Race and Intercultural Relations in the United States Essay

We dont have problems understanding ourselves. We have problems understanding our interactions with others. See yourself as another sees you and you will begin to understand their viewpoint Preface The development of a culture in the United States has been a winding road of interactions between differing, oftentimes opposing cultures and races from the first footfalls of Europeans upon the American continent’s shores. Each group of settlers and immigrants have brought their own unique perspectives and underlying values to the table. Many of these perspectives have been incorporated into the mainstream way of life, many others however, have been dismissed and discarded as either foreign or outright dangerous. The†¦show more content†¦While any number of volumes could be written upon this subject, the consideration here will be upon the key historical points that have contributed to the defining of the Euro-American cultural norms and the resulting intercultural interactions. This examination of intercultural relations is best begun with the interactions between the European explorers and colonists and the native inhabitants of the New World. From the first footfalls of Columbus in 1492 to the present day, the native inhabitants have been â€Å"†¦a familiar but little known—and, indeed, often an unreal-person to the non-Indian.†(Josephy, Jr., 1973) In fact the term Indian stems from Columbus’ own error in believing that he had reached the Indies off the coast of Asia. He termed the inhabitants he found â€Å"los Indios†, and subsequent explorers and chroniclers continued the misuse of the term. In and of itself this mistake in not monumental, however the resulting patterns of interactions and lack of viewing the native inhabitants as unique and socially diverse groups defined the reference set for European based culture for the next 400 plus years. The Europeans who landed upon The American continent shores failed to realize the substantive differences between themselves and the native peoples. Explores andShow MoreRelatedDiversity Within The Workplace And How Communication Is The Driving Force Behind It Essay1463 Words   |  6 Pagesglobalization in the United States, the relationship between workplace diversity and communication, cited last are the barriers to intercultural communication in a diverse workplace. The literature presents these themes in a variety of ways; however, the highlight of this analytical review is the employment of communication, and its relation to workplace diversity and an organizations success. 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