is being ethnocentric the same ass being racist?

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Here's my 2 cents

1 The Irish (also Scots and Welsh) are Celtic people, while the English are Anglo-Saxons. So technically they ARE different races. And they do look different, although their skin tone is the same or very similar.

2 In America you can get scholarships or bonus college admissions points for being African-American. Yet there is no test or criteria to determine who qualifies. You just decide for yourself and check the appropriate box. Now, since most scientists agree that humankind originated in Africa, I see no reason why ALL Americans should not check the box that will give them the greatest advantage.

Having a problem with Mexicans because they
are of Latino descent is wrong. Having a problem
with Mexicans because they are the citizens of
Mexico, regardless of their ethnicity.. is normal.

They are very similar. The difference is just semantics.

To break it down: Racism is the ascribing of a persons cognitive content (his character, intelligence, mode of conduct) by his genetic make up.
Ethnocentrism is the ascribing of a persons cognitive content by his geographical location.

It is the same logical error, just with a different focus.

Regarding the Celts
I wasn't talking about language differences, I was talking about genetic differences. At one time, Celtic peoples inhabited what is now England, but were pushed north and west by the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Hence, they now inhabit Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. They are not only different from the English in terms of culture, but also in terms of biology. For example, there are certain genetic illnesses that are mostly found among those of Celtic origin. In the US we tend to think of race in terms of different skin colors; in other parts of the world this is not always so.

In Anthropology, ethnocentrism is the idea that one culture is better than another. Specifically, that the observer's culture is superior to the one being observed. You'll find this view in the works of Tylor, Morgan, Spencer, and other early anthropological theorists.

In reality, everyone is ethnocentric to a certain degree, but deliberate ethnocentrism is something to be avoided in scholarly research. Some early scholars for example criticized foragers (like the !Kung/San) as primitive and wasteful and felt that the industrialized, Western way of doing things was more efficient; in reality, the !Kung spend less time attending to subsistence needs than the average American (assuming ~40 hour work week).

Ethnocentrism = My culture > your culture

Cultural Relativism is the reverse; acknowledging that different cultures have different ways of accomplishing things (like subsistence strategies), different worldviews, and different lifestyles. It doesn't mean that you should ignore an injustice simply because people from different cultures have different backgrounds.

The application of Cultural Relativism in Anthropology is very different from what I've seen described here. It's simply important to acknowledge that there are different ways of doing things and that your way is not the only correct way to do them simply because it's the way you do them.

Alex believes that anyone who'd dare post a picture of Dutch Santa's helper Piet, must be a racist (of course, not the Dutch themselves though...).



And you're all racists now for having viewed the photo.

A long time ago, I heard on tv or in a college class that people in Northern Ireland can tell the difference between a Catholic (mostly Celtic/native Irish) and a Protestant (mainly of English descent) simply by looking at them. It sounded ridiculous to me at the time.
Now, having lived 2+ years in the Irish Republic, I can tell you that there IS a racial/genetic difference. Irish people LOOK different. There is a certain slant to the eyes, a common type of nose, etc. that most of these people share. If you line up ten white people, I can pick out the ones whose last name starts with "Mc"

(Yes I realize not all Irish people have "Mc" in their names...blah blah etc disclaimers)