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Issues of intercultural communication
The issues of intercultural communication
Issues of intercultural communication
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Within America racism has been an issue throughout history. I will be discussing how the children from a class divided have seen the four barriers of intercultural communication as well as how they have affected me. In my life as a Hispanic I have never been affected by racism directly in a bad way. However, I have dealt with many other forms of intercultural barriers in my life.
Ethnocentrism:
In a class divided when the brown eyed children were believed to be the better group they performed better. They are practicing ethnocentrism because they believe that they are the better group and see themselves as better over the blue colored children. This ethnocentrism that the brown eyed children had did not only affect them, but also
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They begin to view the other group of children as always doing bad things whether it be acting out or being forgetful. For example, when the kids from the brown eyed group see that one of the kids from the blue eyed group is aggressive they assume that everyone with blue eyes is aggressive. Cornel West writes in his essay Race Matters discussing how many times these stereotypes are guided in a one path mindset instead of considering the whole picture. He also discusses that this problem could be changed through the reframing of the mindset of those who are only on a one track …show more content…
It led to vicious rumors being spread about me amongst my peers and amongst the parents of my peers. It led to a brutal three months of being attacked by being called names and people assuming things about me which weren’t true. This period was difficult, and I cannot imagine having to deal with this every day and everywhere I go. This allows me to sympathize with those who deal with discrimination on an every day basis; this also allows me to be convicted to make racism not an issue within the vicinity of people that I can affect and convince.
Conclusion:
Watching “A Class Divided” was such an impactful experience for me in that it taught me how important it is to make people understand that racism is real and important to understand. I have personally dealt with racism, but I always just thought that there was nothing I could really ever do about it and that I simply had to toughen up and take it. However, this video has allowed me to see that when people who have never experienced racism are put in a situation of discrimination then life can be made equal and understanding of human equality is a
Many of the stereotypes we encounter and hold today were formed because of events in the past, which were formed to rationalize and justify past social and political agendas. Many of the stereotypes that we now hold today were learned long ago and have been passed from one generation to the next. This book has forever inspired me to believe in the value of each child and discourage racist attitudes wherever I encounter them. Gregory Howard Williams encountered many hurdles growing up and successfully defeated them all. He could have easily confirmed the expectations of his negative peers and developed into a self-fulfilling prophecy, but instead he chose to shun his stereotypes and triumph over incredible odds.
A lot of people migrate from different countries to the United States each year. Most of them are looking for education especially for college students. In order to adapt easily to the new surroundings, many parents think their children should come here as soon as possible. However, in order to not forget their origin, the parents decide to send their children to the United States when they are 14-17 years old. Thus, most of them are high school students when they come to the United States. Due to that, there are many students of other races in high school. I think American high school students need to discuss racism. Because racism can cause students to discriminate against students of other races, understanding what causes racism is very important for the high school students, especially the 11th and 12th grade students. Why is it more serious for the junior and senior? According to official statistics, the school bullying statistics shows us that cases are often conflict between the students of different races. Because of rebellion, those students are junior or senior. For instance, one of my friends was treated badly in high school. My friend was a typical Asian boy as same as the others. However, he did not get on well with the other students. The other students always called him a nerd because he was an Asian. They not only called him a nerd, but they also made fun of his name. Due to the unkind nickname, my friend started to cut class. Finally, his parents had to find another school for him. Generally, most of the students think the Asian students are not diplomats, and they only know how to deal with the computers. Racism doesn’t only cause physical bullying, but it is also a severe hurt to one’s pride. Reading “The Unwanted” can make students see clearly how racism put the screws on a kid. In order to prevent the same thing, that’s why I think
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group,” Peggy McIntosh wrote in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Too often this country lets ignorance be a substitute for racism. Many believe that if it is not blatant racism, then what they are doing is okay. Both the video and the article show that by reversing the terms, there is proof that racism is still very existent in this world. By looking into A Class Divided and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack along with their ability to broaden the cultural competence, once can see how race is still very prominent in our culture.
People of different ethnic backgrounds are influenced by both cultural and societal normalities to want to naturally return to their own ethnic groups. In Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book “Why Are All Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” Tatum tries to explain why in even racially diverse schools, people of the same race tend to gravitate toward one another causing racial separation. Tatum claims that people of the same race, particularly black kids, are likely to turn toward people who understand their shared perspective. Although Tatum effectively uses a conversational tone and emotionally charged words, her overuse of biased interviews and experiences forces the reader to question the validity of her portrayal of race relations.
Firstly, I plan to explore how race has influenced my life. My mother is of Hispanic, and Irish decent whereas my father is of African decent. One of my earliest experiences with racism came from my mother’s side of the family. My grandmother would often say awful things about my dad to my brother and me when we visited and my parents were not around. She never hid how she felt about my parent’s relationship from us. My grandmother was opposed to my mother’s relationship with my father solely because he was, according to her, a “nigger” and of a different ethnic background and was not good enough for her daughter and that my mother was bringing shame to the family. My grandmother never accepted us whole-heartedly as her grandchildren compared to how she treated our other cousins simply because of their race and their complexion because they looked more like her side of the family than we did.
I am well aware of the oppression that has faced many people of color in our society. I did learn a great deal about how our government is to blame for the racial segregation in our society. America has a history of placing laws and policies on non-whites, thus making it extremely hard for them to live a well-balanced life. I thought it was interesting that immigrants were far more likely to work in mining and industrial jobs than whites. I feel as though this a trend that continues today in America, thus it is evident that we still exclude certain ethnic groups in our society. Although I did not have any biases going into this documentary, I learned a lot about how our government has been the main contributor to white privilege in our
Over the course of history, racism has become far more institutionalized and still affects people to this day. In the book, Uprooting Racism, by Paul Kivel the institutionalized racism and its effects are thoroughly discussed, as well as possible causes and ways to work toward ending racism. In the film, Walkout, by Edward James Olmos, the way institutionalized racism affects not only the adults but as well as the children is explored. In the film, Teenagers in the east side of Los Angeles fight for equal rights as well as equal opportunities in school. The book and film work together to show the situations that integrated racism places these young adults in. These situations can vary widely from simply having lower school budget, to being embarrassed in front of other students as punishment, not being allowed to speak spanish in school, and even being purposefully shied away from going to college.
“Black, white and brown are merely skin colors. But we attach to them meanings and assumptions, even laws that create enduring social inequality.”(Adelman and Smith 2003). When I first heard this quote in this film, I was not surprised about it. Each human is unique compared to the other; however, we are group together based on uncontrollable physical characteristics. Eyes, hair texture, and skin tone became a way to separate who belongs where. Each group was labeled as having the same traits. African Americans were physically superior, Asians were the more intellectual race, and Indians were the advanced farmers. Certain races became superior to the next and society shaped their hierarchy on what genes you inherited.
Throughout the history of the country, America has been considered a fairly racist union. From the workplaces to the society, as an Asian, I felt there's a strong barrier between white and black people, although I felt a little bit of racial among us. In this essay, I will talk about the major racial issue of this country through out my experiences.
The film A Class Divided was designed to show students why it is important not to judge people by how they look but rather who they are inside. This is a very important lesson to learn people spend too much time looking at people not for who they are but for what ETHNITICY they are. One VARIABLE that I liked about the film is that it should the children how it felt to be on both sides of the spectrum. The HYPOTHESIS of the workshop was that if you out a child and let them experience what it is like to be in the group that is not wanted because of how they look and then make the other group the better people group that the child will have a better understanding of not to judge a person because of how they look but instead who they are as people. I liked the workshop because it made everyone that participated in it even the adults that took it later on realize that you can REHABILITAE ones way of thinking. The exercise showed how a child that never had any RASIZM towards them in the exercise they turned against their friends because of the color of their eyes. The children for those two days got the chance to experience both sides of DISCRMINATION. The children once day felt SEGRIGATED and inferior to the children that were placed in the group with more privilege. Then the next day the children that were placed in the privileged group were in the SEGRIGATED group. The theory is if you can teach a child how to DISCRIMINATE against a person that you can just as easily teach them how not to. Sometimes a person needs to feel what another person feels to understand how they treat people.
Ethnocentrism can be defined as an individual’s belief that the ethnic group or cultural they identify with is superior to all others. “The ethnocentric person judges other groups and other cultures by the standards of his or her own group” (Schaefer 34).
...ground or where they are located in the world, it is ignorant to put these differences up as a way to distinguish one people from another, or to say that one race has greater hierarchal significance than another. These constructions provide insight into how people have come to see one another and can also help to see ways through which avoiding racism in modern society may one day be possible.
Racism and ethnicity continue to affect the sector of education in most parts of the world. More often, it influences adults and children’s experiences in education at all levels and in various ways. These include professional employment, academic performance, parental involvement, social interactions, assessment issues, and curriculum development. Certainly, the terms racism and ethnicity identify as problematic and arise socially. Therefore, many people fail to recognize that racism is a perception about the color of the skin and traditions of a particular group of people. Racism and ethnicity exist in quite blatant and subtle forms. As such, racism and ethnicity usually lead to negative consequences for the group that does not belong to the dominant culture. The contemporary racism originated from various avenues, one of it being the society norms and upbringing. Indeed, as children grow, they exclusively rely on their parents or guardians to learn new things. Moreover, part of the upbringing involves teaching the children things about the society and the
Many people who go to visit or work in another country suffer some misunderstanding from the local people, because they have a different culture. Different culture will cause disparity points of view about almost everything. In the article, Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks by Laray M. Barna, there are five stumbling blocks mentioned that are seen in a cross-culture communication. These blocks are: language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, the tendency to evaluate and high anxiety. Barna wants to use these stumbling blocks to show the common blockades between different cultures. I agree with what she thinks about the language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, and the tendency
... its proper expressions, structure and grammar. Moreover, each language is linked to a specific dialect which is associated with educational, economic, social and historical conditions. Moreover, cultural variations also exist in the rules for general discourse in oral communication. Similar to verbal communication, there are also variations in non-verbal communication between cultures. Gestures, facial expressions, sense of time and personal distance take different forms in different cultures. Furthermore, there is an infinite number of cultural diversities which are at the root of intercultural miscommunication. Variations in values , social relationships, religion, economy and politics consist of only a few of these diversities. These differences can be the source of ethnocentrism, if one becomes over patriotic in regards to one’s own culture. Ethnocentrism, is the concept which states that we tend to judge other cultures through our own. Ethnocentric behavior, can cause racism and chauvinism, as in the case of the Second World War. However, intercultural problems can be avoided if we all develop mindfulness, a sense of flexibility and seek information about the other culture.