There are two different dimensions of our identities; ethnicity and race. Ethnicity refers to one belonging to a specific cultural, or racial group that makes up culture, race language, and/or place of origin such as two African-American individuals can share the same race. However, have different ethnicities such as one African-American and the other African-Caribbean. Additionally, race is a social construct that can be changed over time. Race refers to specific characteristics an individual possesses such as once race was based on ethnicity, religion, or language. Today race is classified solely based on the color of one’s skin. Furthermore, ethnic and racial identities are important and instill a sense of belonging and identifying with …show more content…
These factors play a part in society, and human beings have a sense of belonging, and the extent of power and privilege in a larger society, influencing how our family relates to their cultural heritage, those of other cultural backgrounds, and cultural traditions. Coupled with, living within a society of high rates of cultural diversity; we must keep our cultural roots near and dear (McGoldrick, Giordano, & Garcia-Preto, 2005). As human beings, we are unique individuals in our own way. Not to mention, we are also born into a culture; our family. Our family’s culture has been influenced by our parents, geographically, where they have lived, the language they speak, and the culture of our grandparents and so on. This paper will examine race and ethnicity; and how it has helped shape my identity development. Moreover, my personal experiences and reflecting on my values of respect, saving face, hard work ethics, and family; family traditions despite being born in the United States in shaping how I was raised to perceive in society around me. Additionally, my relationship to the idea of power and privilege shaping me into a strong, independent, resilient Hispanic woman. Furthermore, how my values have hindered my social work practice and relationship in such ways of awareness, understanding and diversity of
In today’s society where an abundance of resources exists, social workers are often the entry point for people to access services. Therefore, it is imperative for social worker professionals to have a clear understanding of themselves in relation to the client from a cultural perspective. While the social work profession has always focused on social justice and oppression, it wasn’t until the civil rights movement that there was a conscious shift in the social work pedagogy to focus the social service practice on race, racism, and training the workforce in cultural competences. Later in the mid 1980’s, the tone of cultural competence would shift from race and racism to a more inclusive language, which includes a more robust list of all types
The conflict between race and ethnicity came up throughout the time I administered my questionnaires. In the questionnaires, many people questioned what they should respond to for the question which referenced their “race” or “ethnicity”. Some people saw it as a division and how the terms can be used as a negative term or a positive term to label a group of people.
Race and ethnicity is a main factor in the way we identify others and ourselves. The real question here is does race/ethnicity still matter in the U.S.? For some groups race is not a factor that affects them greatly and for others it is a constant occurrence in their mind. But how do people of mix race reacts to this concept, do they feel greatly affected by their race? This is the question we will answer throughout the paper. I will first examine the battle of interracial relationship throughout history and explain how the history greatly explains the importance of being multiracial today. This includes the backlash and cruelty towards interracial couple and their multiracial children. Being part of a multiracial group still contains its impact in today’s society; therefore race still remaining to matter to this group in the U.S. People who place themselves in this category are constantly conflicted with more than one cultural backgrounds and often have difficulty to be accepted.
There is a specific meaning to race and how its role impacts society and shapes the social structures. Race is a concept that “symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies” (Omi & Winant 55). In other words, Omi and Winant get down to the crux of the issue and assert that race is just an illusion. Race is merely seen as an ideological construct that is often unstable and consisting of decentered social meanings. This form of social construction attempts to explain the physical attributes of an individual but it is constantly transformed by political struggles. The rules of classifying race and of identity are embedded into society’s perception. Therefore, race becomes a common function for comprehending, explaining, and acting in the
Through research of DNA samples, scientists have been able to declare that race is not biologically constructed due to the similarities between human genes. Nevertheless, in reality, people still emphasized on biological aspects such as skin color, or hair texture to categorize others into different races. This in turn, denied the true identity of race, which it is culturally constructed. Ethnicity, by definition is also culturally constructed, therefore it greatly resemble race. There is no real clear line to distinct the two.
To most people ethnicity is shown by values, lifestyles, customs, and rituals that are personal to an individual ethnic group or religion. The feeling of belonging to a certain group is a basic need for mankind. In a sense, ethnicity can be separated into two particular categories, a unique social structure and culture heritage passed down from one generation to the next.
Ethnicity is a self-defined social construct; it is a shared sense of belonging to a social group (Scheppers et al. 2005). Ethnic minority groups are individuals within a soci...
Cultural Competence Understanding culture is an important aspect of being a social worker; this does not mean learning common cultural traits is of great significance to the social work profession. “Consider the second-generation Japanese-American social worker whose practice consists of Mexican-American and African-American families. Memorizing national traits or cultural rituals would be interesting and informative, but ultimately these would be an inaccurate basis on which to “know” these particular families” (Dorfman, 1996, p. 33). When understanding cultural competence, it is important to learn from the client about their culture in order to serve them in the most helpful and efficient way possible. There is a major drawback to memorizing information, and that is, this information will not give you a real understanding of who your client is and what life experiences they have personally faced.
“Culture is a cluster of intangibles and tangible aspects of life passed down from generation to generation.”(cite) More importantly, culture is define as the way of life of a group of people who share these same values and beliefs, therefore, we will check the Hispanic culture. The U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino as mutual inhabitants in the United States who are of Latin American or Spanish origin. Latinos has become a larger proportion of the U.S. population, there is a greater need for social work education to offer culturally sensitive training to social work students (Furman, Bender, Lewis, & Shears, 2006; Iglehart & Becerra, 1995). A Hispanic woman, Marcela Hede voices that, “Being Hispanic is mainly defined by my language
The human species is made up of those who dared to immigrate to the rest of the world from Africa. Most of human ancestry dealt with migration by venturing into the unknown and eventually establishing a culture that begins to create social mores that the population begins to believe as fundamentally theirs and what their country represents. The majority always seems to have a mob rule in cultural etiquette. By comparing the concepts of ethnicity, nation and nationality I will cover the similarities and the differences that make up each of the given terms for a culture. In a culture, groups that may not think that they form a circle for their existence will be discussed in my review of “Focus on Globalization: The Gray and the Brown” (Kottak,
Race refers to a group of people having differences and similarities based on their biological traits making people treat them differently based on these traits. Ethnicity, on the other hand, is a shared cultural practice for a distinct set of the group. The most characteristic features of ethnicity are shared ancestry, language, religion, and mode of dressing. My understanding of race and ethnicity has so far changed in that the two should be treated differently as opposed to my earlier version which was that race and ethnicity have the same meaning. Race and ethnicity cannot define human beings as species owing to the fact that the phonotypical variation of human beings in terms of these factors is not indicative of the
Race and ethnicity are two terms that are constantly used in today’s society. Understanding these terms can help people to recognize that color of skin or color of hair does not define a person. These terms connect with history, social interaction, and the overall make up of a person. However America is constantly obsessed with labeling people by the way that they look or the way that they act. America seems to encourage the terms race and ethnicity and continue to divide people into categories. It is interesting to comprehend these terms because they are not going to disappear any time soon. Race and ethnicity are apart of America’s history and will be a part of the future.
?A definition of race might rely on an outward manifestation such as color or some other physiological sign. Race and ethnicity (and to some degree nationality) also imply a shared socio-cultural heritage and belief system. Finally, race and ethnicity harbor a physiological self-identification. Indeed, this factor is perhaps the most important in defining the identity of an ?ethnic? or ?racial? individual. It implies a conscious desire on the part of a person to belong to an aggregate of people, which possesses unique cultural characteristics, rituals and manners and a unique value system.
Being able to identify with a certain group has been an issue that individuals hesitate with daily. Am I Black, are you a girl, what religion do you practice? These are all common questions that society has forced individuals to concentrate on. Should an individual have to pick a side or is it relevant to the human race to identify with any group? One may believe not, but for others having and knowing one’s own identity is important, because it is something that they have been developing their entire life. Along with how their identity influenced their life chances and their self-esteem. This can also affect how society interact with whatever identity an individual chooses to live. Which is why it was important to recognize how identifying
‘Ethnicity is a general category for describing collective identities’ (Fulcher & Scott, 2007:200). Ethnicity is based on the cultural and historical background that it means the people in this ethnic group is sharing the same language, religion and same experience of life. Ethnicity is the ethnic characteristic for the specific race.