Racial And Ethnic Categories

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Recommended: Race and ethnicity in America

One point that I wanted to focus on was the discussion of American racial and ethnic categories. In class, Professor Sloan explained how United States government defines racial and ethnic categories. For example, the definition of American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian focuses on the location of origin, whether it is “North or South America or Asia”. However, for the Black or African American category, it distinctly states “a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. The term ‘Haitian’ or ‘Negro’ can be used in addition”. This can be considered problematic because it essentially groups two groups together without acknowledging the colonial history of the Western hemisphere. It negates the existence of

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