At a personal level it makes more sense to not see things that way. Especially for people living out in the West, we see how the people in West are not EXACTLY like what is portrayed out in Hollywood or media. On everyday basis, we see how humans are humans all over the globe. People treat each other with due respect and things are going on nice.
But at an institutional level, it is not the case. As the song goes "We didn't start the Fire...." Scholars (?) like Wendy Doniger and Michael Witzel continue to influence how West looks upon India in particular. The California Text book controversy is a case that jumps to the mind. There is a good book out there: http://www.invadingthesacred.com/ Though my examples come from the religious angle, but one sees institutional bias either be it a liberal or conservative think tank out in America.
The Cold War and the nth version of Great Game played out did/does not really help.
I recently read an interesting historical anecdote. When Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon, his ships carried several convicts who had received death punishment. On reaching new shores (lands), some of these convicts used to be sent to the shores as Gama did not know how the natives would behave towards them. Were they Cannibals? Would they attack them? Etc Etc. The thought process was even if these guys got killed no big deal as they were anyway destined to die back home. When they reached Malabar coast, these people were well received. Some of the locals mistook them for Arabs and took them to already existing Arab population.
At a people to people level, there is harmony but sometimes the institutional biases and prejudices seep at the personal level too.