Monday, October 17, 2005

American stereotypical male? *updated with stats link*

I had a mild argument with Rachel's boyfriend about his views on blacks. He thinks that he isn't rascist yet he makes statements like 80% of crime in the US is by African Americans. I was dumbfounded to hear such an outrageous statistic that he clearly fabricated. And then he mentioned that the US is successful because the Christian God was great. I couldn't believe that these statements were coming out of the mouth of an educated college student. No wonder is he so hated at college. If I was black, I would be terribly offended. I have met my first cultural imperialist. Here is what cultural imperialism means in Wikipedia:
Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting the culture or language of one nation in another. It is usually the case that the former is a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter is a smaller, less affluent one. Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active, formal policy or a general attitude.

He was also extremely enthnocentric. Also from Wikipedia:
Ethnocentrism (Greek ethnos ("nation" + -centrism) or ethnocentricity is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. Many claim that ethnocentrism occurs in every society; ironically, ethnocentrism may be something that all cultures have in common.

How do you think I should have approached his arguments? Ridicule, patience, mockery?

*updated*
I found statistics about race and crime.

Homicide trends in the U.S.: Trends by race



[Listening to: Smelly Cat Medley - Phoebe Buffay and the Hairballs (feat. The Pretenders) - Friends Again (2:26)]

1 comment:

Mary said...

If it were me, I'm not sure how I'd respond. I know I could imagine myself pointing out that he's got some pretty big steryo types happening, but in reality? That could be a very good way to really offend him.

You could check the statistics, and bring it up the next time you see him by telling him the statistics you found. And you could remind him that the majority of the world doesn't believe in the Christian God.