On The Matter of Ethnocentric Posturing

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snoop 9 years ago

It's a puzzle in a sense that here in the diaspora, the degree of discrimination and racism suffered by Ghanaians have a direct correlation with the degree of the shade of the skin color and height: the darker and shorter an ...
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It's a puzzle in a sense that here in the diaspora, the degree of discrimination and racism suffered by Ghanaians have a direct correlation with the degree of the shade of the skin color and height: the darker and shorter an individual is,......

I guess it's not a puzzle after all: these people must find a way to project their feeling of inferiority on others in order to feel good about themselves. Reverse psychology, I guess.
"YEN AKANFO" 9 years ago

Samuel Adjei Sarfo stop your noise and have your own self to blame for "streching yourself very wide out of your window."

You have made yourself a disgrace to all Ghanaian people holdinh PH.D.

Samuel Adjei Sarfo stop your noise and have your own self to blame for "streching yourself very wide out of your window."

You have made yourself a disgrace to all Ghanaian people holdinh PH.D.
ADJOA WANGARA 9 years ago

Where is the dumbass francis kwarteng, the so-claimed English teacher in USA, will he not promptly jump in to defend his co-equal (braggart imbecile) Samuel Adjei Sarfo? Fools!!!

Where is the dumbass francis kwarteng, the so-claimed English teacher in USA, will he not promptly jump in to defend his co-equal (braggart imbecile) Samuel Adjei Sarfo? Fools!!!
NANA YAW 9 years ago

Madam Wangara, why are you lashing out against the compatriots of your own nation?
Is it because of their similar profession, or because their ethnicity is different from yours?

This black-on-black animosity, according t ...
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Madam Wangara, why are you lashing out against the compatriots of your own nation?
Is it because of their similar profession, or because their ethnicity is different from yours?

This black-on-black animosity, according to some white supremacists, is the reason why we have never won the Nobel Prize for medicine, chemistry, physics, and economics. Madam Wangara and YenAkanfo, maybe the white supremacists are right that we have small brain, tugged in a small skuul.
Kwadwo 9 years ago

SAS, I donot believe we have a problem with ethnocentrism in Ghana. We both live in the U.S. and I bet you can attest that Ghanians over here get along very well. We party and worship together and we also inter marry. This pa ...
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SAS, I donot believe we have a problem with ethnocentrism in Ghana. We both live in the U.S. and I bet you can attest that Ghanians over here get along very well. We party and worship together and we also inter marry. This past week end, I hosted about 10 Ghanaians from different tribes who attended a wedding at where I live. I hardly knew any of them. What we had in common was that we were all Ghanaians. They left this morning and wrote a beautiful thank you note.
The political food fight on Ghanaweb we have become accustomed is just a few miscreants being nutty. It is your typical NDC NPP name calling that is part of our democratic process. I trace that back to the injustice people suffered under Rawlings. I believe this will come pass because Ghanaians are a remarkable people and they will not let politicians set the country ablaze. So relax.
Mr. Figure-Out 9 years ago

I am, by nature, a champion of cultural relativism but it seems to me that not until the servant become greater than his master and the messenger become greater than the one who sent him( see John 13:16) the concept of ethnoc ...
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I am, by nature, a champion of cultural relativism but it seems to me that not until the servant become greater than his master and the messenger become greater than the one who sent him( see John 13:16) the concept of ethnocentricity would still remain a grey area for which no amount of opinionation or conscientization by any living soul can unleash the world from its firmly gripped shackles. Probably the world will witness some positive changes of this ethnocentric anomaly if SAS could be modest and see himself not different from all other Juris Doctors here in the States.
Kweku Donsuro 9 years ago

Your article is brilliant but you ran away from tribalism and substituted the word ethnocentric because youAmericans always have a penchant to create or invent something which already exists so that you can call it new and ma ...
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Your article is brilliant but you ran away from tribalism and substituted the word ethnocentric because youAmericans always have a penchant to create or invent something which already exists so that you can call it new and market or profiteer from it. To me, the typical Ghanaian relates better to the word tribe than to ethnocentrism. Whatever it is, the point remains that in the cosmic soup, we are different ingredients and fishes which much the soup delicious. Unity in diversity is the norm.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago

Don't pretend and behave like the ostrich. For your kind, I wrote the article, Wilfully Blind or Just Pure Ignorance?

Ethnocentric politics was the lubricant of the NPP tradition party for decades. Their evil genius was Dr ...
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Don't pretend and behave like the ostrich. For your kind, I wrote the article, Wilfully Blind or Just Pure Ignorance?

Ethnocentric politics was the lubricant of the NPP tradition party for decades. Their evil genius was Dr Busia himself. As if his exploits leading the NLM in the '50s wasn't divisive enough, his Ewe-baiting and demonisation campaign of the 1969 Gen. Elections were the root of the schism we see today. Rawlings was just a mere young man then. You can't therefore trace the damn thing to him. He did his best to stay above it, instead of confronting it and exposing the lies of his accusers.

Andy-K
Pelicles 9 years ago

In Ghana, ethnocentric posturing is the "food" for the elite. The well educated are the ones to be blamed and I know exactly what I am talking about. Most of us during our childhood, grew among other tribes yet we get along ...
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In Ghana, ethnocentric posturing is the "food" for the elite. The well educated are the ones to be blamed and I know exactly what I am talking about. Most of us during our childhood, grew among other tribes yet we get along fine without divisive tribal posturing. What about our elementary, secondary and university days? How many of us can swear that he did not have friends from at least three tribes?

Your article makes a lot sense but can we walk the walk and talk the talk? What eludes us is that we are in a rickety boat on a high sea and anything can happen if we fail to think together and sail safely to a land.
Kofi Kofi 9 years ago

Very brilliant and beautiful piece.
We need more of these on Ghanaweb.
I hope somebody is listening......

Very brilliant and beautiful piece.
We need more of these on Ghanaweb.
I hope somebody is listening......
SOCCERMAN 9 years ago

Nkrumah rather divided the country with his divide and rule policy. His split from the UGCC caused eternal division in politics as well, let's face it.

Nkrumah rather divided the country with his divide and rule policy. His split from the UGCC caused eternal division in politics as well, let's face it.
James Bamfo 9 years ago

SAS, there is nowhere on this planet where you can walk freely without stepping on or jumping over ethnocentrism. We can still move on and dance with successes while ethnocentrism demarcates it's own concepts around us. Be th ...
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SAS, there is nowhere on this planet where you can walk freely without stepping on or jumping over ethnocentrism. We can still move on and dance with successes while ethnocentrism demarcates it's own concepts around us. Be thankful for the bad things in life; for, they open your eyes to the good things you often ignore.
Mike frm Ho. 9 years ago

Dr. thak you for this bold and laudable attempt to do away with ethnicity in our county Ghana. I hope that people like Okwampa Ahoufe and Rockson Adoffo in particular are listening. Open and CHILDISH INSULT of other tribes ca ...
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Dr. thak you for this bold and laudable attempt to do away with ethnicity in our county Ghana. I hope that people like Okwampa Ahoufe and Rockson Adoffo in particular are listening. Open and CHILDISH INSULT of other tribes can win election. It is issues. They forget that they are doing much harm than good to NPP. What is this ?
Mike from Ghana 9 years ago

Mike from Ho, you don't make sense get lost.

Mike from Ho, you don't make sense get lost.
Vodoo Xebieso 9 years ago

Idiot and swine, are you better than the Togolese? Your stock are still there and busy carrying Trokosi shit at Asigame in Lome and Dantokpasime in Cotonou. Just check it out.

Idiot and swine, are you better than the Togolese? Your stock are still there and busy carrying Trokosi shit at Asigame in Lome and Dantokpasime in Cotonou. Just check it out.
Ayigbe Vodoo 9 years ago

Vodoo Xebieso,you primitive Trokosi, shut up your dirty stinking mouth, your Dad and Mom are carrying shit and stealing Cats from their neighbours all over the place.

Vodoo Xebieso,you primitive Trokosi, shut up your dirty stinking mouth, your Dad and Mom are carrying shit and stealing Cats from their neighbours all over the place.
MARCUS AMPADU 9 years ago

SAS. I don't think as a nation, we are making concerted effort to bring our diverse ethnicities together - for example celebrating a day for each ethnic group, in which other ethnicities are encouraged to participate. Or stu ...
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SAS. I don't think as a nation, we are making concerted effort to bring our diverse ethnicities together - for example celebrating a day for each ethnic group, in which other ethnicities are encouraged to participate. Or students leaning the histories and cultures of of other ethnic groups.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago

Dr SAS, what is the evidence to support this statement? "Consider that most ethnocentric people are devoutly religious,...." Are you simply assuming that most people are religious and so your statement is accurate?

In pri ...
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Dr SAS, what is the evidence to support this statement? "Consider that most ethnocentric people are devoutly religious,...." Are you simply assuming that most people are religious and so your statement is accurate?

In principle, I agree with the contents of your article. However, the role played by nurture in ethnocentrism is critical and I believe that it is even powerful than nature (skin colour)because culture, language, education, etc are all nurture and they fashion one's attitude towards his or her fellow humans. Nurture is even stronger when the Ghanaian situation is considered since we are of the same skin colour yet ethnocentrism is pervasive, though I accept that the concept is more complex than simply, the nature versus nurture argument.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 9 years ago

Are you questioning my assertion that most ethnocentric people are devoutly religious? Is it your proposition that most ethnocentric people are not devoutly religious?
Make your position clear and clarify the rest of your su ...
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Are you questioning my assertion that most ethnocentric people are devoutly religious? Is it your proposition that most ethnocentric people are not devoutly religious?
Make your position clear and clarify the rest of your submission since I cannot understand what you are trying to say.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 9 years ago

Yes, Dr SAS, I was doubting the basis of your conclusion that devoutly religious people are more likely to be ethnocentric. By devoutly religious do you mean fundamentalism or simply those who regularly practise their religi ...
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Yes, Dr SAS, I was doubting the basis of your conclusion that devoutly religious people are more likely to be ethnocentric. By devoutly religious do you mean fundamentalism or simply those who regularly practise their religious belief? Is there any research to back your conclusion or just your own conclusion from your personal experience?

What I meant in my contribution was that, there are two factors that determine one's world view, including his/her relationship with others and whether is ethnocentric or not. These are nature and nurture. When it comes to ethnocentrism/racism, I believe that the environment (nurture including culture, education, religion, etc) that one grows up in has a stronger impact in fashioning his or her world view and the potential to be ethnocentric or otherwise. Nature ((or differences in skin colour and sex) on the other hand is not a strong factor in one becoming ethnocentric because if that was case in ethnocentrism, then, since majority of Ghanaians have the same skin colour, then, ethnocentrism would be less likely among Ghanaians but sadly that is not the case. For this reason, my view is that nurture has a stronger influence on ethnocentrism than nature.
MARCUS AMPADU 9 years ago

Kofi Ata, I don't think the nature vs nurture debate is apropos to what SAS is asserting in this article.

One can argue that hair color, skin color, and personality (Nature) do contribute to ethnocentric and racist welta ...
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Kofi Ata, I don't think the nature vs nurture debate is apropos to what SAS is asserting in this article.

One can argue that hair color, skin color, and personality (Nature) do contribute to ethnocentric and racist weltanschgen just as much as what psychologist John Watson refers to as environmental leaning (Nurture).
Ghana 9 years ago

Kofi your statement below is highly preposterous and shouldn't come from somebody like you who should know better!

In all your assertion, there's nothing POWERFUL about your flimsy delineation of ethnicity. What fuels the ...
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Kofi your statement below is highly preposterous and shouldn't come from somebody like you who should know better!

In all your assertion, there's nothing POWERFUL about your flimsy delineation of ethnicity. What fuels these animosity and rage is IGNORANCE.

"In principle, I agree with the contents of your article. However, the role played by nurture in ethnocentrism is critical and I believe that it is even powerful than nature (skin colour)because culture, language, education, etc"

For your information we are all human beings created by Almighty God in his own image.

This can be confirmed in most authentic religious books:- The Holy Bible and The Holy Quran.

So anybody who thinks his color or ethnicity makes them superior to others is an ignorant imbecile.
It doesn't matter how educated the person prevail on this universe.

Skin color, height and language difference does not in anyway make anybody superior to their fellow human being.

Its only the ignorant idiot who sees the difference between their fellow human beings.

Before Almighty God we are all on the same pedestal. The superior one amongst us are those who fear Almighty God and those humble, discerning people will never exhibit such gross ignorance.
C.Y. ANDY-K 9 years ago

I don't think you really understood what Kofi Ata wrote. You faulted him very wrongly.

As for the attempt to cleanse the Bible and the Qu'ran, the two most obnoxious books, used to justify and rationalise nascent racism ag ...
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I don't think you really understood what Kofi Ata wrote. You faulted him very wrongly.

As for the attempt to cleanse the Bible and the Qu'ran, the two most obnoxious books, used to justify and rationalise nascent racism against Blacks, less said about it the better.
Dr SAS was perfectly that religious people are the most ethnocentric.

Obviously, he failed though to admit that his conservative, right-wing elements are also harbingers of ethnocentrism. No wonder the disease is widespread in the NPP, the main source of ethnocentric politics in Ghana and the ethnocentric insults on Ghanaweb.

Andy-K
Ghana 9 years ago

I understood him clearly. He said he agrees with the contents of all what Dr Sas said however he feels there's something powerful about ethnicity. That was his underlining statement and that isn't a justification for anybody ...
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I understood him clearly. He said he agrees with the contents of all what Dr Sas said however he feels there's something powerful about ethnicity. That was his underlining statement and that isn't a justification for anybody to be an ethnocentric or a racist.
Ghana 9 years ago

That was a brilliant piece but, it's my hope you believe in those your vivid delineation of ethnicity. Some people preach virtue and practice vice.

Some people are so ignorant in this world that, you listen or watch how s ...
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That was a brilliant piece but, it's my hope you believe in those your vivid delineation of ethnicity. Some people preach virtue and practice vice.

Some people are so ignorant in this world that, you listen or watch how some people act and you wonder whether those type of people have real brains in their head to reason appropriately with regards to ethnicity and racism.
Carlos Arturo. 9 years ago

Thank you!
What a load of knowledge...

Thank you!
What a load of knowledge...

On The Matter of Ethnocentric Posturing

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