Ethnocentrism

With the origins of ethnocentrism now explained, we can dive in deeper to specific examples in order to make it clear how dangerous the concept and mindset can be when unchecked, based on world history and the frequency in which the term is used. For instance, colonialism is considered to be ethnocentric because, according to Libretext, "the political conquests by one society of another leads to 'cultural domination with enforced social change' (“Ethnocentrism”). This means that one group of peoples forced their belief system and daily life onto another. Some other examples include the genocide of Jewish people in Nazi Germany during World War II, through murder, torture, and concentration camps, with the goal of propelling the German race forward as though they were superior. Another example is the colonization of Africa during the late 1800s and early 1900s, with Germany again at the forefront; however, it was not just Germany that was involved. Other nations, including Britain and Portugal , were also involved. All these nations believed their culture was to be superior to the African culture, thereby justifying their takeover of the continent of Africa. Unfortunately, these situations were extremely lethal to groups of people, but the concept of ethnocentrism can be as simple as judging Asian people who eat their food with chopsticks through an American viewpoint. Americans may find this way of eating to be strange or bizarre, but this viewpoint simply comes from a lack of understanding; there is no type of inferiority or superiority that comes with eating food using a different utensil.