Racial, cultural and ethnic differences have been used throughout the world to place people into different categories. People across different ages and generations have used different terms in describing people of other races, ethnicities, and cultures. Having grown in a military home, which involved movement from one place to another in different parts of the country and the world, grandparents and parents understood the need to correlate and leave in harmony with neighbors in communities. This is an important aspect of life since you get to live with different kinds of people with different races, cultures, and ethnicity. Some grandparents and parents have termed racial, ethnic and cultural difference as a process of ethnic-racial socialization that be learned in order to overcome the stigmas that are associated concerning culture and ethnicity. The ethnic-racial socialization process will reduce racism and promote peace and unity in different societies (Chase, & Silverstain, 2016).
Parents understand the power that exists in relationships and thereby some parents have resorted in terming people of other races, cultures, and ethnicities to be neighbors and friends. It is important to view people as neighbors and friends to promote a peaceful co-existence.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Due to the KKK group that had been established years ago, some grandparents resorted in terming people of other cultures and races as outcast and that they do not belong near them. The KKK leaders who were against the existence of African American citizens in America resorted to using bitter terms of words while describing to the people of black race. People of other races and cultures have been judged and prejudiced on by people differently. Parents approach different cultures and cultural communities have been viewed as a natural or primordial way of viewing the topic on race and culture.
Cultures such as America Natives were viewed as people of indigenous characters and values. Grandparents and parents have termed American Natives as people with weird characters due to their cultural background. Some parents have even resorted to isolating their children form them (Priest, Walton & White, 2014).
It has been discovered that people get racist when they get older. Parents and older folks may talk more unpalatable things as they get older. This is true in the fact that they grew up in indifferent times when the world was not yet ready and open to coexistence of people with different races. The idea of people with other races and cultural backgrounds scared people and at that time slavery and other forms of isolation were common. Due to the old practices, older folks may get racist as they age because the old values stick with them. Parents of new generation may not have a problem with race and cultural backgrounds and open to the idea of a coexistence of other races and cultural backgrounds to the modernity in the way of doing things. It is a norm nowadays to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. The reasons for racism and other forms of cultural discrimination as a psychological problem. A feeling of lack of security and a cry for identity and a sense of belonging. They talk about racism in a way that they feel threatened by other groups (Petkova, 2016).
The main reason for this racial and cultural discrimination portrayed by older folks is the idea that they are closer to death, and can express and talk in whatever manner they feel like. They strongly cling to the traditions of their society. The fear of death makes a person anxious and clings to his identity to try to connect with a sense of belonging. The neighbors of parents and old folks who live in a multiracial and multicultural community have always understood the position than the old folks are into. In the past, they have had a harmonized coexistence with peace and love.
Countries were associated with ethnic groups in the old generation times, people from England were termed to be Anglos and Saxons, the Greeks were from Greece and people from New Zealand were the Maori. People hence started to conclude that nationality was the same as ethnicity. During the antebellum period, a key period among Christians and other religious leaders was whether people from other races especially the blacks and Indians had souls or whether these people were human. It was a difficult period for people from different races and cultural backgrounds experienced. The blacks for sure were enslaved and were not considered as humans at all, whereas the Indians were forcefully evicted from their native land (David, 2010).
Later in the twentieth-century, ethnicity and race captivated the world’s attention. People started creating awareness on the importance of coexisting and respecting other people’s culture and race. With the emergence of the internet and other technological advancements, race and ethnicity topics have been able to discuss and policies have been formulated to protect each person's race and cultural backgrounds. With amends like the 11th amendment, people across different ages have learned to respect people with different races. It is usually a hot topic with some countries still trying to embrace the idea of embracing other races and cultural backgrounds in their vicinity. It is clear that race, ethnicity, and culture are viewed differently with each person having his thought and perception of the latter. One therefore cannot generalize on the perception of other people’s race and ethnicity. It can only be described from a personal experience having coexisted with other cultures and races peacefully. In this case, my family respected people’s culture and their races and that are why probably the family never got hardship in settling down in different places in the country and around the world.
References
Goodman, C. C., & Silverstein, M. (January 01, 2006). Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren: Ethnic and Racial Differences in Well-Being among Custodial and Coparenting Families. Journal of Family Issues, 27, 11, 1605-1626.
David, J. E. (2010). Ethnicity, Culture, and "The Past". Michigan Quality review , 14 , 4
Petkova, D. (2016). Cultural Diversity in People’s Attitudes and Perceptions. Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication, Sofia University
Priest, N., Walton, J., & White, F. (2014). Understanding the complexities of ethnic-racial socialization processes for both minority and majority groups: A 30-year systematic review. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 43 , part B, 139-155.
