...Defining Race and Ethnicity (Name) ETH/125 March 29, 2011 (Instructor’s Name) Defining Race and Ethnicity Race is a type of subordinate group made up of a population with physical characteristics that differentiate them noticeably from other racial groups. This is not the only distinction. The biological diversities are given emphasis to by social significance, for a race is a social establishment and not a physical actuality. The fact that biological characteristics categorizing a specific race are frequently discovered in others, as well, only emphasize that there are no obvious difference between races from the point of biological meaning. Cultural differences characterize an ethnic group. Occasionally, what sets a group apart is physical characteristics and national origin and makes them particularly dissimilar from each other. Schaefer (2006) stated “Despite these difficulties, belief in the inheritance of behavior patterns and in an association between physical and cultural traits is widespread. It is called racism when this belief is coupled with the feeling that certain groups or races are inherently superior to others” (pp. 12-13). The United States is such a multiracial and multiethnic country, people with clear social uniqueness are not acknowledged. These concepts are important to United States society because it can be of help evenly to balance the rights selected dominant groups have, that are refused to subordinate groups, therefore eliminate...
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...Defining Race and Ethnicity Chad Moon Ethics / 125 Dr. Collins 8-22-2011 Race and Ethnicity in my terms are very similar in the way that people respond to each of them, but are actually quite different. Race is groups of minorities or majorities that are classified based solely on what physical differences are present. Some examples of race are; Hispanic or Latino, Caucasian, African American, or Asian. Each group is set apart from the rest by physical characteristics such as skin color, eye shape, or other not so noticeable cues. Different societies describe race using different characteristics than other countries, in America the black population is often characterized solely on their darker skin color or height. When comparing my definition of race to the definition of ethnicity there is clearly a big difference between the two. Ethnicity is not how we describe people, rather how we describe the culture from which they get their heritage. We generally describe the culture from the country in which the individual has moved from. A prime example of ethnicity in the United States is the Oriental ethnic group, which is very common in almost all cities throughout America. In larger cities, because of the way America works, you can see different segregations of the cultures such as china town or one that is becoming more and more popular is the temples and places of worship of Islamic ethnicity. The concepts of race and ethnicity are important in the United...
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...In the English language when looking at the word race, in Anthropology, according to Dictionary.com, LLC (2001), defined as a noun, “an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups” (race2 , para. 3 b). For my own definition of the word race it has little meaning. I was raised with no bias, hate or animosity for people of different color or nationality. For each person I come into contact with during my daily travels, I approach them as a friend and make adjustment to my perception of them on their interaction with me. I personally feel that judgment of others based on the color of their skin, their assumed nationality, hair type, facial features or dialect is, JUST NOT THE RIGHT WAY. This touches on another issue the people of the world have, racism. The term ethnicity, according to Dictionary.com, LLC (2001), defined as a noun, “ethnic traits, background, allegiance, or association” (ethnicity, para. 1). My own meaning of the word ethnicity is based on the area of origin for a particular person or people. The differences in people are a narrow view when based on their ethnicity. The importance of the concept of race and ethnicity to the society of the United States is mainly based on the census and personal views of the population. The two concepts are usually brought...
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...Defining Race and Ethnicity Robert Cogg * Race is a very real topic in American society. Although race is a subject that is not easily and very scarcely talked about, the conversation is much needed and should be addressed at a much more frequency. Race and ethnicity come up in some way, shape, fashion or form in our everyday lives whether we like it or not. I will define what both race and ethnicity mean to me and how these terms are important in our society. Defining Race and Ethnicity Being that I am an African American male, race and ethnicity are very relevant in my everyday life. I have been discriminated against, and hired, both because of my race. I have been denied and accepted on the basis of my race. Ethnicity is defined as an ethnic group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or assumed- sharing cultural characteristics. Race is defined as the categorization of humans into populations or ancestral groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. This being understood, systematically and historically my race is that of a discriminated one. History has shown that African Americans suffered slavery, and still suffer the effects of slavery to this day. This is what makes race and ethnicity relevant to me. In my everyday life I may have to list my race at any moment. If I fill out a job application I am asked my race and ethnicity. If race doesn’t matter, then why am I asked? If there...
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...Social Issues Race and Ethnicity Defining Race and Ethnicity Robert Cogg * Race is a very real topic in American society. Although race is a subject that is not easily and very scarcely talked about, the conversation is much needed and should be addressed at a much more frequency. Race and ethnicity come up in some way, shape, fashion or form in our everyday lives whether we like it or not. I will define what both race and ethnicity mean to me and how these terms are important in our society. Defining Race and Ethnicity Being that I am an African American male, race and ethnicity are very relevant in my everyday life. I have been discriminated against, and hired, both because of my race. I have been denied and accepted on the basis of my race. Ethnicity is defined as an ethnic group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or assumed- sharing cultural characteristics. Race is defined as the categorization of humans into populations or ancestral groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. This being understood, systematically and historically my race is that of a discriminated one. History has shown that African Americans suffered slavery, and still suffer the effects of slavery to this day. This is what makes race and ethnicity relevant to me. In my everyday life I may have to list my race at any moment. If I fill out a job application I am asked my race and ethnicity. If race doesn’t matter...
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...On this week, we discussed the topic of race and ethnicity. In the United States, the multi-cultural society forms many different variations in defining the race and ethnicity. Based on the video, ethnicity, as defined by the Professor Lee, is about the national origin, the certain boundary of the individual cultures. Ethnicity can be expressed in an alternate way to become a symbolic ethnicity when cultural values and customs are displayed in public. Examples in this chapter are T-shirt with Italy logo and artistic or religious necklaces that symbolize one's cultural values toward their religion believes. People are welcome to celebrate their ethnicity nationwide such as their special holidays and festivals. On the other hand, race, according...
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...Race, White Privilege, and the Gospel Pre-Presbytery Workshop Presbytery of Chicago October 12, 2010 David Esterline, McCormick Theological Seminary Jennifer Ikoma-Motzko, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship 1 Why work against racism? Theological foundations God created all people good. To deny some people (because of skin color or language) the privileges other have, is to deny God’s good creation. To allow this system—in which some receive advantages simply because of skin color—to go unchecked is to deny that God made all people in God’s own good image. 2 Race Race is a social and political reality, not a biological or genetic reality. There is widespread agreement among scholars that race, as understood in the United States, is a social construct – rather than an objective, scientifically or biologically consistent characteristic of a person or group of persons. 3 Race How is it that there is such certainty about a concept that is so poorly defined? There is no agreement among scholars about a biological or physiological definition that can be sustained. 4 Race “Present-day inequalities between so-called ‘racial’ groups are not consequences of their biological inheritance but products of historical and contemporary social, economic, educational, and political circumstances.” American Anthropological Association 2006 5 Race Rewards—indicators of well-being—in the U.S. are based on racial group more than on any other characteristic or association...
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...Cultural Diversity One of the unique aspects of the United States is the diversity of its people. With different cultures, ethnicity, and race all being intertwined in one country, the definition of a melting pot has been formed. Over the years, the United States has matured from being a white supremacy country to a diversified country that gives every racial person born in the United States a chance to lead its people. This historic moment happened in 2009 when Barack Obama became the first African American President in the United States. But even with all the progress we have made, there is still prejudice, discrimination, and idealistic beliefs that have overshadowed a cultural movement that is trying to free this country from a divided line of beliefs. As a result, we must look into the meaning between culture, race and ethnicity to understand the world we live in. “Culture is that unique characteristic that separates the human from the rest of the world of living things.” (Naylor 3) According to Naylor, culture is the basis of human thought and behavior and gives us a sense of identity. He also states that culture makes all humans basically the same, yet it also makes them different as each human group creates and develops its own version of culture designed to respond to their own particular needs and wants, and because of the choices they make. (Naylor 3) The author states that culture is different for each individual and that the environment that one lives in,...
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...According to biologists, there is only one race, and that is the human race. However, from the commencement of the American experience, differences in perspective have impacted how persons relate with one another. For instance, being categorized as black in the United States has led to stark disparities in legal protection status and opportunity. Currently, most people are beginning to understand the significance of public dialogue as a fundamental step in making progress on race relations issues. Due to race relations, people have a chance to socialize and get to know each other, discover common ground, explore disagreements, and share different points and views. In other societies, people have developed study circles that assist individuals...
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...Exploring My Ethnicity Our amazing country is home to so much diversity and filled with so many different cultures, races, religions, and ethnic groups. Our large variation in this country can be both a blessing and a curse. In our society we are taught to be different from the next person, but in the same instance being different is one of the main reasons we are outcast. When most people are asked,” what is your ethnicity” they usually don’t give it much thought because most people already know their ethnicity and don’t have to do much exploring into their national and cultural background. Many people would simply classify themselves as Caucasian, African-American, Mexican- American, etc. Although we all know the meanings to each of these words, when asked what is your ethnicity we should look at the symbolic and cultural meanings of these words. My ethnicity is African-American, meaning an American who has African and especially black African ancestors Ethnicity is a complex term. Ethnicity is what makes a human who they are as a result of how they are influenced....
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...We need to figure out what we can do as a society to fix these issues with race in today’s modern world. There are many key components to race, but we need to focus on the ones that truly matter. Those issues could have solutions for solving race and ethnicity problems. One key issues with race is that race determines people’s opportunities in life and it affect what you can and can’t do. In order for this issue to go away there needs to be a solutions that could solve it or at least eliminated the problem to the point where it’s barely noticeable or exists. The only way that it could possibly permanently go away is by having companies get rid of their certain social qualities like race and ethnicity. However, there is one problem with this solution that I came up with and that is: If companies were to completely get rid of those social qualities from their application requirements then the company could lose their control over how their company is portrayed and run. I know for...
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...forced race plays socially. | |Segregation |The detachment from others from a main body or group; to impose the separation of (a race or class)| | |from the rest of society. | |De jure segregation |Segregation that is imposed by law. | |Pluralism |Distinct ethnic, religious, or cultural groups are present and tolerated within society. | |Assimilation |People of different backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger national family. | Part II Answer the following questions in 150 to 350 words each: • Throughout most of U.S. history in most locations, what race has been the majority? What is the common ancestral background of most members of this group? Throughout most of United States history in most locations the race that has been the majority I think is the European race (whites). Both the American Hispanics which has the largest amount of the inhabitants in the Middle Western side of our nation around eight-five percent, and seven nine percent of our population is Non-Hispanic. The European’s often passed on to those that is of a very light skin pigmentation reinforcing and defining level of denotation of race and ethnicity. Even though...
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...Ethnic Literature Culture, origin, background, traditions, way of life, customs, intertwined these words define ethnicity. With shared beliefs and values, ethnic groups in the United States have little cultural differentiation. Readers look to literature for an understanding of ethnicity not because it is writable, but because ethnicity is readable. Ethnic writing is a choice, and results from the author’s own ethnic gaze inward, the reading of self as ethnic subject. Author Toni Morrison’s works explore race, and gender, author Sandra Cisneros brings together stories of cross-border bilingual culture. Morrison and Cisneros share views of the development of young women, the search for love, hate, and compulsion, in a world filled with loneliness, pain, and inexplicable violence. There is no feminine identity in a time of masculine dominance. The cultural content of ethnicity is largely interchangeable. Race and genetic makeup are not the defining category for ethnicity. Differences occur because of the map as it is drawn around them. In Sula by Toni Morrison, the community of “The Bottom” considers Sula evil and bad. Sula Peace is a main character shaped by two incidents in the beginning; a comment made by her mother, which was basically that she did not like her daughter, but she loved her, and in the death of Chicken little, a little boy whose character is introduced primarily for the creation of an incident. The first experience...
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...Culture, Race and Ethnicity Culture, Race and Ethnicity This paper will discuss the female gender in the criminal justice system profession as victims and perpetrators of crimes, with analyzing and researching gender and how it adds to the challenges in the profession. There has been a change from the time that women entered into the criminal justice profession to today. In 1845 women were known as police matrons and their job was to monitor and assist female inmates(CriminalJusticeSchoolInfo.com, 2015) Today we know these as correctional officers who still complete the same tasks by monitoring and assisting female inmate’s. It was not until 1908 that a women took the title of a female police officer (CriminalJusticeSchoolInfo.com, 2015). Through history women who wanted to enter into the profession fought for opportunities and went through struggles for women’s equality. Today female correctional officers have the same equal rights as male correctional officers. They complete the same tasks and their job descriptions are equal to one another. Both genders oversee victims and perpetrators in the criminal justice system. In prison settings both female and male inmates were housed together. It was not until 1891 when the New York when a female was assaulted by a male that they began to separate the male and female gender (CriminalJusticeSchoolInfo.com, 2015). This is one challenge that is faced being either the victim or the perpetrator in the justice system. When...
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...fundamental unfairness and arbitrariness of preferences -- why should the under-qualified son of a black doctor displace the qualified daughter of a Vietnamese boat refugee?” Admissions and employment should not be determined based solely on race. It should be based on their academic and nonacademic achievement. One should look at the qualifications of candidates instead of their race. In addition, an individual from a minority group should not be given slack on the requirements to gain an acceptance just because of their race. “[T]he average SAT disparity between Stanford's African-American and white admittees reached 171 points in 1992, according to data compiled by the Consortium on Financing Higher Education and cited in Richard herrnstein and Charles Murray's book, The Bell Curve.” The African-Americans, in this case, are given an unfair advantage. Why should they be accepted into a school when an individual with a better application was not accepted just because the school wants diversity, or for any other reason? People all be given equal opportunities. The color of their skin should not give them a better chance than anyone else. Furthermore, Affirmative Action is a policy that rewards people for the wrong reasons. A person’s race or gender should not determine the...
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