When you are an international student, one of the first question is: “Where are you from?” The accent, the skin and some manners identified that you are not a member from a determinate culture.
The History remember us that all the nations are a mixture from different places and people around the world: wars, imperious and nations always has been constructed our identity as humans and as society. In
this order, the international relationships are one of the most important elements in the modern societies and this has led the creation of international organisms like the United Nations (UN) or the Organization of American States (OAS), for example.
The Convention of Geneva in 1951 is an valuable resource for the protection of the foreign people and is also a legal recourse for the international relationships between countries especially for the embassies, however, in an informal level, each time that an citizen leaves their country and try to life in a new one, he (she) is automatically and ambassador of their nation.
In an extensive country like United States and especially in the biggest cities, the nationality is an irrelevant factor in the daily life and the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits any kind of discrimination at the moment of hiring a new employee based in the national origin.
However, we have not to forget that we still be humans with feelings and fears especially to the “different” and the newspapers and ways of communication remember us every day that some kind of cultures or specific qualities makes a dangerous person. For this reasons we had
segregation and other kinds of isolation to a specific nationalities.
Only for an example, Colombia has been usually related with drugs and crime or Mexico with illegal people, however is frequently listen to a Colombian said that almost the 99 percent of the people hates drugs and weapons or a Mexican express their dreams in a new society.
So the question is: Why some specific cultural groups are related with generalized ideas that are not appropriated for everybody? Is that fair?
The answer can be found in the fears of the society and also in the ways of communication. If the population feel scare for the number of crimes or addicts, or for loose their jobs, the easier way is to blend the other for our problems, additionally, if one member of a determinate culture commits a crime, all the people from that region will be associate with that types of offenses.
Of course that kind of stereotype is not fear for all because like in all the societies, we can find all kind of people; some good workers, some good parents and also criminals and murdere
rs, but is easier only see “one side of the ledger”, and recognized only the problems that the “others” causes in the nation, although, this is a problem to all the societies in the world and the ignorance still be one of the most important real problems in our lives.
For this reasons, when you are in a foreign country, you are an ambassador of your country and the whole society will be judge you for your acts, especially if you are the only person from that nation.
Maybe you will agree that this is not fair because every person is completely different but one of the ideas of the concept of nation is the exclusively of some determinate group that share costumes; is important to be proud of them while do not offend the ideas or thoughts of the others, especially in a different culture.
Every day the world is more closer and the technologies allow to know about the differences and similarities between the nations. But the most important idea is do not have scare about the others, do not have frighten to know new people and loss your own identity because we are a world that is being former about the experience and legacies of the others.
