Our increased mobility has given us greater access to the world and the diverse people that inhabit it. With that mobility comes the shared responsibility to negotiate with people who may initially seem unfamiliar and learn to express the experience. The word “ethnicity” is used to describe a specific population’s characteristics of fundamental aspects that all humans share. When applied loosely, ethnicity becomes a blanket term to define large populations, undermining the worth and the diversity within that group and emphasizing the differences between cultures. Yet those differences come down to matters of preference and socialization within each culture. The dominant themes that rule human nature persist in every society – wondering where we came from and why we exist, social mores to guide how we relate to people or situations, and primal motivations such as hunger, fear, and a need to be loved and accepted.
People communicate with language, have a sense of family structure, practice culinary habits, beliefs, and social values that evolved concurrent with the compounded revisions of a group’s public space and collective perception of reality. Over time, ethnic groups have interacted and negotiated public realms similar to the method each separate population underwent to develop into its present framework. We continue to co-mingle cultures, borrowing tastes that suit our own self-definition and determination. The definition of what is “right” and what is valued varies fr...
In any given culture, people are proud of their heritage. However, when an individual of one group meets with people of another, and the element of ignorance is added, the individual will be socially ostracized. Of mixed descent, Rayon...
Everyone has an ethnic background, whether it is Chinese or European, we all come from somewhere. Barbara Ehrenreich has come to the conclusion in her article “Cultural Baggage” that the race and religion of our ancestors should not be what defines us. While she agrees that everyone has different roots, she shows the reader that you do not have to be defined by your roots and that the traditions do not have to be followed.
Conrad Kottak, in the eleventh chapter of his textbook on cultural anthropology sought to deconstruct ethnicity in the modern world and how it has evolved over time. He wrote that “ethnicity is based on actual, perceived, or assumed cultural similarities” (Kottak 2012). While ethnicity is based in differences, he discussed at length the origins of race and ethnicity and the diverging opinions as to where it all began, then diverged. He argued that humans are cultural rather than biologic and contrasts in society great affect how humans organize and define themselves. There was a overview of ethnicity structures in Asia, specifically in Japan and Korea, as well as the United States and Brazil. Kottak also defined what the word “nation” really means and its connotations; assim...
I agree that non-whites possess little to no ethnic options. If you are half white and half Mexican, you are most likely going to be categorized as Mexican, regardless of which ethnic option you would prefer to identify as, you are always going to be categorized as whatever ethnicity you physically match the most.
There is a specific meaning to race and how its role impacts society and shapes the social structures. Race is a concept that “symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi & Winant 55). In other words, Omi and Winant get down to the crux of the issue and assert that race is just an illusion. Race is merely seen as an ideological construct that is often unstable and consisting of decentered social meanings. This form of social construction attempts to explain the physical attributes of an individual but it is constantly transformed by political struggles. The rules of classifying race and of identity are embedded into society’s perception. Therefore, race becomes a common function for comprehending, explaining, and acting in the
It could be argued that every nation and every ethnic group has its own soul food. But the contemporary connotation of the term "soul food" refers to the gradual blending and developing o...
As I listen to the recording I had made back in week two of this course, I am able to realize how far my identity development has come. A few things stuck out to me as I listened to my thoughts and ideas from nine weeks ago. I found myself making statements about being “color blind” and that I “don’t go out of my way to think about how people are different”. I now realize that this kind of thinking is that kind that can inadvertently perpetuate racism in society. In order to challenge racism, there needs to be a dialogue about racism and denying the fact that there is any issue is only making matters worse.
One way to distinguish a person from the billions of other people in the world is by looking into their ethnicity. Ethnicity may be simplified as just a person’s origin, but arguments have been made that there is more to the world. Joane Nagel, author of “Constructing Ethnicity”, writes about what makes up the word ethnicity along with its uses in social and political spectrums. Nicholosa Mohr also writes about the different perspective of ethnicity and the way people embrace them in her writing “The English Lesson”. From reading both texts, it is possible to make the argument that Mohr’s text supports Nagel’s ideas on the fluidity and situational nature of ethnic identity in the United States. Mohr finds themes from different scenarios in the classroom that can perhaps correspond to many of Nagel’s ideas and theories about ethnicity.
Experiencing a society of multi-cultures is beneficial through a variety of concepts to epitomize each individual identity. A person may vary in the degree to which he or she identifies with, morals, or...
During the 18 century, people divided humans based on where they live and skin color like Europeans as “white”, Africans as “black”, Indians as “red”, and Asians as “yellow”. For example, in Haiti, color has been the dominant force in social and political life. Skin texture, facial feature, hair color, and socioeconomic class together play a role in placement. The anthropological perspective define race as members of a society have similar biological traits. These members are diverse from other members of society because of these traits. In the end, the race concept is not acceptable to humans but it is used as a cultural classification. ...
Therefore it has become a source of division within the working class that only works in favor for the bourgeois and capitalist. On the there hand, Ethnicity has a wider concept than race but still can be useful and counterproductive. To begin, one obvious reason why ethnicity is useful because it allows for other cultures, customs to express themselves. Secondly, promotes multiculturalism and diversity. Be that as it may, it is counterproductive and overlapping because the systematic distinctions within ethnicity lead to equality and inequality in society Therefore resulting to racial supremacy and privilege. Given these points, in this paper, I will discuss in details the ways in which the concepts of race and ethnicity are useful and how they are counterproductive with regards to different authors; Peter Wade, Robert Milles, Etienne Balibar, David Nirebeng, Roman Grosfoguel and Joan
THESIS: Scientists and other intellectuals recognize the modern concept of "race" as an artificial category that developed over the past five centuries due to encounters with non-European people. Even though people still attempt to organize humans into categories according to their race, these categories have been shown to have no scientific basis.
Race and ethnicity are two terms that are constantly used in today’s society. Understanding these terms can help people to recognize that color of skin or color of hair does not define a person. These terms connect with history, social interaction, and the overall make up of a person. However America is constantly obsessed with labeling people by the way that they look or the way that they act. America seems to encourage the terms race and ethnicity and continue to divide people into categories. It is interesting to comprehend these terms because they are not going to disappear any time soon. Race and ethnicity are apart of America’s history and will be a part of the future.
In the United States, “ethnics” came to be used at around Second World War as a polite way of referring to the Jews, Italian, Irish, and other people considered inferior to the dominant group of largely British descent. Since the 1960s, ethnic groups and ethnicity have become household words in English-speaking social anthropology[2]. In everyday language, the word ethnicity still has a ring of minority issues and race relations to it.
Race, often defined as groups of people who share similar and different biological traits, is commonly tied in with ethnicity. Ethnicity is the cultural traits that are shared amongst a group of people. This two social construct is the basis of mankind yet there is still a growing problem with race and ethnicity in today’s society. This can be seen through racism and ethnic discrimination.