within certain levels. These include; (1) Personality, (2) Culture and (3) Human Nature. Most of these learned behaviors, when positive, can enhance the environment a person is in, especially if they are in a toxic environment.

Culture, aside from being directly correlated to heritage and someone’s background, can also define the attitudes and practices of a certain group. A department within a work environment, a congregation at a church or even players on a sports team, will exude similar traits or beliefs . As individuals work together towards a certain goal they begin to conform to each other’s attitudes and ideals. Some groups even begin to act like one another.

City Gate Church, church-life community-groups

Josh Rothman, in an article written for “The New Yorker” (2014), expressed,

“And they’d be less meaningful, too. “Culture” may be pulling itself apart from the inside, but it represents, in its way, a wish. The wish is that a group of people might discover, together, a good way of life; that their good way of life might express itself in their habits, institutions, and activities; and that those, in turn, might help individuals flourish in their own ways. ”

One of the challenges in many organizations, is changing the perspectives of the individual’s that struggle with accepting other cultures and their perspectives. To be successful, organizations must create plans of inclusion that diminish the risk of stereotyping and prejudice. Because inclusion is a basic human right that everyone deserves to have, companies must do everything in their power to ensure that a good inclusion and diversity plan is in place. A change management approach could be very effective in introducing the meaning of culture to an organization and the different groups within it.

References:

Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures and organizations: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (Ninth ed.). New York: Routledge.

Rothman, J. The New Yorker. 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.newyorker.com/books/joshua-rothman/meaning-culture

Beyond Diversity – The Inclusion Revolution

January 24, 2018 by Jennifer Rosson 2 Comments

(Blessingwhite)

For the past few years, it seems like “diversity” and “inclusion” have been buzz words in my organization. Like many other global companies, a few years ago, we started making the shift from the idea of diversity as hiring employees from “protected classes” to creating and defining a culture that embraces people from all backgrounds. This new mindset and expanded corporate culture not only recognizes the differences in its employees, but actually celebrates them! It’s an inclusion revolution!

To me, the most impactful change that my organization made was the introduction of the Employee Resource Groups or ERGs. By definition, ERGs are “voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices, and objectives.” (Catalyst, Inc., n.d.) In short, ERGs allow employees from normally excluded groups to create a resource group where they are included. The company promotes and values these groups, which drives the concept of inclusion.

While building our roster of Employee Resource Groups has taken time, there are now 8 ERGs for employees to join and participate in. The most recent ERG to launch is OUT – a group supporting the LGBTQ community and its allies. I was nominated to be a Steering Committee member when this ERG was being formed last year and since our official launch, I moved into the role of Membership Chair. The experience of working with this team has been invaluable and I have learned much more about building a community of inclusion than I ever expected. Our mission itself is inclusive – to empower the LGBTQ community and its allies. I love that we are able to embrace everyone that wants to know more about the LGBTQ community and the challenges OUT employees face.

While there are still opportunities to improve our corporate culture and to further encourage inclusion, I believe these ERGs are a great way for employees to feel empowered and to learn more about culturally diverse groups. I am excited about the possibilities for my OUT group as we head into our first full year as an organization. I am also encouraged by the effort put forth by my company to support and embrace these Employee Resource Groups.

2018 – To Inclusion and Beyond!

References

Blessingwhite. (n.d.). To Inclusion…And Beyond. Blessingwhite.

Catalyst, Inc. (n.d.). ERGs (Employee Resource Groups). Retrieved from Catalyst: Workplaces that Work for Women: http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/topics/ergs-employee-resource-groups

Global-Minded China

January 21, 2018 by Ericka Diaz Leave a Comment

Advances in internet technology have made our world globally interconnected, and accessible to individuals and organizations from varying cultures and economies. Globalization has taken countries like China and India that are traditionally thought of as “Third World” countries, or developing nations that are moving from agricultural to industrial or postindustrial stages, into free-market economies with innovative and lucrative high-technology sectors (Abramson, et al., 2018). In fact, according to Abramson, et al. (2018, p6), “China will soon be the number-one English-speaking country in the world by population.”

The emergence of China as a global leader should come as no surprise. According to an article in the Economist, Shekou (2017), cites an audacious, talented and globally minded generation of entrepreneurs as the driving force that took China from innovating through counterfeit goods to their current position as an emerging superpower. It seems that China always has the entire world in mind when it develops new technological innovations. A great example of this is the Chinese e-marketplace, Taobao. I recently discovered Taobao while researching some Christmas purchases I wanted to make. The website combines lots of shops like Amazon & Ebay, and sells everything from dental floss sticks to authentic luxury goods at Chinese prices! Americans save by shopping on Taobao because our dollar is currently worth $6.40402 Chinese Yuan (The Money Converter, 2018).

The website can be translated using Google Chrome, but if you don’t use Chrome you can watch one of the various you tube tutorials that explain how to search, purchase, and set up shipping. The website is an innovation that highlights the global mindset of the Chinese. Taobao is a subsidiary of Alibaba, China’s largest online wholesale and e-commerce company (Wright, 2014). Alibaba was created to meet the e-commerce needs of China’s enormous population, growing middle class, and its influx exporters, but was designed considering the user experience of individual consumers around the world. This speaks directly to the culture of global mindedness that is embodied by the Chinese people. China seems to recognize its dependence on global accessibility, and has developed educational, economic, and association systems that form a global minded culture that values interconnectivity and inspires innovation.

Taobao offers easy payment options using Alipay, a platform that functions much like PayPal by accepting payments and holding them in escrow pending customer receipt and review of goods. It is supported by Chinese banking institutions and has over half a billion users worldwide. The business review section of MIT Technology Review featured an article that describes Alipay as a technology that is leading “a Digital Finance Revolution in China” (Larson, 2015). According to Larson’s (2015), article, “McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2020, Chinese e-tailing could generate as much as $650 billion in sales, and China’s market “will equal that of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France combined today.” It is clear that a country with a culture that values thinking globally will experience financial advantages in our increasingly diverse business marketplaces.

I was further impressed to find that the China had also responded to the international interest in their marketplace by setting up websites that act as shopping agents! Superbuy is one of those websites, and they assist customers by negotiating price, inspecting products, facilitating customer quality checks, and managing the shipment of products to oversea and international consumers. You simply find the product you want to purchase on Taobao, and make your purchase on Superbuy. When I discovered this cite and its functionality I immediately thought about the customer from China who might be interested in making a purchase from Amazon or Ebay, but cannot read English or pay in US currency. A consumer would certainly feel valued and shop with confidence if someone who could speak their language was helping them through the process.

China has proven that a national culture that is long-term oriented, global minded, able to consider the consumer beyond its own borders will innovate in ways that contribute to our global marketplace and spur the economic and intellectual growth of its people. Evidence of this can be found in the intellectual prowess of the Chinese population wherein “Twenty-five percent of the population in China with the highest IQs and 28 percent in India are greater than the total population of North America” (Abramson, et al., 2018).

A culture that is short-term oriented (PSU WC, L2, 2018) and seeks to only solve the problems of today without giving thought to tomorrow, or that is so individualist as to underestimate its dependence on other nations will not succeed in our converging global marketplace. Americans can learn a lot from the globally inclusive Chinese, and the importance of avoiding ethnocentricity.

References

Larson, C. (2015). Alipay Is Starting to Look Like the Future of Chinese Banking. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/534001/alipay-leads-a-digital-finance-revolution-in-china/

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2018). OLEAD 410 Lesson 2: Introduction to Culture. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640507

The Money Converter. (2018). Convert United States Dollar to Chinese Yuan | USD to CNY Currency Converter. Themoneyconverter.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://themoneyconverter.com/USD/CNY.aspx

Shekou. (2017). The next wave: China’s audacious and inventive new generation of entrepreneurs. Economist.com. Retrieved 21 January 2018, from https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21729429-industries-and-consumers-around-world-will-soon-feel-their-impact-chinas-audacious-and

Wright, C. (2014). Forbes Welcome. Forbes.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswright/2014/09/16/so-what-exactly-is-alibaba/2/#716a867c5855

Conflict in Culture

January 15, 2018 by Jennifer Rosson Leave a Comment

In today’s society, we are constantly reminded that conflicts based on cultural differences are universal. Conflict seems to be everywhere: from Black Lives Matter, the Confederate statue encounters, the TimesUp movement, even not-so-politically-correct statements from our own leaders. All of these are examples of situations where differences in cultural groups are driving sometimes volatile situations. I find myself asking “why can’t we all just get along?”

To answer that question, we first have to look at culture – the driving force behind human behavior – and how it is created. (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014) Even further, we need to understand the values tied to a particular culture and how those are formed. After all, our values are what “determine our behavior”. (Penn State University, 2018)

Creation of values in a human starts at birth and continues throughout our lives, although most of our values are formed by the age of 21. (Penn State University, 2018) As we move through our lives, forming our values, we transition from relying on caregivers, to modeling the values of others, and then finally to our peers by connecting with other people that share similar values to our own. (Penn State University, 2018) These values that we develop shape our behavior as humans and in turn, the collective behaviors in our culture determine our cultural values. (Penn State University, 2018) This is how cultural groups are formed with like-minded values and behaviors.

Stepping back into where we are today as a society and the question of why we see so many conflicts between cultural groups, we now have a sense of just how embedded these cultural values are in each of us. It is not so easy to for some groups or individuals to ignore the actions of others, because they have a deep personal connection to their own cultural values. Even though the actions of another group or person may not impact their lives directly, these actions can sometimes been seen as damaging to the overall integrity of a culture and the values of that culture.

In recent years, as we have transitioned into a more global economy, we have seen companies shift corporate values into a space of diversity and inclusion. This is to recognize the importance of understanding other cultures that we now share work and information with on a daily basis. In similar fashion, we need to now focus on shifting the human culture into a space of diversity and inclusion. To do this, as we are teaching values to our children, those values must include not only diversity and inclusion of others that may be different, but also tolerance. If we can make this shift as a human culture, we may be able to all just get along.

References

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (Ninth ed.). New York: Routledge.

Penn State University. (2018, January 15). Values. Retrieved from OLEAD 410, Lesson 02: Introduction to Culture: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1916378/modules/items/23640509

Ethnocentrism and Elections

January 22, 2017 by cxg374 2 Comments

Given this past week’s events, it was hard for me not to choose another topic on culture to cover other than the recent election and all of the conversation around ethnocentrism it has sparked throughout the country and around the world. I’m going to base this blog on facts as referenced in the noted articles and keep my personal opinions out of it.

This weeks lesson defines ethnocentrism as, “an exaggerated tendency to think the characteristics of one’s own group or race is superior to those of other groups or races.” (Introduction to Culture: Ethnocentrism, 2017). In contrast, the article Trump’s ethnocentrism will bring voters to the polls, pro and con (Patterson, 2016) defines ethnocentrism as, “the tendency to partition the human world into in-groups and out-groups: into “us” against “them.” These groups might be based on nationality, race-ethnicity, or religion, or any other salient social category”. In either definition, the clear point focuses on the “us” against “them” mentality.

As noted in the article Trump’s ethnocentrism will bring voters to the polls, pro and con the findings from applying the term “ethnocentrism” to politics in the 2009 book Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion (The University of Chicago Press, 2009) still hold today. The book uncovered that ethnocentrism informs a wide range of policy opinions, including support for war, opposition to foreign aid and opposition to immigration (Patterson, 2016). If that is the case, why not use ethnocentrism to influence the opinions of the public on who to vote for?

In rallying votes for an election, some may see using ethnocentrism as a smart strategy and a way to pit one candidate as better than the other…as in an election, it is truly “us” against “them”, Republican against Democrat, and in this case Trump against Obama.

Such topics as building a wall at the Mexican border, taxing companies for moving business overseas and creating a Muslim database (regardless of how true or untrue these statements are, they have all been largely debated in the news throughout the election) served as strong messages to sway opinion and votes…and the choice of these topics for use on the campaign trail could be seen as driving an agenda on an ethnocentric platform.

Whether right or wrong, it makes me wonder if that was that the plan all along?

References:

Patterson, J. (2016, May 26). Trump’s ethnocentrism will bring voters to the polls, pro and con. Retrieved from https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2016/05/26/trumps-ethnocentrism-will-bring-voters-to-the-polls-pro-and-con/

Pennsylvania State University. Introduction to Culture: Ethnocentrism. (2017). Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1826457/modules/items/21654085

Kam, C. D., & Kinder, D. (2009). Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion. The University of Chicago Press.

High School Culture

January 21, 2017 by Gabriel DeLong 4 Comments

Among American youth 10-24, suicide is the second leading cause of death (Project, 2016). Perhaps, this is best explained with Meyer (2003) Minority Stress Model, which is based on factors associated with an array of stressors and effective and non-effective coping mechanisms that have an impact on the mental health of members of the LGBTQ community (Dentato, 2012). Because our American culture can be perceived as more heteronormative, meaning that more value is placed on straight relationships and perceived gender rolls, members of the LGBTQ community have a harder time adjusting to school environment, where they may be bullied or made fun of for their sexual orientation.

This weeks reading taught us about the importance of cultural competence when interacting with others who have different values, thoughts and practices than us. Working in a high school, I often hear the phrase “that’s gay” or “don’t be gay” when what students really mean is “that’s dumb” or “don’t be an idiot”. Many of the students who say these things don’t mean to be homophobic, they just grew up in a culture that associates gay people with a lesser value in life and thus, words like these come out. But what how does the student feel when he hears things like that and he is gay?

When I talk to students about this, a common response is that others shouldn’t be so sensitive, or “I didn’t mean it like that”. To me this is a prime example of ethnocentrism, the concept that ones own values, thoughts and cultural experiences are more important and more accurate than those of others (PSU, 2017). This outright disregard for the experiences of others proves that high schools can be hostile environments where gender identity and sexual orientation non-conforming youth for victimization (Toomey, Ryan, & Diaz, 2010).

The question that is raised with this information and the vast literature is how do school leaders and mental health practitioners create an environment that is safe for the LGBTQ community? How do we create social acceptance and responsibility for people who are different than us? I don’t believe that the answer is simple or easy to come by, but I do believe that we have to do something to ensure that schools, a place where adolescents spend the majority of their time, is a safe and affirming place that values them as well as education.

Bibliography

Dentato, M. P. (2012, April). The minority stress perspective. Psychology and AIDS Exchange Newsletter . Washiington, DC, USA.

Project, T. T. (2016). www.thetrevorproject.org. Retrieved 1 21, 2016, from The Trevor Project: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/pages/facts-about-suicide

PSU. (2017). Penn State University World Campus . Retrieved 1 21, 2017, from psu.edu: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1826457/modules/items/21654085

Toomey, R., Ryan, C., & Diaz, R. (2010). Gender-Nonconforming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth: School Victimization and Young Adult Psychosocial Adjustment. Developmental Psychology , 46 (6), 1580–1589.