Feeling Like Other Analysis
Feeling like “Other”
Shanell Mbamalu
Cultural Diversity
Fall 2014
Feeling like “Other” I will be exploring a time when I felt like “other”, in this situation I was made to feel invisible, excluded and too visible all at the same time. In this situation I mainly felt excluded but nonetheless I felt all of the above. My husband is Nigerian and I am African American, he attends a Nigerian church and all of the members are Nigerian. Every time I go to church with him I feel as if I am too visible because I am the only non-Nigerian person there, yes we are all black but I know nothing about their culture and I do not speak their language. They often sing Nigerian praise songs and do traditional dances and when this is occurring I often feel excluded and invisible because it seem …show more content…
Being African American around Africans you often get a sense of ethnocentrism from this culture in regards to language, religion and behavior. Sometimes people are not aware that they are making the “other” feel uncomfortable or excluded simply because they don’t know how to include the “other”. Many people are not as culturally competent as they may think and this can cause a lot of discord between different cultural groups. Unfortunately both groups have been marginalized, having diminished value, importance, contributions, or attributes. Because both groups notice cultural differences we feel the need to be guarded and defensive at all times. This does not help with communication and interaction between our cultures. One way for me to overcome this is exercising emotional intelligence which involves developing the ability to manage and appreciate
Shanell Mbamalu
Cultural Diversity
Fall 2014
Feeling like “Other” I will be exploring a time when I felt like “other”, in this situation I was made to feel invisible, excluded and too visible all at the same time. In this situation I mainly felt excluded but nonetheless I felt all of the above. My husband is Nigerian and I am African American, he attends a Nigerian church and all of the members are Nigerian. Every time I go to church with him I feel as if I am too visible because I am the only non-Nigerian person there, yes we are all black but I know nothing about their culture and I do not speak their language. They often sing Nigerian praise songs and do traditional dances and when this is occurring I often feel excluded and invisible because it seem …show more content…
Being African American around Africans you often get a sense of ethnocentrism from this culture in regards to language, religion and behavior. Sometimes people are not aware that they are making the “other” feel uncomfortable or excluded simply because they don’t know how to include the “other”. Many people are not as culturally competent as they may think and this can cause a lot of discord between different cultural groups. Unfortunately both groups have been marginalized, having diminished value, importance, contributions, or attributes. Because both groups notice cultural differences we feel the need to be guarded and defensive at all times. This does not help with communication and interaction between our cultures. One way for me to overcome this is exercising emotional intelligence which involves developing the ability to manage and appreciate