The Relationship between Race and Ethnicity - Essay Example

Race and ethnicity Institution Date Introduction Ethnicity and race relations have for a long time been the main concern of many sociologists, particularly in Australia and United States of America. Ethnicity is a term used to identify group of persons belonging to a particular nation, culture and traditions. Race on the other hand refers to physical, biological and genetic features of a person. Issues concerning race and ethnicity have for many years dominated several disciplines, including the field of socioeconomic and multicultural education. Though slightly different from each other, ethnicity and race are normally used interchangeable. The way these two terms relate is the main concern of many sociologists. This paper therefore seeks to evaluate the relationship between race and ethnicity and how they are problematic. The relationship between ethnicity and race Race and ethnicity are highly related. They are similar and can be used interchangeably. Both race and ethnicity can be used to identify human identity. Human beings, around the world, can be identified by their races or ethnic background. For example, by considering their ethnicity or race, it is easier to differentiate between Chinese and Turkish. The traditions, customs, language and morphological characteristics among these two groups of people are quite different. Chinese are a bit shorter than Turkish. They also have small eyes as compared to Turkish and other people around the globe. These physical appearances, therefore, normally act as their identity. Their language, traditions and customs are also very unique and can be used as their identity. This implies that by considering a person’s race or ethnicity, it is easier to identify or group him or her. Therefore, the relationship between race and ethnicity is that, they both display a person’s identity (Chandra, 2006). Apart from identifying individuals in terms of nationality, race and ethnicity can also be employed in identifying individuals in terms of social classes. In a global perspective, For example, it is believed that individuals with white color belong to high social class as compared to individuals with black color (Spencer, 2006). Therefore, by race, one can easily group a person in a particular social class. It is also believed that individuals from certain ethnic background or nation belong to a particular social class. For example, Individuals from developed nations such as United States of America, United Kingdom and Canada belong to high social class as compared to individuals from less developed nations such as most Asian and African countries. Therefore, race and ethnicity are highly related particularly on issues relating to social class identification. Ethnicity and race are related to human identity. The concept of social class identification is well discussed under classical and modern theories of class. These theories were mainly formulated by Karl Max and Max Weber. Under classical theories, Max explains class by basing on two fundamentals, which are structure of inequality in a society and the process by which inequality can be solved (Kivisto, 2005). He defined social classes by looking at social relationships between individuals involving in process of production. In Max theory, individuals, in a society, can be grouped into two, which are the capitalist or the owners of the means of production and the employees. The capitalists are believed to be individuals of high social class as compared to employees, who work for the owners of factors of production. Under modern theories, the most obvious issue is how to define class structure, when the current occupational and industrial structures in capitalist societies are provided. Individuals, under modern theories, are widely grouped. They incorporate the self-employed who have properties that generate income, managers who are employed in an organization to run and make decisions, employees in technical and professional occupations and people in white and blue collar jobs. All these groupings belong to different social classes. Even though race and ethnicity seem to be similar and interchangeably used, they can be differentiated slightly from each other. Race is majorly about a person’s color while ethnicity is not (Hill-Collins, & Solomos, 2010). For example, a Caucasian can be looked at as being white however this cannot describe his or her ethnicity. If a Caucasian is compared to an Israelite or a Canadian, it will be hard to tell the home country of these individuals. It will only be easier to determine the home country of these individuals if they were provided proper items from their culture. Ethnicity is about a person’s tradition, learned behavior and customs. It is about learning more about the country of origin and celebrating the ideas and traditions of that region. Therefore, ethnicity and race are slightly different from each other. Ethnicity differs from race in the sense that, it is a culturally-derived term. Deng (1997) defines ethnicity as a group of values, institutions and behavior patterns that represents people historical aspirations, experience and worldview. Ethnic grouping, which can either be externally imposed or intrinsically engendered, do always define individual’s group membership. A part from social ideas, ethnicity is essentially centered more on human identity and experience than race. This normally makes ethnic differences to have greater possibility of raising native sense of peoplehood. Ethnic differences therefore do always offer a quick identity marker within the group and between groups. Similar to racial grouping, ethnic groupings are always viewed or discussed as if they are unchanging and fixed entities. However, since ethnicity include nationality, language, religion and other cultural characteristics, transformations within person’s affinity can occur with time. Ethic grouping should therefore be observed as subjective and dependent on human identity and views. Different from race, ethnicity provides room for change since individuals can easily reject their own traditions or customs and embrace another. Individuals can move from one place to another and adjust their beliefs, customs and actions so that they can be identified with this ethnic orientation. Race on the other hand is a person’s biological engineered characteristics. It incorporates skin color, skin tone and hair color. Race also includes the ability to develop particular illnesses. For example, if Caucasians are placed in various cultures that are initially not Caucasian, their behavior will change, while their physical and biological appearance remains the same. It is therefore important to note that race does not entail a person’s cultural tendencies. The cultural tendencies of an individual are usually shaped by the environment. Ethnicity, in most cases, does not describe color. A person can claim to be an African, which shows the whole multi-regional and multi-cultural continent. He or she can enhance the definition by assigning a subculture, such as South African or Ethiopian, to ethnicity. There are broad range of skin tones and colors all over Africa. These colors and tones range from white skin and fair haired faces that is mainly associated with Aryan race to dark skin and black haired faces that are mainly associated with many regions in Africa. Therefore, ethnicity and race are slightly two different terms. By considering the following example the difference between race and ethnicity can be illustrated very clearly. It is well known that African-Americans are race that originate from African continent. There physical features are quite similar. Even though they have similar physical features, such as skull shape, hair texture and skin color, their ethnic background is relatively diverse. African race include North Africans, African-Americans and sub-Saharan Africans. These groups adapted various traditions and customs of the region they find themselves residing in. This implies that, after leaving Africa, African-Americans changed their ethnicity and adopted foreign behaviors, cultures and traditions. However, their physical appearance remained unchanged. This therefore implies that a person can only alter his or her ethnicity, but not his race, thus illustrating the slight difference between race and ethnicity. Why ethnicity and race are problematic Ethnicity and race are problematic since they act as barriers to marriage and family stability. Instability in marriage and family is normally caused by socioeconomic problems that are created by ethnicity and race. Robert & Hummer (2010) argues that structural situations of socioeconomic problem that result into marriage problem are highly experienced by African Americans and other minority groups, such as American-Indians and Hispanic groups, than for Asians-Americans and whites. In their argument, Robert & Hummer (2010) assert that racial and ethnic variations in family structure do always display class differences, thus causing instability within the family. Therefore, instabilities in marriage and family are normally caused by socioeconomic disparities, a problem brought about by variations in race and ethnicity. Ethnicity and race do also result into conflicts. As social developments of ethnic and racial order are developed so as to implement or perpetuate opportunity for particular groups, surge of group identity can result into conflict. According to several views, ethnic conflict and hierarchies are unavoidable when contact occurs among various ethnicities or races. Ethnic and racial variations are in most cases quoted as reasons for conflicts. In many scenarios, conflicts along racial and ethnic lines are understood as age-old and eternal. However, just like racial and ethnic grouping that is not fixed, but enhanced and transforming, so are conflicts that are normally caused along ethnic and racial lines (Chang & Dodd, 2001). The conflicts, caused by race and ethnicity, do also depend on social development of hierarchies and human identification, thus being adaptive to negotiations, views and changing contexts. Certain conflicts that are caused by race and ethnicity are not meant to proceed forever, unless they are considered to be inherent and inevitable (Chang & Dodd, 2001). This assumption therefore places the emphasis of ethnic and racial conflict on ideologies, contexts, marginalizing actions, group views of ethnicity and race and unworkable negotiations rather than bad belief on groups’ inevitable incompatibility from various races and ethnicities. Conclusion From the discussion, it is quite clear that even though ethnicity and race are closely related, they are slightly different from each other. The relationship between race and ethnicity revolve around human identity. Human beings, around the world, can be identified by their races or ethnic background. Apart from identifying individuals in terms of nationality, race and ethnicity can also be employed in identifying individuals in terms of social classes. In a global perspective, For example, it is believed that individuals with white color belong to high social class as compared to individuals with black color. Ethnicity and race do also differ from each other. Race is majorly about a person’s color while ethnicity is not. Ethnicity on the other hand, is about a person’s tradition, learned behavior and customs. Different from race, ethnicity is essentially centered more on human identity. Ethnicity is culturally defined while race is not. Different from race, ethnicity provides room for change since individuals can easily reject their own traditions or customs and embrace another. It is also clear from the discussion that ethnicity and race are problematic. They act as barriers to marriage and family stability. Ethnicity and race do also result into conflicts. References Chang H., & Dodd, T. (2001). International Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from . Chandra, K. (2006). What is ethnic identity and does it matter? Annual Review of Political Science, 9:397 424. Deng, M. (1997). Ethnicity: An African predicament. Brookings Review, 15 (3), 28-31. Hill-Collins, P., & Solomos, J. (2010). The SAGE handbook of race and ethnic studies. London: Sage. Kivisto, P. (2005). Illuminating Social Life: Classical and Contemporary Theory Revisited. New York: Pine Forge Press. Robert, A. & Hummer, R. (2010). Hamilton. Race and Ethnicity in Fragile Families. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from . Spencer, S. (2006). Race And Ethnicity: Culture, Identity And Representation. London: Routledge. Read More