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Evidence of prejudice and ethnocentrism all on the basis of factors such as race, ethnicity, sex, culture, religion, wealth amongst others are heavily integrated in today’s civilisation and is mostly prompted from the way society was precedingly constructed in the Caribbean. Attitudes and customs implemented into the everyday lives of the Caribbean people stem from the past and continue to progress by way of preconception and ignorance which contribute to the hindrance of societal and cultural growth.

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Present Caribbean society is without a doubt heavily based on the past Caribbean society.

The structure of our society is one that is a consequence of past events which influenced the way in which we see and treat others in society. The statement, “The Caribbean today is characterized by grave intolerance and mistrust at all levels,” is one I believe to be true.

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                                     How does this all come into play when concerning present society?

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                                     How does this all come into play when concerning present society?

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·      It limits the way of society. Individuals feel limited by way of their culture and feel as though they are unable to further express themselves. They find it hard to adapt to change as well as adopt it and in a sense, remain backward and feel left out. Ethnocentrism makes for neglection of cultural change and for some, slows down the development of their culture in civilisation as it creates a partition between groups, hindering cultural relativism.

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·      Rather than creating unity, ethnocentrism in a way, forces people to change themselves in order to ‘fit in.’ This further intensifies the way of prejudice, as it only creates tension and dispute amongst the cultural groups, when people start to believe that they need to become more than themselves to fit in by seeing and hearing of ethnocentric individuals proclaiming this.

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·      Polarization of society can occur as ethnocentrism leads to the segregation within society. The division between feelings of superiority versus inferiority unwittingly splits society into groups and develops an intolerance between these groups for each other. Due to their ‘beliefs’ of each other, neither party willingly would compromise and try to break this boundary of ranking, in fear of retribution.

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·      Persons who indulge in the attitude of ethnocentrism base their judgment of others on their ethnicity and culture. Some develop their perspective without actual understanding and, as we previously talked about, contribute to the stereotypical attitude that is already heavily inculcated in the Caribbean region. A lot of people are misled with false information and are not accurately aware of what is true and what is not. This contributes to the cultural division in our civilisation. People are not willing to be accepting of each other’s cultures, mainly because they believe their culture to be more superior than the other or they are fed the wrong perspective.

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                                    How does ethnocentrism impact on our society? 

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                                    How does ethnocentrism impact on our society? 

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Because culture is such a widely integrated part of the Caribbean, ethnocentric groups and individuals occur regularly. A major reason for this stems from past history when discrimination of cultures, ethnicities and races were heavily occurring. Traces of this phenomenon continue to be a part of present society and serves to be in effect the same way

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The act of ethnocentrism occurs when persons have beliefs that one’s cultural/ ethnic group is superior compared to another. It is considered to be one of the major reasons for the division among individuals of different races, religious groups and ethnic backgrounds.

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The act of ethnocentrism occurs when persons have beliefs that one’s cultural/ ethnic group is superior compared to another. It is considered to be one of the major reasons for the division among individuals of different races, religious groups and ethnic backgrounds.

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Throughout the years, Caribbean civilization had developed its identity to be one defined by its historical past with the addition of its extreme cultural manifestation.

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Prior to present times, the introduction of a diverse cultural society was not yet fully embraced in Caribbean society. The variety of ethnic backgrounds, traditions, religious faiths, cuisine, music, sports amongst other collectively contribute to the unique culture in the Caribbean and has helped distinguished us from the world.

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                                 Lets get into Culture.

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                                 Lets get into Culture.

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This contributes to the stereotyping of society. By way of stereotyping, we organize society into what we believe or hear of it to be, and this attitude is eventually dispersed and widespread, becoming integral into the way we carry on the structure of our civilization. From this a level of mistrust and intolerance of others materializes, as society is now a combination of false interpretations and preconceived opinions of the different classes by way of past happenings.

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This contributes to the stereotyping of society. By way of stereotyping, we organize society into what we believe or hear of it to be, and this attitude is eventually dispersed and widespread, becoming integral into the way we carry on the structure of our civilization. From this a level of mistrust and intolerance of others materializes, as society is now a combination of false interpretations and preconceived opinions of the different classes by way of past happenings.

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People have still yet to cut the line which ties the past to the present, still believing in the act of discriminating against those in society and stratifying them based on past judgement. The act of prejudice comes about when both older and newer generations create their own version of the past by way of talk and false speculation and formulate their own view of society and persons in it.

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This system of stratification serves to represent the inequalities of society. In the Caribbean, this system of ranking came about as a result of the plantation system which occurred during the slavery period. At these times, society was strictly assembled into their class distinctions and had no way of social mobility, which would have allowed to “move their way up in society” carrying them up the social ladder. Presently, majority of society is still stratified. Whether it occurs subconsciously or not, traces of the stratifying system still exists and there are some who still strongly believe in the process of classifying society into classes.

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This system of stratification serves to represent the inequalities of society. In the Caribbean, this system of ranking came about as a result of the plantation system which occurred during the slavery period. At these times, society was strictly assembled into their class distinctions and had no way of social mobility, which would have allowed to “move their way up in society” carrying them up the social ladder. Presently, majority of society is still stratified. Whether it occurs subconsciously or not, traces of the stratifying system still exists and there are some who still strongly believe in the process of classifying society into classes.

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·      Geographical location- Persons from different regions were discriminated against. When people of less developed countries migrated to those of higher development, they were looked down upon solely because of the place they were born in or came from.

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·      Wealth- This classifying factor is proportionally related to education and occupation. Achieving a higher status, was strictly based on the level of income you earned. However, gaining an education determined your movement through the occupational ladder, further determining your growth in wealth. Thus, this factor played a significant role in classifying society.

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·      Race- In the past, the ‘Whites’ were at the ‘top’ of society, with the ‘coloureds’ in the middle and the ‘blacks’ at the bottom.  Race was heavily distinguished with colour and ethnicity. In present day, a major portion of society is still racial to those who were not seen at the top of the society in the past and they continue to carry this attitude with them as one of the most discriminating factors in judgement of persons. White people are predictably expected to be a part of the upper class and black people are expected to be in the lower level of society, with other races in between.

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Religion- Society was also divided on the basis of religion. Those who were affiliated with religions that were not the ‘dominant’ religions in their regions were discriminated against with their beliefs and practices. At one point, the powerful religions being practised were considered more ‘powerful’ as to those practised by the lower and middle classes. To this day, discrimination against religion still occurs

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·      Education- Achieving an education was a way of climbing the social ladder. However, in previous times, those in the lower class had a lesser chance of being education as they couldn’t afford it, or the level of education they would have received was nowhere near advanced like what those in higher classes would have been taught. Education was the key to employment, which further enabled growth of wealth and moreover, social mobility.

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·      Occupation- Employment was heavily dependent on education and those who were not educated were less likely to become employed and earn money to increase their social status.

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·       Sex-  Females experienced unfair treatment as opposed to males who were seen as more powerful. Males would have greater opportunities inclusive of education, occupation as well as more political and social abilities. Discrimination towards women is still present today in some countries and minorly, some workforces amongst other places.

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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION -- This alludes to a “system,” of ranking, in which society ranks persons in a hierarchy of classes. These are the upper, middle and lower classes. People are classified into these groups based on their:  

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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION -- This alludes to a “system,” of ranking, in which society ranks persons in a hierarchy of classes. These are the upper, middle and lower classes. People are classified into these groups based on their:  

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What role did this play in shaping our society to one of mistrust and intolerance?

Stemming from the acts of discrimination in past events such as racism, class stratification and gender, these heavily controversial factors concurrently have contributed to the structure of our society today. It continues to be one of the main reasons why we classify persons on the basis of these factors and why prejudicial behaviour including the development of the stereotypical attitude is still dispersed throughout the region.

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On the basis of the Caribbean, the matter of prejudice is one that is most controversial.

Prejudice, meaning “judgement in advance,” implicates that people judge others based on a biased or preconceived view.

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A look into the factors which shaped our society ->

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Our present is based on the happenings of our past. Knowing of our origin allows us to understand why we have developed the way we have and the attitudes we continue to adopt and express in present society.

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Our present is based on the happenings of our past. Knowing of our origin allows us to understand why we have developed the way we have and the attitudes we continue to adopt and express in present society.

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The history of the Caribbean is filled with mixed cultures and a diversified civilization.

Stemming from our past, the Caribbean has developed its identity to be one defined by its cultures, beliefs, religions, ethnicity and race. From events such as colonialism and slavery, the impacts of such defining history, has led to the growth of the Caribbean being one characterized by factors inclusive of prejudiced behaviour, stereotypes, racism and ethnocentrism. For this reason, “the Caribbean today is characterized by grave intolerance and mistrust at all levels.”