Monoculturalism edit

Ethnocentrism edit

The idea of monoculturalism can be expanded to that of ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism being the idea that one's ethnic background is superior to that of others. A feeling of superiority is one that can project mono-cultural ideals in an attempt to justify intrinsic ways of thinking. In Nations with a majority of the population being white, ethnocentrism is blindly put upon those of other cultural backings. The idea of ethnocentrism being combined with monoculturalism yields many examples from history. Most obvious is the Holocaust, but further from that is any instance of genocide or simple racism. In defining genocide you can find the correlation it has with monoculturalism, and how it can be a resultant of mono-cultural, as well as, ethnocentric thinking.[1]

In American Politics edit

One of the most prominent examples of monoculturalism in American Politics is the birther-ism issue in regard to President Obama's campaign.[2] While there have been several other instances of candidate's birthplaces being called into question, none of the others have been placed on a basis of race or religion similar to this. During his successful bid for president, President Obama was questioned repetitively on the basis of his birthplace. Many of the backers to this claim came from the Conservative side of the spectrum, as well as, a portion of Senator Clinton's supporters. Current presidential nominee, Donald Trump was one of the most prominent forces pushing the idea that President Obama wasn't born here[3]. Yet, even after Obama's birth certificate was released, Trump did not accept or confirm it until September 2016, during his own presidential bid.

In Genocide edit

Over the course of our history we have exhibited expansive demonstrations of Genocide. Many of these being drawn on an ethnic origin line. Ethnic supremacy is assumed by one group within a culture, following some distinct action by an external group or from one of the ethnic groups. With European intervention in places like Rwanda, social institutions worked to socially construct an ethnic inferiority, distinguishing the Hutu's and Tutsi's from one another and causing what would be one of the most horrific demonstrations of genocide in modern history.[4]

A similar example to that of the Rwandan Genocide was the on going civil war in Burma. The civil war spanned from a constitution that granted Burma their independence from England, in which a group of leaders created conditions that didn't involve many of Burma's Ethnic Minorities, and instigated a fight from them.[5] Many of these ethnic minorities in Burma, including the Karen have been significantly displaced by the military junta and placed into refugee camps in bordering nations. The remaining ethnic minorities have been living in poor conditions, and have been met by a variety of human rights abuses.

Globalization edit

Globalization is the unification of the entire world through a variety of different formats, like trade and investment. This projects mono-culturalism upon people, due to the fact that by unifying the world we would need to all be subject to some sort of unified standard[6]. This wouldn't leave room for other cultures to sustain their prominence and would continue to forego the resultant of mono-culturalism which is loss and suppression of culture only on a global scale.

  1. ^ Sue, Derald Wing. "Whiteness and Ethnocentric Monoculturalism: Making the "Invisible" Visible". American Psychologist. November 2004.
  2. ^ Kumar, Hari Stephen. "“I Was Born . . .” (No You Were Not!): Birtherism And Political Challenges To Personal Self-Authorizations."Qualitative Inquiry 19.8 (2013): 621-633.
  3. ^ Barbaro, Michael. "Donald Trump Clung to 'Birther' Lie for Years, and Still Isn't Apologetic". 9/6/2016. NY Times.
  4. ^ White, Kenneth R. "Scourge of Racism: Genocide in Rwanda". Journal of Black Studies. Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jan., 2009), pp. 471-472. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ "Tracking Genocide: Persecution of the Karen in Burma". Texas international law journal. Volume: 48 Issue: 1 Page: 63 10/01/2012. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Marsella, Anthony (2005). ""Hegemonic" Globalization and Cultural Diversity: The Risks of Global Monoculturalism" (PDF). Australian Mosaic. Issue 11 Number 13: 15–16. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)