When you think of the food we you eat, your place of worship, your family cohesiveness, family, and the music you love you are pondering to some degree of your culture. Culture can be viewed as traditions, customs, arts and communal relations of a specific social group. Cultural competence sets a foundation for developing a successful diverse environment. Being socially capable means being familiar with beliefs, including the mindfulness of that culture’s world interpretation. When someone is ethnically skilled they are able to successfully connect and relate with individuals across cultures, and hold an optimistic attitude towards culture variations.
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism play key role in this concept term coined by William Graham Sumner (McCoy, R. 2011. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of your own ethnic culture and the belief that that is in fact the “right” way to look at the world (McCoy, R. 2011). This contributes to the many stereotypes & bias that we hold in the world.
Failure to be exposed to other cultures continues to create further division within humanity. Ethnocentric views keep us from trying new things from other cultures that we are unfamiliar with. Social scientists strive to treat cultural differences as neither inferior nor superior (Shiraev, E. B., & Levy, D. A. (2013). That way, they can understand their research topics within the appropriate cultural context and examine their own biases and assumptions at the same time. Clearly, this practice relates to problems of both racism and prejudice Shiraev, E. B., & Levy, D. A. (2013).
Cultural relativism is a principle that was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the twentieth century, and later popularized by his students. Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: “…civilization is not something absolute, but… is relative, and… our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes. (Boas, F 1887)
When I think about culture and how I fit in culturally, I identify with the African American culture. This was primarily influenced by my upbringing. Being raised in a predominately African American family, has taught me about culture values. This stems from my family, environment & my educational exposure. I have always identified with the African American culture & I believe in the resilience of my culture.
There are a host of facets to African-American culture. In this culture religion, food, music & social gathering has played an intricate role in cohesiveness within this culture. Religion extends as far as slavery, Christianity was the foundation of African American. This was a huge part of my upbringing and it plays a vital role of who I am today.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
There are certain kinds of foods that I was raised on and in the African Culture, soul food is a well- known tradition. Greens, baked macaroni and cheese, fried pork chops, catfish, and chicken are a few of those items. Food was used to bring families together during good times, celebration as well as tragedies. Traditionally food was prepared by the Matriarch of the family, however that has changed over the course of decades.
Music was also a tradition that carried for years for the African American culture, this exist back in slavery days as well-known as hymns. There are a variety types of melodies that I enjoyed during my upbringing, and different display rules that were required within my family. I was also raised to like several types of music fluctuating from rhythm and blues, gospel, and jazz to hip hop and rap music. Some of these variations of music go back to the slavery time. Goffman (2010) states, “Separated from their languages and history, African Americans somehow managed to preserve something of their culture through the only medium available to them: music, originally limited to voice and rhythm (with an assist from the banjo, derived from African instruments), and closely associated with dance” (para.3).
The love of music has transformed and spread throughout the African-American culture. There’s nothing quite like a melody to capture what was going on socially at that time. No matter what the occasion music is always at the center of all events across all cultures. Rather it be a funeral, graduation, wedding, or night on the town. Music in my opinion helps untie various cultures. When we
Quality Work
Unlimited Revisions
Affordable Pricing
24/7 Support
Fast Delivery