I agree that non-whites possess 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 at 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 best to claim that you also have a background such Puerto rican or some kind of islander. As we have spoken about in class, When someone of African background arrives to America with a distinct
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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 American. Although my family has been in the United States for only 50 years, I will never have someone try to discredit me if I only identify as American. For example, when referring to the brown bag rule or the one drop rule, your ancestors can date back in America since our founding fathers were around, but if they appear to physically have some kind of non European descent, they will always be written off as just hyphenated American. This is strange to me, because I don’t understand how just because you are not fully some …show more content…
Once a year they might do a cultural celebration for a culture they may not know much about, and then after that day of celebration is over, they can go back to their every day life of security. I will never feel afraid for my life when I go to a Bier Garten or Oktoberfest wearing the traditional Dirndl dress, I have never been targeted because of how I dress culturally, which is a completely different experience many people of non-white background face when they wear their traditional garments. I can choose whether or not I want to express my ethnic background, I could choose to one day identify as an American. On the fourth of July I can go to my neighbors barbecues and celebrate as an American, I can decide whether or not I want my ethnic background to influence my interactions with my peers. That is not the case for many non-whites, you cannot turn on an 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 every day clothing, I will not get harassed for what I wear, and I will not get targeted because I
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.
However, there are occasions where labels could hinder a person 's opportunity. In fact, culture is the newest label that society takes into account the most, and to a minority, the main goal is to embed the roots of the old generation into the next generation. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to be versatile today, as a matter of fact, often times white Americans find themselves complaining about the lack of culture that makes other’s diverse. Hsu points out that “to be white is to be culturally broke. … They feel disadvantaged, and they feel marginalized. They don’t have a culture that’s cool or oppositional” (505). What Hsu really means by this is white individual’s envy not coming from a diverse background. An individual has a diverse background when they inherit multiple cultures. This allows for flexibility when choosing what culture to identify with. Although this may be true for some individuals, white Americans today tend to believe that it’s more convenient to identify themselves with the group that appeals to them based on styles and cultural backgrounds. Thus, being culturally broke meant finding the niche that one is accepted into in order, to obtain a diverse identity. Hsu emphasizes that culture is a necessity which in turn allows seeing the flexibility of racial identity throughout his examples. Hsu overlooks what can be considered as an important perception of how racial identity can be inherited, which is seen throughout McBride. Having a white Jewish mother and a black father proved to be a huge challenge for McBride as a child it can be seen thoroughly when he mentions, “I-thought it would be easier if we were just one color, black or white. I didn’t want to be white. My siblings had already instilled the notion of black pride in me. I would have preferred that Mommy were black” (McBride 419). McBride is constantly categorized into two different groups black
...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.
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
In order for there to be a change, it must be a change supported by the white majority. The country is getting closer to colorblindness. Celebrating the heritage of the homeland will be something enjoyed by whites, blacks and Asians. It will be a celebration of descendants of slaves, Jamaicans, Bahamians, Koreans, Chinese and Vietnamese to name a few. It will give America the opportunity to partake in the rich history and tradition these new immigrants have to offer. It will reassert American as the melting pot it once was for white immigrants on the early twentieth century.
Many people see themselves differently. How do you see yourself? What identity do you give yourself? Maybe some people are confused to what they are or what to call themselves. Whether to call themselves African American or Hispanic or Asian or White. I see myself as a Mexican-American and would want to be called this. Yes ima Hispanic and Latina aswell but i prefer Mexican -American.
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
To understand the authors’ reasoning, the reader must first comprehend the facts. In society, there is a common stigma involved in being from a multiracial background. There are “over six million people identified with more than one racial group (Jones
When you think about the culture in the United States (U.S.), it is considered to be very diverse. There are many different cultures and religions in the country, which increases the diversity. Asians are a significant part of U.S. culture as they have been around for years. However when compared to how other U.S. citizens are treated, Asian Americans are treated significantly worse. “Asian Americans, like other people of color, continually find themselves set apart, excluded and stigmatized-whether during the 19th century anti-Chinese campaign in California, after the 1922 Supreme Court decision (Ozawa v. United States) that declared Asians ineligible for U.S. citizenship, or by a YouTube video that went viral on the Internet in 2011 in which a UCLA student complained bitterly about Asians in the library” (Healey, p.330). Many Asian Americans have been treated poorly because of how they are perceived within the society. It may be because of a jealousy against their strong academic achievement or because of the many jobs that they have “taken away” from the American population. In Wu Franks Article, Yellow, he claims that when someone refers to someone as an American, it is automatically assumed that they are White, however when someone is thought of as a minority they are thought of as Black. Asian Americans neither fit into the Black or White category, therefore feel as if there is no place within society for them to fall into. Wu’s article in comparison to the documentary Vincent Who?, explains how Asian Americans have been treated in America in the past, and how those stigmas have not changed as much. The documentary Vincent Who?, goes to describing murder of Vincent Chin, who was brutally attacked and murdered outside of a ...
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
Generally, the meanings of race and ethnicity have their starting points from sociological and biological variables. The physical appearance of a someone, for example, eye shading, skin shading, jaw/bone structure and additionally hair shading depict race while ethnicity is related to the social elements, for example, culture, convictions, heritage, and nationality. Race is a term that depicts a group of individuals with comparative characteristics. I think race is resolved by physical characteristics, for example, type of color skin, language they speak, eye shape they have, or even things, for example, blood classifications. Individuals in general are portrayed as "humankind". Race is an undeniable theme in American culture. Despite the fact
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
In today’s society, it is acknowledgeable to assert that the concepts of race and ethnicity have changed enormously across different countries, cultures, eras, and customs. Even more, they have become less connected and tied with ancestral and familial ties but rather more concerned with superficial physical characteristics. Moreover, a great deal can be discussed the relationship between ethnicity and race. Both race and ethnicity are useful and counterproductive in their ways. To begin, the concept of race is, and its ideas are vital to society because it allows those contemporary nationalist movements which include, racist actions; to become more familiar to members of society. Secondly, it has helped to shape and redefine the meaning of
Times are changing and I feel like I am forced to conform to the everyday social norms of America, which makes me feel impuissance. Racial identity, which refers to identifying with a social group with similar phenotypes and racial category, is the only experience that I have with life (Organista, 2010). Racial ethnicity was used to build my self-esteem and to keep me in the dark when it came to how society treats individuals of darker complexion. However, once I left the confines of my family and neighborhood, I was forced to befriend and interact with individuals that had different cultural values and beliefs than me. This experience caused me to learn how to appreciate other racial and ethnic groups and their cultural values and belief. This is an accurate definition, of acculturation because I was able to understand and fit in with individuals different from me, while maintaining my own culture and ethnic identity. Therefore, knowing the importance of my ancestry, while acculturating and developing my own identity was all used
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.