Why do we define race?
When you have to take a standardized test, what racial category do you choose for yourself? Have you ever really thought about some of the categories that are listed? What does it really mean to "be" white or Caucasian, black or African-American, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American?
You could potentially experience other categories depending on the test that you're taking. Many of these groups are either an racial or ethnic in difference. However, what is the difference between race and ethnicity?
A racial group is a group of people with perceived unique biological and physical characteristics.
The term racial group describes a group that is set apart from others because of physical differences that have taken on social significance. Whites, African-Americans, and Asians are all considered racial groups in the United States.
While race is defined by physical differences, it is the culture of a particular society that constructs social significance to those differences, as you will learn about later.
Unlike racial groups, an ethnic group is set apart from others primarily because if its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. In the United States, Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Polish-Americans are all categorized as ethnic groups.
An ethnic group is a group of people set apart from others primarily because if its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns.
The bottom line is: RACE is physical and ETHNICITY is cultural.
For example, a person might be racially considered "white," but might ethnically be considered Italian. Another person might be racially considered "black" but ethnically considered Italian. Remember that race is defined by physical characteristics that cultures have deemed significant. For example, in the United States, skin color is deemed as a significant racial characteristic, but eye color is not.
Ultimately, race is a social creation. It has been determined by biology that race simply doesn't exist in the natural world. However, because our society has determined that race is important, we still place importance on race today. Race has been assumed for centuries as being biologically based and even biologically distinguishable between various groups. Science has proven this to be a myth - racial groups are not in fact biologically different in significant ways. Current conceptions of race originated long before genetics as a scientific discipline came to be.
The connection of race with biology is social, meaning that we are culturally socialized to define race in biological terms. In fact, throughout the history of the world, most cultures defined race more in cultural rather than biological terms. Consider the following examples:
Egyptian royalty were in the sacred race by birthright (even though some were Mediterranean and others African in origin). Scottish kinships were birth, not biologically based. The Old Testament, Qur'an, and Torah Abrahamic descendants were identified by birth and by religion (this includes descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's first-born son, and descendants of Isaac, Abraham's second-born son).
In Europe (where most of the early immigrants to the United States originated), various cultures had strong beliefs that Europeans were biologically superior to other peoples of the world. This made it very easy to conquer and colonize various cultures, especially for the British, French, Dutch, Italian, and Portuguese societies. An example that illustrates this view is Rudyard Kipling's poem The White Man's Burden.
Ideological racism is an ideology that considers a group's physical characteristics to be causally related to inferiority or superiority.
British and other European founders of the United States created social constructs of non-white groups in the New World. Native Americans were either noble savages or barbarians; Blacks were amoral or caustically wild; Asians were either perilous or conniving; Mexicans were either extremely lazy or intrusive. In the history of the U.S., such ideas lead to the development of negative stereotypesNegative stereotypes are broad generalizations about a category of people who are assumed to have negative traits common to every single member of that category. and extreme mistreatment of non-whites. Oppression in various forms went unanswered by any legal attempts at justice, which at times even lead to unlawful and immoral massacres of people in these categories.
The first US Census, taken by federal mandate was in 1790. Data from it indicates the presence of mostly whites because it ignored slaves, Indians, and others. Historical studies have shown that whites were the only ones believed to be important enough to count at this time.
The last Census was completed in 2010. On the following slide, view a table that displays the projected racial and ethnic make-up of the United States in 2012. It was determined after the 2000 census that Hispanic/Latino Americans have now surpassed African-Americans as the largest minority in the United States.
| Black or African American alone, percent, 2012 (a) | 13.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent, 2012 (a) | 1.2% |
| Asian alone, percent, 2012 (a) | 5.1% |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent, 2012 (a) | 0.2% |
| Two or More Races, percent, 2012 | 2.4% |
| Hispanic or Latino, percent, 2012 (b) | 16.9% |
| White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent, 2012 | 63.0% |
