Cultural Incompetence

I think intercultural competence is not achieved in all situations because people are (1) often set in their ways and unwilling to accept other poeple's differences. Some people are not willing to take the time to get to know things that are different than what they are used to, whether it be because they are old or simply ignorant. (2) There are many stereotypes relating to race, color, culture, ect. It is very easy to judge and stereotype people when we have grown up with it all around us. I think this has a lot to do with culturally incompetent situations because people already have these prepositions about each other without actually meeting one another. (3) People are ehtnocentrists. Their way of doing things is right and other cultures are wrong. Many people are not going to accept or give credit to beliefs they think are wrong, often resulting in cultural incompetence.
In order to achieve cultural competence, I think we could start by (1) Getting to know people. We all judge people whether we like it or not (it is human nature), but give everyone a chance. Don't have strong judgments that are going to prevent you from taking the incentive to talk to someone, just because they are different than yourself. (2) I think we should all be knowledgeable of other cultures. Do some reading, talk to people, etc. There are so many other cultures out there and so many different cultures in America, it is important for us not to be ignorant and give other people proper credit for their beliefs. And, other cultures are interesting! It's fun to read about other peoples cultures, especially if they are very different from your own. It sheds new light and different perspectives. (3) Be able to successfully communicate with people from different cultures. I'm not saying learn to speak 10 different languages, but try to effectively talk to people of other cultures by being open and respectful.