1. When I hear the term race, I think of the ways in which a person is externally identified based on the arbitrary divisions set up within a social setting. For example, American social construct has adopted a means of identifying people with terms like black, white, Hispanic, or Asian—these are race-based terms.
These terms are attached to a person based on external factors such as physical appearance and/or surname.A person who has dark skin and nappy hair is often categorized as a member of the black race. An individual whose name is Jenny Yamamoto is generally characterized as a member of the Asian race. Race-based categorizations are made on nothing more than presumptions on the part of the categorizer, and they are meaningless. Race-based categorizations are often the basis for prejudice.
In contrast, when I hear the term “ethnicity,” I think of the ways in which a person internally identifies himself/herself based on the acknowledgement of his/her heredity. A person who is race categorized as white might ethnically identify as Scandinavian or German; likewise, an individual who is race categorized as black might ethnically identify as Ethiopian or African. Unlike race, ethnicity is a term that encompasses heredity, tradition, and nationality. While ethnic-based categorization might led to bias as is the case when issues of ethnic cleansing are examined, it is less often the means by which a person is judged since ethnicity is often not as physically apparent as is race.
2. These concepts are important to United States society because it is essential to remember the arbitrary nature of making assumptions about an individual based on superficial qualities such as physical appearance or surname. Prejudice is not generally the result of something that is actually known about a person but is a result of something that is assumed about a person, and many negative assumptions are based on appearance.As a nation, we have to learn the value of a variety of cultures and to remember that an individual’s personal heritage (i.e. his/her ethnicity) is an important factor in his/her makeup as a person.
Eliminating the arbitrary associations of race might reasonably lead to more rational discussion about ethnicity, and opening a dialogue in the area of heritage could increase sensitivity among the citizens of the United States.
