Post 195: Identity and Intercultural Communication

Identity and Intercultural Communication

Sometimes we assume knowledge about another person’s identity based 
on his or her membership in a particular cultural group. When we do so, we 
are ignoring the individual aspect. Taking a dialectical perspective can help us 
recognize and balance both the individual and the cultural aspects of another’s 
identity. This perspective can guide the ways that we communicate with that 
person (and conceivably with others). “The question here is one of identity: 
Who am I perceived to be when I communicate with others? . . . My identity is 
very much tied to the ways in which others speak to me and the ways in which 
society represents my interests” (Nakayama, 2000, p. 14).

 

How many of us make assumptions about a person based on their appearance? gender? sexual orientation? clothing? ethnicity? Are these assumptions often true or false? How can you tell a person's character and integrity from a person's ethnicity? gender? or sexual orientation? Yet, we all have biases. We assume that when a female driver who makes a mistake in driving made that mistake because she is female. Or when an older person forgets where he puts his keys, he must have dementia? Yet when a younger person forgets his keys, he is simply absent minded.  Where do we get our prejudices from?

We get our bias from friends, family, television and movies. When you watch movies on TV or in the theatre, how are Asian American portrayed? How are Native Americans portrayed? Are they the lead character? Are they the hero who gets the girl? What ethnicity is usually the hero in the story? What ethnicity is usually the sidekick/geek/comic relief in the movie? We form our opinions of people based on our cumulative experiences we get from movies, media and society.When you encounter an Asian American, are you guilty of thinking/assuming that Asian American is a geek? good with math? or that Chinese people are all spies? or all Muslim Americans are all terrorists?

   Shouldn't we get to know the person first before we make judgements of that person?

I remember walking across the college quad on my way to English class as I was an English major.  Then out of the blue, a total stranger walked up to me to ask me for tutoring help in math. I had no idea who this person was. He said, "You are Chinese, so I figure all you Chinese are good at math. I am flunking my math class, can you bail me out? I can pay good money for math tutoring lessons." I thought to myself if that person only knew that I had failed the math portion of my SAT 5 times before I passed, he would not be asking me for math lessons. But I simply said, "Sorry, I am an English major and am not good at math." You should have seen the stunned look on his face!