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Race a biological or social construct
What are ethnicity and race essay
Race a biological or social construct
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Race is a socially constructed divider based on physical differences such as skin tones, but are not limited to facial features, body features, accents, etc. There are not separate genes, traits, or characteristics that define any single group from another group. Police once walked up to Korematsu to ask if he had seen a “short Asian man”, adding stereotypes to the classification, when the police were looking for Korematsu. Korematsu had surgery performed so his eyelids would have less folds to look more, white (I would say American, but Korematsu is American and that changed nothing). Hence, this touchy subject of race is what makes it so much harder to discuss.
Everyday the future in America looks brighter for the issues dealing with race and identity. Brave souls are not letting racism, class discrimination, or sexism hold them back anymore. Furthermore, the fight for a balanced society that pushes for equality is on the horizon. As we close on an era, based on purely the skin of the person, we need to analyze the impacts of the Ethnicity paradigm and Class paradigm on politics of the 20th century. Race and Ethnicity are used interchangeable in everyday conversation, however; they are not the same.
What is your Ethnicity? I would consider myself African American but people call us Creole, I am
The English colonies, especially the middle colonies, were diverse in population. They classified themselves based on their ethnicity including German, French, Dutch and Scotch-Irish. European descendants were unsure if they were considered a European or an American. All ethnic groups who came from Europe to the English colonies are considered Americans (Document H). Because they paid their way to America, they would be considered as an American.
In the reading this week by Smedley and Smedley, the differences between ethnicity and race are discussed and the terms defined. Ethnicity is described as a group of people who have a common cultural trait, share a common language, area of origin, religion, and history (Smedley & Smedley 2005). The culture is learned, and is transferable to other people within the group (Smedley & Smedley 2005). Race is defined as physical features such as skin color or hair texture (Smedley & Smedley 2005). “Ethnicity was recognized as plastic, and transmissible, but race conveyed the notion of differences that could not be transcended” (Smedley & Smedley, 2005, p. 19).
1. Ethnicity (10/265) – a system for classifying people who are believed to share common descent, based on perceived cultural similarities. • My ethnicity is Hispanic. 2. Race (10/265) – a system for classifying people who are believed to share common descent, based on perceived innate physical similarities.
I use these labels to describe myself because I feel like these words really describe my people and myself. I feel like the words describe my people because not all of them are brown some are white and tan and minority because we are less than other ethnicities. I use these labels to describe myself because I feel like these words really describe my people and myself. Mexican-American because I am born and raised in America and from Mexican descent. Latina
What people label us is not always what we are and it could be rather offensive at times when people label us because of one’s looks or background. For instance, if I we’re to be asked “what are you?” In my head I would think to myself “I’m a girl, a breathing thing living on Earth.” but of course the one asking might not be awaiting such answer. I would simply say I am Mexican-American, Hispanic-American, or Latina.
Race and ethnicity are two terms which are used interchangeably in every day conversation, however, there is a distinction between the two. Race is a categorization of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often on the basis of phenotype – observable physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, or other selective attributes. Race is a social construct and has been known to change with historical and political events. Contrarily, ethnicity does not necessarily provide visual clues, instead, ethnicity is categorized on the basis of a shared common culture and includes elements such as language, norms, customs, religion, music, art, literature. Ethnic Groups are developed by their unique history
Nativism is the belief that your country and heritage is better than other nations; and that immigrants that may arrive from other nations are not as valuable as the people who are the citizens of your nation. Likewise, nativist believe that immigrant are dangerous, and threaten the lives of citizens of their domestic country. With that in mind, nativist may advocate for building a wall to keep people from coming into the country, or may reject immigrants of a different country and religion. On the other hand, racism is the belief that your race is better, and superior to another person’s. For instance, racism does not care about a country, but rather holds an ethnic group superior.
When filling out a questionnaire, it is only a matter of time before I come across the predictable: what is your race/ethnicity? I do not have to think long nor hard about my answer. In fact, I do not hesitate to pencil in African American. Why is that? It could very well be that at a glance my skin tone and accent is enough for people to quickly label me as such thus reaffirming my identity.
Race is defined as the categorization of individuals based on their physical characteristics, i.e. skin color, facial structure, etcetera. Ethnicity is defined as the categorization of individuals based on their respective social or cultural groups, and is not based upon race. Both race and ethnicity are similar systems of categorization, yet, although race is on the basis on physical features while ethnicity is based on one’s social or cultural background. The concept of race was created by European imperialists and colonialists during the early 17th century, when the slave trade began. The white imperialists needed a system of categorization in order to justify the sharp uptick in the use of the African body as slaves.
If a person says that they are Hispanic, that is what their ethnicity is, not what their race is. It is often thought that race and ethnicity are interchangeable terms when they are actually two different things. In short, race is based on biology and ethnicity is based on culture. It becomes very difficult to classify the race of someone from this background. Just like in any other group of people, there are many variations in skin color that can easily lead to a person being classified as race that they are
This chapter explains the difference between race and ethnicity and how they came about. It also explains the advantages and disadvantages some have due to the creation of race. Race and ethnicity have strong foundations not only within countries, but between them. Globalization has increased the individual’s ethnic identities, but has also put some at disadvantages. Having different races and ethnicities is not an issue, but ranking the different races and putting others at disadvantages creates issues.
Race, nationality and ethnicity Race and ethnicity are seen as form of an individual’s cultural identity. Researchers have linked the concept of “race” to the discourses of social Darwinism that in essence is a categorization of “types” of people, grouping them by biological and physical characteristics, most common one being skin pigmentation. Grouping people based on their physical traits has lead in time to the phenomenon of “racialization” (or race formation), as people began to see race as more of a social construct and not a result or a category of biology.
