Search results
Mar 25, 2021 · There are actually three main categories to consider: Race, ethnicity and national origin. While they may seem similar, they are fairly different, and you must know what that means. Here’s a simple breakdown: National origin or nationality: This refers to where a person was born.
For instance, you can be ethnically Latinx, but racially black, Asian, or Caucasian. The big takeaway is that race and ethnicity are separate categories, and a person's ethnicity often depends on both cultural and national contexts. Nationality is all about where you were born.
People also ask
What is the difference between ethnicity and race?
What is the difference between ethnicity and Nationality?
Are race and ethnicity social constructs?
What does race ethnicity and nationalism mean?
"Race, Ethnicity, and Nation" published on by Oxford University Press. The term “race” refers to groups of people who have differences and similarities in biological traits deemed by society to be socially significant, meaning that people treat other people differently because of them.
In other words, it is meant to get an idea about your nationality, heritage, culture, ancestry, and upbringing. The concept of ethnicity contrasts with that of race in that it is concerned with group cultural identity or expression whereas race focuses on physical and biogenetic traits.
- Overview
- Genetics and race
- Categorizing race
- The politics of race
Race and ethnicity don't show up at the genetic level, but the concept of race still forms the human experience.
The four letters of the genetic code —A, C, G, and T—are projected onto Ryan Lingarmillar, a Ugandan. DNA reveals what skin color obscures: Race is a construct.
Race and ethnicity are two concepts related to human ancestry. Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.”
“Race” is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics such as skin color or hair texture. “Ethnicity” is linked with cultural expression and identification. However, both are social constructs used to categorize and characterize seemingly distinct populations.
Neither race nor ethnicity is detectable in the human genome. Humans do have genetic variations, some of which were once associated with ancestry from different parts of the world. But those variations cannot be tracked to distinct biological categories. Genetic tests cannot be used to verify or determine race or ethnicity, though the tests themselves are associated with an increased belief in racial differences.
Though race has no genetic basis, the social concept of race still shapes human experiences. Racial bias fuels social exclusion, discrimination and violence against people from certain social groups. In turn, racial prejudice confers social privilege to some and social and physical disparities to others, and is widely expressed in hierarchies that privilege people with white skin over people with darker skin colors.
Race and ethnicity are often regarded as the same, but the social and biological sciences consider the concepts distinct. In general, people can adopt or deny ethnic affiliations more readily than racial ones, though different ethnicities have been folded into racial categories during different periods of history.
As legal scholar Tanya K. Hernandez writes, “The social experience of being consistently viewed as distinct is what informs a racial identity, not a shared culture.” People who share an ethnicity may speak the same language, come from the same country, or share a religion or other cultural belief or expression.
1:27
These Twins Show That Race Is A Social Construct
The United States government recognizes distinctions between the concept of race and ethnicity, and sorts individuals as White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, or “other.” It also recognizes two ethnicities: Hispanic or Latino and Not Hispanic or Latino. This demographic data in turn affects public policy and civil rights law.
Humans share over 99 percent of their genetic material with one another, and variation occurs more between individuals than ethnic groups. Nevertheless, the legacies of racial and ethnic constructs can be spotted in everything from housing to health. Racial and ethnic prejudices affect the distribution of wealth, power, and opportunity, and create enduring social stratifications.
Nov 28, 2023 · At the core, nationality is an indication of the country where a person is a legal citizen, ethnicity refers to a cultural sense of common ancestry and race is a social construct that divides people into large groups.
Jun 27, 2020 · A common question asked in introductory geography classes is “What is ethnicity and how is it different than race? The short answer to that question is that ethnicity involves learned behavior and race is defined by inherited characteristics.
