Am I better than you?

Intercultural communication is the exchange of information between languages and cultures. Each cultural identity is shaped differently depending on their beliefs and cultural dynamics. Cultural identity is not only shaped by your race, nationality, and ethnicity. Your cultural identity is also shaped by your gender, social orientation, religion, social class, and ability. Your cultural identity is an intersectionality of all these categories, where all of them meet and interact creating who you are. 

Ethnocentrism is when an individual believes that his/her culture, beliefs, values, and behavior are the center or better than others’ culture, beliefs, etc. From my perspective, some people are raised with more privilege than others and that is the reason why some might feel superior to other people who might have a different culture or point of view. 

The editorial cartoon shows ethnocentrism in how people judge others without getting to know each other. People often criticize other people based on their own beliefs, and that is wrong. If we were raised in a certain way, that doesn’t mean that somebody who was raised differently is mistaken.

 From personal experience, there have been times that behave in an ethnocentric manner unconsciously. I work in a retail store where most of the customers are Caribbean restaurants. When I first started working at that job I saw males with long braids which was rare to me because I was never exposed to another culture different than mine. There were times that I believed that they were wrong or ugly, however, I never said that to anyone. Now that I am aware that just because someone has different values or a different culture than me, that does not mean they are wrong or that I am better than them.