Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the evaluation of other cultures based on preconceptions that comes from customs as well as standards originating from one’s own culture. Research indicates that ethnocentrism occurs when people interpret different cultures in terms of the meanings of their own culture. Issues of ethnocentrism have been affecting Africans and other people of colour in most of the western countries. Different scholars such as Dr Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard professor have tried to deal with this issue in different ways. For instance, Cater during the 20th anniversary of the Canadian government’s official recognition of black history tried to recapture and restore the distorted history of African people as well as to rehabilitate the damaged image of Africans. Most of the whites within contemporary societies, consider Africans to be violent and lacking in terms of technology and development. This explains why Africans Americans are still affected by police brutality due to ethnocentrism.
Additionally, Carter, who is the founder of black history month, argues that knowledge and dissemination of African history can raise their self-esteem and can also minimize prejudice among the whites. Moreover, such knowledge can reduce issues of ethnocentrism and racism, which would result in Africans living in Canada, enjoying a bigger share of the benefits of democracy. According to this article, issues of ethnocentrism affect Africans in Canada and because most of them are educated away from their own culture and traditions. Africans have also attached themselves to European cultures to the detriment of their heritage.
This concept was also supported by Kwame Nkrumah, who insisted on the need for a re-awakening of consciousness among the blacks. This involves valuing their historical past, culture as well as embracing sociological imagination. By having sociological imagination, Africans will be able to see themselves not as an island unto themselves and will start considering their lives as intertwined with those of others.