Stereotyping 2: The sequel You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty

Ethnocentrism is the idea of looking at every culture from the viewpoint that they are inferior to yours. Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is the idea that every culture should be viewed within its own context to be truly understood. These two are concepts I learned in ant100, but they are such fundamentally relevant ideas that I think they should be taught at an elementary level. For stereotypes are an exaggeration of ethnocentric viewpoints, so if children can be taught an alternative way of thinking at an early age, that may go a long way towards removing stereotypes.
It would be extremely difficult, however. Humans, as a whole, have divided themselves into meaningless cultures and sub-cultures; and each one perpetuates ethnocentrism; some, in fact survives on ethnocentrism. Take religion, for example; every major religion is split into tiny little factions that are all told they are the closest faction to God. The fact that the Vatican, a purely fundamentalist place that runs solely on Christianity, is an autonomous body is a testament to how far ethnocentrism can take an institution. And it is highly necessary for this ethnocentrism to survive, so that these institutions survive. The byproduct of stereotyping is, in all likelihood, considered more of a benefit.
The question is, would an attack on ethnocentrism be considered an attack on individuality and culture? Perhaps people consider stereotyping an essential ingredient, a necessary evil in maintaining diversity. People need to hate each other to a degree, among other things, otherwise we become a bland, uniform society, which is dangerous evolution-wise. But is this really true? And if it is, is this price worth paying?  ¶ 5:43 PM