The Relation Between Race And Ethnicity

Race can be categorized quite differently and can vary from country to country. When defining race, it can be complex in that every country, even an individual within a country, has different criteria and viewpoints when identifying a person’s race. For some countries and for some people, race is the color of your skin, or the background that you come from, or even biological and physical traits. Therefore, it’s crucial to thoroughly explain the topic of race and how it plays into context in today’s society.

Race is defined as a category or group of people widely perceived as sharing socially significant physical characteristics or hereditary traits that set them apart. It is commonly accepted myth that the human species is composed of physically different groups and that these differences are assumed to be genetic. Race is supposed to be based on biological factors. However, the myth is debunked; it is scientifically proven that race is a social construction; although it is based on physical characteristics that presume biological base, most important biological differences between people are invisible and do not play any role in the definition of racial categories. There

The term "race" is a modern concept. It's definition has adopted radically new meaning over the past few centuries. Currently, the term is used to characterize differences among human groups. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term "race" in 1512 is "a group or class of persons, animals, or things, having some common feature or

Race and ethnicity are two different terms which are often confused. Neither race nor ethnicity are biologically classifiable, and are truly socially identifiable classifications. As defined by Cohen (2015:75) race is “a group of people believed to share common descent, based on perceived innate physical similarities.” Cohen (2015:79) defines ethnicity as “a group of people with a common cultural identification, based on a combination of language, religion, ancestral origin, or traditional practices.” Finally, Cohen (2015:79) defines racial ethnicity as “an ethnic group perceived to share physical characteristics.” Race, then, is more focused on relation of physical similarities, while ethnicity is

Race and Ethnicity both relate to biological and sociological factors respectively, and even though they can overlap, they are distinct. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from genetic ancestry). Race presumes shared biological or genetic traits, whether actual or asserted and the category to which others assign individuals on the basis of physical characteristics. Races are assumed to be distinguished by skin color, eye color or hair type. However, the scientific studies based on racial distinctions show that racial genetic differences are very weak except in skin color (National Association of Social Workers, 2015).

Humans have been separated into biological races. Although all humans belong to the same species, there are minor genetic differences around the world that generate distinct physical appearances, such as variations in skin color. There was a time when religion, social status, and language were more important than physical appearances. The term race, with ambiguous meaning, has transformed over time. It is not solely based on genetics and how people look on the outside. It is simply a categorization created by the people of American society. Race is more of a contemporary idea that developed out of certain historical circumstances. The historical meaning of race is an immutable and distinct species,

Some of the similarities between the two terms are that by definition, they are a categorized group of a population. They are similarly significant in the sense that both terms share characteristic traits. In addition, "ethnicity" and "race" share genealogy. Contrarily, the two terms are different because ethnicities are categorized on the basis of a real or presumed common genealogy or ancestry, while races are classified on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics. In other words, ethnicity is determined by your ancestors and family tree. Race is decided based on physical characteristics such as eyes, nose structure, ears, body type, etc. Two examples that I would consider a race to be are African Americans and Whites. Two examples

Ethnicity, however, relates more to a person’s identity outside of their genetic material. This could be based off of what type of culture a person was raised in. A persons’ ethnicity can be reflective of their race, but it could also differ. Sometimes, as Henslin explains, ethnicities can be confused and seen as races. One example he gives is Judaism. Some people see being Jewish as a race. Although for some people their beliefs may be tied in with their race, no genetic material determines if you are Jewish or not. For many people it is passed down through generations, yet it is by educating and raising a child in that culture rather than them being genetically imbedded with Judaism. Being Jewish does not dictate a person’s skin

Out of all the theories and discussions we have had in class thus far I don’t I have felt more connected like I am with this theory. The theories of Race and Ethnicity is something that I can relate to on a personal level. Me being a lighter skin tone African American I have experienced both the good and the bad of racism. Therefore, my part in our group assignment was to focus on the race aspect. It’s a large scale in which I can gear race around; however, I specifically focused on class and education. I may discuss a few other points in this paper that I wasn’t assigned by my group because I have so many opinions on this topic. Although, society claims that over the past decade racism has declined, we still see every day that the race places a major role in the opportunities available. Blacks have to work two times are hard to earn a position or status that a white individual may just walk in and get. For instance, say there are two men with the same education and credentials but one is white and the other is black, who do you think the company going to

Race may be defined as a group of people who have been identified as having real or alleged physical characteristics.

On the other hand, ethnicity encompasses everything from a common language to a common heritage. Sometimes other things such as common food or diet may come into play.

Though race and ethnicity are grouped together, they are very different in a lot of ways. Race is more related to a persons physical looks. This can be skin, hair, eye color or even face structure. Ethnicity on the other hand is refers to a persons cultural background which can change if you are from one race, but born somewhere ethnically different than your birth race. Like being Asian-American, German-American, or African-American. You can be born German, but might have lived in American all your life, affecting your cultural background.

What is race? Race is defined as a group of persons related by common descent or heredity (Dictionary). Many notice this as color of skin or where you were born. The differences in race, class, gender is what make the position of an individual in society. In our textbook race is defined as “a category of people who have been singled out as inferior or superior, often based on real or alleged physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, eye shape, or other subjectively selected attributes” (Kendall, 2013, p 296). A variety of people believe that race and ethnicity are the same when they are not. Race, class, and gender all plays into someone social stratification. I interviewed two individuals from different race and ethnicity and different class and gender. These individuals both came from a different walk of life.

Race and ethnicity are related to biological and sociological factors as with sex and gender. Race is the socially constructed category of individuals who share biologically transmitted traits that a society considers important. Even though all humans belong to the same biological species they are labeled by traits such as skin color, facial features and hair textures. Ethnicity on the other hand, is simply a shared culture heritage. These labels are created around common ancestors, languages and religions that provide distinctive social identities. The correlation

Race and ethnicity are not factors when it comes to having the money or being accepted in their society. Neither should people assume anything when it comes to someone's race. Stereotyping people leads to false assumptions about the race as a whole. People often stereotype other races because they are ignorant about the race they stereotype. People’s race shouldn’t automatically pick what people become when they get older. Ethnicity is just a term people use to separate the different types of people there are, nothing more. People should be looked at the same way, as human beings, not by their skin color. Everyone will be different, wishing to be a different race shouldn’t be running through people's minds. Race and ethnicity should not define a person or be a set back to what kind of family a person has or wants.