Describe A Few Of My Ethnic Attributions

The article titled "Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?" written by Marcy C. Waters was a fascinating read. Being a student who studies sociology, I try always try to analyze the differences between categories of people like race, but I have never thought about symbolic ethnicity. Also, I never thought about the idea of being able to turn off and on your cultural backgrounds. In all, Waters brought new ideas to the table. I assume since I am White, I have never had to give it much thought. So, when people do ask me about my heritage, I tell them that I am German, Irish and American Indian. Now, when saying this to people, I do get excited because it makes me feel unique and interesting to others. After reading the article, I can see how

The maintenance of one’s ethnic ties in a way that can assist with assimilation in larger society is known as

One of the most controversial topics of culture over the years has been that of Race and Ethnicity. Due to the diversity of humans and the ability for different cultures to categorize themselves in different ways, the topic race and ethnicity continues to expand and grow. Anthropologists have studied the question of race and ethnicity throughout time in order to better understand how cultures and societies have come to classify themselves. According to the anthropological understanding of race, “race is not a scientific biological categorical system and does not explain human biological differences” (Gonzalez Lecture 29). What is interesting to observe

| Whites here in the United States are classified as individuals that have origins with the Middle East, Europeans, and North Africa (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001).

(Trumbull and Pacheco 9). After analyzing several texts, the reader recognizes that three important elements of a person's cultural identity include beliefs, food, ethnicity, and

There was a time when America was segregated; Caucasians and African Americans were forced to attend different restrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. However, the era of segregation has been terminated; now America embraces and appreciates the various cultures and ethnicities that create this melting pot several people call home. Likewise, it is this melting pot, or mosaic, of races that multitudes of individuals have identified themselves with. Thus, race and ethnicity does matter for it portrays vital and crucial roles in the contemporary American society. Furthermore, ethnicity and race brings communities together in unity, determines which traditions and ideals individuals may choose to value, and imposes an impediment for it categorizes humans unjustly.

Defining exactly what shapes ethnic identity in the United States is the hardest question I can imagine being asked. As a child born in the United States, I find this question so difficult because I have been exposed to a large variety of cultures within the small boundaries of my own family. This makes it very difficult to determine one, or even a few characteristics that define ethnic identity. In the case of many of these novels, the task of defining ethnic identity is not so complicated. The list of determinants that I believe to define ethnic identity includes language, geographic location, and tradition.

There is a massive amount of ethnicities in this world. You have ethnic groups that are not necessarily related to where you came from but what group you identify yourself with. As a descendant who speaks the Spanish language we are categorized as being part of the Hispanic ethnic group. My father having twelve siblings and my mother having nine, it was a huge family. Our grandparents and parents inculcated us to be a united family with all the values and beliefs they initiated. Every ethnic group is similar but different in its own unique way. In which some have music, food and believes that characterize us as that specific ethnic group. The only difference is the way people embrace it. We also have many different types of celebrations

"Symbolic ethnicity" is a term coined by Herbert Gans. It refers to ethnicity that is individualistic in nature and without real social cost for the individual. These symbolic identifications are essentially leisure time activities, rooted in nuclear family traditions reinforced by voluntary enjoyable aspects of being ethnic (Gans 424-429). "Symbolic ethnicity" is practiced and enjoyed by white Americans. It is a way for descendants of white Europeans to learn about and be proud of their heritage. That is not the case for non-whites who are grouped together by the white majority making ethnic identity difficult .

Even though there are set values that are universally known to the public, people do not always follow those values within their groups. However, these people have to act in conformity and abide by the values in public. Although everyone assumes that “imagined communities” contain a common culture, in reality, they really do not due to the fact that there are many body of ideas and practices that are not shared. Many languages are spoken and countless number of religions are practiced in various countries, so these make the “common culture” idea a misconception among citizens of different countries. For example, people tend to think that America consists of culture that is common, but they do not know if the beliefs, values, and practices are universally shared by all Americans. Nonetheless, there was a time when a dominant culture in the United States actually existed. It was during when the religion of Christianity was prominent and when many countries in Europe spoke the English language. It should be known that black Americans, Chinese-Americans, and white Americans have a common culture because of everything they do and do not share. From the common culture would arise the social identity, which can cause problems in diversity. Diversity can be an issue because of the ignorance of all the contrasting values. These issues arise because racial and ethnic identities are compared to one another and both can also relate to genders and sexualities. Nevermore, distinct genders and sexualities often live together now with the same knowledge and values and can still grow into opposite racial identities. Ethnic identities are so different since they are created in family and community life and people want the solidarity from being unique to one

In addition, individuals identify clearly with the heritage of the group through religious beliefs and social values. If their culture doesn’t allow a specific behavior, they stick to the tradition.

My cultural background is English, I am an atheist I don’t believe in much but I do strongly believe that people should be treated equality. I am a very open minded person when it comes to diversity and others beliefs. I have never experienced my views impacting others negatively I have always educated myself on other beliefs so I don’t offend them but if my views did impact others

Race can first be classified by the geographic place of origin of a people group, but can also be visually identified by shared physical characteristics such as skin color, hair color and texture, and facial features. When defining culture, I think of my own which encompasses: traditions and customs; general values and ethics; political influences; religious influences; technological influences; historical influences; gender roles/expectations; social class; social status; economic status; education; language, including its proper and improper use; and something I may have overlooked prior to my required readings for this paper- race.

However, for the ethnicity, it is about a group of people who gather together because they came from the same place and would be able to share their culture. Race and ethnicity are different types of human traits, however, they have something in common. The common thing that they have to face is discrimination. Even though in today’s society the discrimination problem is better compared to the history, however, there are still a lot of discrimination occur in today’s society. I will take myself as an example; I remembered that once I was sitting with all my American friends. Suddenly, there was a kid walked by and whispered, “She’s looks different than her friends.” I was shocked because I did not know how to react in this type of situation. Therefore, I just laughed and pretended nothing had happened. However, the experience had made me feel uncomfortable and awkward when I am hanging out with my American now. Second I would like to talk about class. Class makes me think of the level of the social hierarchy. For example, how wealthy people are or how poor people are. If a family were wealthy, they would absolutely be treated differently compared to a family who were

Through learning, families values, community relationships, and the willingness to achieve. Culture can be easily seen - the behavior of people – is the smallest part of culture. The greatest part, internal culture is inside people’s heads. It is our way of thinking and perceiving. Most importantly, it includes the values and beliefs unconsciously learned while growing up. The collision of two cultures as people come together causes us to become more aware of the differences and similarities between cultural values. By understanding the internal culture and significant values, we have a system to analyze and interpret behavior. People from around the globe bring their cultures here to American and institute them into society. Although, the United States is a culturally diverse society, there is a dominant culture and others give up their culture (depending upon where they may live) so they can fit into mainstream society. My family as other African American families changed their ways to fit into society hoping to become socially accepted because of not being members of the dominant culture. As with most societal trends, family values in all cultures are in constant motion; the list of American family values is always evolving. African