I agree that non-whites possess little to no ethnic options. If you are half white and half Mexican, you are most likely going to be categorized as Mexican, regardless of which ethnic option you would prefer to identify as, you are always going to be categorized as whatever ethnicity you physically match the most.
When looking into how minority groups work on asserting their desired ethnic identities, I believe this to be the case in many instances. I have heard, and have seen through the media, that if you appear to have some type of African background, that it is better to claim that you also have a background such Puerto Rican or some kind of an Islander. As we have spoken about in class, When someone of African background arrives to America
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I have never been hyphenated as German-American, like many ethnicities are titled in ways such as Mexican-American, Asian-American etc. This leads me into talking about Symbolic Ethnicity, “Symbolic ethnicity is a term coined by Herbert Gans (1979) to refer to ethnicity that is individualistic in nature and without real social cost for the individual.” From the reading “Mary Waters, A Professor Of Sociology At Harvard University, Is The Author Of. Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only? By Mary Waters (n.d.): n. pag. Web.” Why is it that it is so easy to obtain the “all American” title for someone who is Caucasian, but so difficult for a minority to identify as an …show more content…
“The situation is very different for members of racial minorities, whose lives are strongly influenced by their race or national origin regardless of how much they may choose not to identify themselves in terms of their ancestries.” Quoted by Mary Waters. For non-whites, you cannot turn on and off your ethnic background in order for you to be able to enjoy a certain holiday for one day. It is not as easy as taking off a costume, and being able to ignore that ethnic background until that time of year comes around again where you put on a green shirt to celebrate your “Irish background” for Saint Patrick’s day, you are that ethnicity, and you cannot hide it. When I go out the next day in my everyday clothing, I will not receive harassment for what I wear, and I will not be targeted because I fit a profile of a certain ethnicity, I am white therefore I am “American”? I can possess a symbolic ethnicity, but for many non-whites, it is not an
After reading Alsultany’s “Los Intersticios: Recasting Moving Selves,” I realized that there are many misconceptions among those who have single or mixed racial background. For individuals who have more than one races, it may seem that they are at an advantage since they have luxury to take side with which ever race they choose. However, it actually results in a constant aggravation when one is constantly questioned about their race. Alsultany was asked by her classmate about her racial background. It was apparent that her classmate confirmed in her mind that Alsultany was different from her since she didn’t supposedly fit the description of a typical American, despite mentioning that she was born and raised in the U.S. This further strengthened
...American often assumes a person ethnicity by their appearance rather than their ancestries. The race relations in the U.S are nowhere near the idea of a blurred color line.
In America, essentially everyone is classified in terms of race in a way. We are all familiar with terms such as Caucasian, African-American, Asian, etc. Most Americans think of these terms as biological or natural classifications; meaning that all people of a certain race share similarities on their D.N.A. that are different and sets that particular race apart from all the other races. However, recent genetic studies show that there’s no scientific basis for the socially popular idea that race is a valid taxonomy of human biological difference. This means that humans are not divided into different groups through genetics or nature. Contrary to scientific studies, social beliefs are reflected through racial realism. Racial realists believe that being of a particular race does not only have phenotypical values (i.e. skin color, facial features, etc.), but also broadens its effects to moral, intellectual and spiritual characteristics.
Biologically speaking, there are not many physical elements that we can change about our identity, but we can change our identity in every other aspect. However, it is possible to grow up adopting a culture that one is born with and embracing the culture that ties with the color of your skin and choose to adopt the traditions of another culture and identify within that culture. For example, someone born in Africa can identify as African and embrace the traditions of their land. Moreover, African people may move to America, and immerse in American culture. Later, they may acquire citizenship in America, after adopting cultures as their own. Some may object to this idea of a U.S. alien acquiring a U.S. citizenship. However, a person’s identity, and how others perceive them, does not determine a person’s citizenship status. Notably, one gains citizenship through a process.
In Stuart Hall’s “Ethnicity: Identity and Difference,” he claims that identity is a volatile social process through which one comes to see the self. Hall argues that identity is not a thing rather a process “…that happens over time, that is never absolutely stable, that is subject to the play of history, and the play of difference.” These factors are constantly entering the individual in a never-ending cycle, re-establishing and affirming who one is.
Racial Identity Theory consists of five assumptions: Every member of society belongs to one or more groups of people; Belonging to a group influences a person’s worldview; The United States is a race centered society and operates on a hierarchy of racial groups; A racist social environment influences the process of racial identity development; As one develops socially, one grapples with racial identity (Brown et al., 1996; Helms, 1984, 1990, 1995; Parker, 1998; Ponterotto, 1993; Pope-Davis & ...
Choosing ones identity is complex and multilayered. Choosing a single aspect of one’s life to identify by can be confusing and difficult, but at times a necessity. There are so many ways I could identify myself, whether by my race, gender, or cultural background. For the purpose of government forms, I identify as a Caucasian female, but this doesn’t even begin to identify who I truly am. Identifying yourself solely on the basis of race and gender is somewhat irrational because neither of these aspects truly define who you are. We all have a story of where we came from, our parents came from and their parents. The various aspects that have shaped us into the person we are today, and have given us the different views and dreams that shape our lives.
Read Chapter 3 Ethnicity: p. 31-47. Familiarize yourself with the vocabulary for Chapter 3 and use these words in your discussion board and in your writing.
The race or ethnicity is essentially an ascribed status but nationality in the United States is also ascribed because of jus soli in the 14th Amendment that guarantees citizenship for those born on US soil (Peralta, 2015). Essentially, your ethnicity, nation and nationality all become one but are separate on your unique classification within the census. The United States has Native American tribes that are their own nation and has the state of Hawaii that was its own nation which would cover an ethnic and nationality classification. Each state in the United States has their own culture which could be classified as distinct ethnic groups such as Louisiana with creoles, Florida with residents that have linage that connects to the Kingdom of Spain before statehood and Pennsylvania with their Amish population. The layers are what make the United States complex and unique. Words can have two meanings and mean almost the same
Race, as a general understanding is classifying someone based on how they look rather than who they are. It is based on a number of things but more than anything else it’s based on skin's melanin content. A “race” is a social construction which alters over the course of time due to historical and social pressures. Racial formation is defined as how race shapes and is shaped by social structure, and how racial categories are represented and given meaning in media, language and everyday life. Racial formation is something that we see changing overtime because it is rooted in our history. Racial formation also comes with other factors below it like racial projects. Racial projects seek
Broadly speaking, race is seen or is assumed to be a biologically driven set of boundaries that group and categorize people according to phenotypical similarities (e.g. skin color) (Pinderhughes, 1989; Root, 1998). The categorical classification of race can be traced back to the 16th century Linnaen system of human “races” where each race was believed to be of a distinct type or subspecies that included separate gene pools (Omi & Winant, 1994; Spickard, 1992; Smedley & Smedley, 2005). Race in the U.S. initially began as a general categorizing term, interchangeable with such terms as “type” or “species”. Over time, race began to morph into a term specifically referring to groups of people living in North America (i.e. European “Whites”, Native American “Indians”, and African “Negroes”). Race represented a new way to illustrate human difference as well as a way to socially structure society (Smedley & Smedley, 2005).
Historically, in the United States, racial categories have been based on a white or non-white binary, where being classified as “white” gives that individual more power and more opportunities in their lifetime, often termed “white privilege”. This idea is examined in works such as Cornell and Hartmann’s book, Ethnicity and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World and Barrett and Roedinger’s “How White People
Past racial conflict and negative cultural history in America, such as segregation or discrimination, has created a racial divide among people and is only intensified by established hyphenated American identities. The separation stems from the attachment that people feel to their racial and ethnic identities. This attachment develops as a result of the repetitive nature that identity has in America; for instance, if a person of color is given the opportunity to speak publicly about social issues, they will probably begin by saying, “As a Mexican-American, …” or “As an African American, … .” Because identifying as a hyphenated American is extremely crucial, there are other implications that have resulted from keeping the tradition alive. In an article titled Martin Luther King, Rachel Dolezal, and Donald Trump, Andrew O’Hehir, a former New York Times and Washington Post
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
In the United States, “ethnics” came to be used at around Second World War as a polite way of referring to the Jews, Italian, Irish, and other people considered inferior to the dominant group of largely British descent. Since the 1960s, ethnic groups and ethnicity have become household words in English-speaking social anthropology[2]. In everyday language, the word ethnicity still has a ring of minority issues and race relations to it.