Life Will Never Be the Same

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Recommended: Essential questions on cultural diversity

Will we ever let the past stay behind us and move forward? In today’s era, is it the peoples’ responsibility to defend the history of their race just because of the color of their skin? Based on the color of our skin, individuals will always be placed and categorized under a certain race. In the essay “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections” by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he tries to explains why race doesn’t exist and the only race in America is the human race. In “Social Identity and Group Solidarity” by Tommie Shelby, he discusses how in America, blacks are looked as one group even though are different cultures amongst Blacks. Even though in today’s world, people of all races get along just well with each other, but there are still signs of racism and discrimination that haunt us from the slavery era years ago as African Americans. People tend to easily find their identity because they base other people off of their race, ethnicity, living conditions, religion and more. Appiah and Shelby both connect on the idea of Cultural diversity dealing with “race” because Appiah argues whether that race actually exists and Shelby talks about black solidarity being separated and affected because of self-determination and equality.
Appiah argues that the only race in the United States is the Human Race. He states, that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race,” (Appiah 102) which means that culture defines the world that we live in and is the reason why our world is what it is today. Humans are rather being separated based off their cultural differences instead of racial because it affects their behavior in many ways. For example, culture influences the human mind because a child has to be ...

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.... Sadly, America will always view blacks as one. It isn’t right but the fact of the matter is, that’s just how it is and we can’t really do much about it. In today’s world, America isn’t going to take the time to understand that culture is what separates the humans because we are so stuck on the past and all we know is what we have been taught over the years and because racism isn’t a big focus anymore like it used to be years ago.

Works Cited

Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology For Writers. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 101-131. Print.

Shelby, Tommie. “Social Identity and Group Solidarity.” Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s, 2011. 584-610. Print.

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