race+and+ethnicity


 * Ethnicity vs. Race: **



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Ethnicity: **// –noun, plural -ties. //** 1. ethnic traits, background, allegiance, or association. 2. an ethnic group: Representatives of several ethnicities were present.

Race: **//–noun//** 1. a group of persons related by common descent or heredity. 2. a population so related. 3. [|anthropology] a. any of the traditional divisions of humankind, the commonest being the Caucasian, Mongoloid, and Negro, characterized by supposedly distinctive and universal physical characteristics: no longer in technical use. b. an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, esp. 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. c. a human population partially isolated reproductively from other populations, whose members share a greater degree of physical and genetic similarity with one another than with other humans. 4. a group of tribes or peoples forming an ethnic stock: // the Slavic race. // 5. any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc.: // the Dutch race. // 6. the human race or family; humankind: // Nuclear weapons pose a threat to the race. // 7. //Zoology//  . a variety; subspecies. 8. natural kind of living creature: // the race of fishes. // 9. any group, class, or kind, esp. of persons: // Journalists are an interesting race. // 10. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">the characteristic taste or flavor of wine. <span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';"> African American: <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">**//–noun//** 1. A black American of African Ancestry.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1; msobidifontweight: bold; msobookmark: OLE_LINK2;">How are race and ethnicity related? Are they confused in today's world? <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1; msobookmark: OLE_LINK2;"> <span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1; msobookmark: OLE_LINK2;">Goal: <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1; msobookmark: OLE_LINK2;"> Try to prove that ethnicity and race are confused in the way they are viewed and used in defining someone, through definitions of each, and comparing and contrasting. Also, provide examples and research backing up the statements made.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">I originally got interested in race and ethnicity because of my own personal experiences. My family is from Ireland and my brother and I both have pale skin, red hair, and freckles. Often I have been faced with scenarios where people refer to themselves as black, white, and then they call me Irish. But am I Irish or am I white? I certainly don’t look like my friend Abby who is also labeled as white but has jet black hair and tanner skin. So it got me thinking- are people right when they call me Irish, or should I correct them and say I’m white. There are obviously differences in “white” people so what defines race, and how is it different from ethnicity?

In today’s society, race and ethnicity are a part of our everyday life. We encounter different people whose physical characteristics differ from our own. Whether it’s the color of their skin or the shape of their eyes- what truly defines the reason for these differences? Can it be traced to our race, or our ethnicity? Is African-American a race, or is black? Is race only defined by the color of your skin?

According to [|dictionary.com] the definition of ethnicity is: background or association. The same source’s definition of race is: an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, 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. So basically race is defined as what you are physically, whereas ethnicity is more of a who you are mentally. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';"> African American is a word that has turned into a politically correct way to say black. Are they different though? In the dictionary, African American is defined as: A black American with African Ancestry. So is African American is both a physical and mental characteristic? Which category does it fall into though- race or ethnicity? According to an [|article] in the New York Times a man by the name of <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">Abdulaziz Kamus was turned away from a clinical trial due to the fact that he was not African American… However, Mr. Kamus moved from Africa to America 20 years ago. When Mr. Kamus was turned away from the study, he was very confused; as he exressed in the article: <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">"I said, 'But I am African and I am an American citizen; am I not African-American?, they said 'No, no, no, not you.' " So how do you define an African American? Mr. Kamus also said, "The census is claiming me as an African-American," … "If I walk down the streets, white people see me as an African-American. Yet African-Americans are saying, 'You are not one of us’.”

Later in the article another point was brought up, when Alan Keyes (a black senator) talked about what he defines as African American, "Barack Obama and I have the same race - that is, physical characteristics. We are not from the same heritage." So this leaves the question? What is an African American?

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">Whatever ethnicity or race you are, in America you are never “American.” America asks people to fill out [|census] forms, one question of which refers to race. Under race there are many different boxes to check. White, black, Puerto Rican, Latino etc. What if you’re Latino, but came to America very young and consider yourself white. Or if your mom was white and dad was Latino but you associate yourself with being white. Why are you forced to choose between boxes? That’s what the census said in 2000… that you shouldn’t have to choose. The 2000 census was the first to let you check more than one box under race. A [|book] called __Blended Nation: Portraits and Interviews of Mixed Race America__ by Mike Tauber and Pamela Singh took a look into the people who checked more than one box. In an interview with [|NPR] Singh said, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">"The concept of race and ethnicity and ancestry are so highly [|muddled], yet so many of our educational, social, business and governmental policies are based on fixed racial categories." So according to the government and the way our country is run, is based a lot on the check of a box. <span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">Is that all race is? A box on a form to put people into categories?

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<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">In the 2007 census, race and ethnicity were combined into one form giving the percentages of people who were: White, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian/ Alaskan native, etc. Are being white and being an American Indian really the same category however? White describes what you are physically and what people look at you and see. American Indian however describes your background and where your family is from. Therefore, shouldn’t there be separate forms for ethnicity and race? Or why isn’t there a black category? Are white people really an ethnicity? Where are “white people” from? So should ethnicity and background be separate from race? Should there be a box for race that can be a visual description which says: white, black, brown, light brown, etc? And ethnicity be a box on where your [|heritage] is from?

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">So are race vs. ethnicity. Color vs. Origin, Visual vs. Mental different, or one in the same? Based on the research I concluded from different books, websites, and encyclopedias, I came to the conclusion that race is based on physical appearance and often associated with a bias. Now biases aren’t always bad, a bias can be formed from your own person color, where you grew up, what beliefs you were raised under, and many other factors. If you want to get beyond visual appearance, you are most likely going to be forced into looking into ethnicity.

AnnBibKenyon

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif';">**Where I want to go now:** Now that I have found the background to my topic, I want to dig deeper. Some things I want to do are: define “African American” and interview someone who feels as if they’re in the middle and not accepted by a certain race… this may mean that I talk to someone who is a mixed race or mixed ethnicity. I also want to see if I can completely define and tell the difference between ethnicity and race. Is it true that the government is run by having people in certain racial categories? I’d like to address that question as well. I’d also like to make my page a little bit more interesting by maybe adding more pictures or data tables or something other than text.