Ethnicity Essay

Research Paper On Race And Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity
Race and ethnicity are the occasionally have been used interchangeably. Race is described as a
person's physical appearance such as skin color, eye color, hair and many other biological traits
and characteristics. Race mainly refers to the differences in skin color in the contemporary world.
When we say that person is fair skinned or is black we are referring to the race of that person.
Ethnicity is the cultural aspect of a an individual or a group such as the nationality of the person, the
language they use to communicate, their descendants , the particular region they inhabit for example
American, African, African Americans, etc. In a nutshellrace is an overview of how you look and
ethnicity is the social and cultural aspect of grouping you are born into.
Physical and biological anthropologists have proven the existence of human race. But the word 'race
...show more content...
Functionalism
This is of opinion that the differences and issues of race and ethnicity at some point have served the
society. The big question here is howracism and discrimination positively accord to society. That is
because it is beneficial only to those belonging to dominant race and ethnicity not to the society or
community as a whole. It has helped the dominant reap advantage from the subordinates. The best
example could be the slavery. Slaveholders were benefitted considerably especially when
industrialization first came into practice.
Despite the increase in the poverty, crime and discrimination against the inferior ones and the
discrepancies in the education and occupation it has some advantage to the society because members
of the impoverish have a sense of oneness and promote the group solidity. They can act and form
mass mobilization for their rightful place, position and recognition.
Conflict theory / critical
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Reflection on Ethnicity Essay
Our increased mobility has given us greater access to the world and the diverse people that inhabit
it. With that mobility comes the shared responsibility to negotiate with people who may initially
seem unfamiliar and learn to express the experience. The word "ethnicity" is used to describe a
specific population's characteristics of fundamental aspects that all humans share. When applied
loosely, ethnicity becomes a blanket term to define large populations, undermining the worth and the
diversity within that group and emphasizing the differences between cultures. Yet those differences
come down to matters of preference and socialization within each culture. The dominant themes that
rule human nature persist in every society – wondering...show more content...
When the knowledge that humans belong to one race becomes more widely known and accepted,
our interpretation of other ethnic groups may change. The differences between cultures may not be
as pronounced as our similarities.
America is a recognized melting pot, integrating immigrants and their children, folding generations
into a wider network of compromised values where traditional culture is abandoned for a watered
down commercial version that valued only what would sell. The mass media in the United States is
a powerful socialization tool especially for young people, proving to be an overriding adversary of
traditional cultural ideals. Subsequent generations raised with such a forceful media influence
scrape meaning where they are able, often forming counter and sub–cultures in attempt to renew
grounds for interpersonal connectivity. They find significance in recycled icons of cultural relics,
without the foundation for understanding or appreciating the history. Or create new relics and
traditions out of what they have to work with. In an attempt to self–define upon superficial grounds,
the value of niche identification, material goods, and commercial events cannot fill the void created
by a lack in social capital and cultural accountability. People still seek meaning for their lives.
With the advance of globalization and an inter–dependent worldwide market, consumerism threatens
to homogenize culture into income brackets. Within a

Race And Ethnicity Essay
Race and ethnicity in American history are not identical concepts or categories; when in fact, they
are very different. Since the very beginning, our views on classification and the defining of groups
has been shaped by the realms of politics. Both have changed identities throughout history. While I
will agree, there are similarities; I must also state they are distinctly different by definition.
Most identify race with biology and ethnicity with culture. Race is an historical concept it was
created during colonialization and used as a means to exploit people. It is the physical
characteristics of a person such as their skin color, hair and bone structure is used to differentiate
between races; which does not hold much validity today. It is also viewed as a social concept,
where one's perception may...show more content...
In retrospect, they are both correct in reference to the definition. Ethnicity is a shared culture and
identity within subgroups/cultures–it is also related to country of origin, ancestry and shared
language, something Ms. Dolezal identifies with.
Determining such can be problematic because there are a number of Americans in mixed race and
ethnicities, and the collection of data by the government is no longer a cookie cutter process as it no
longer pertains to the four ethnicities. Race and ethnicity is separate and independent according to
the government and for the convenience of classification, those four categories consist of (White,
Black, American Indian, Asian and Hispanic.)
Some ethnic groups are based on subcultures such as the Hispanics. They are not a race. Hispanic is
attached to people whose origins can be traced to countries where there was Spanish conquest–those
countries are Spanish speaking. Hence, the category changes to Hispanic or

Reflection On Race And Ethnicity
To reflect on race and ethnicity, you must know what does it mean. What is Race? What is
Ethnicity? According to Parillo, Race is a categorization in which people sharing visible biological
characteristics regard themselves or are regarded by others as a single group on that basis. Ethnicity
is shared cultural traits and/or national origin (2016). I believe their still some confusing between the
two terms. Most people I asked about race and ethnicity, they thought they were the same thing.
However, I thought so too until I started this class. Race still a complicated category due to the
visible biological characteristics. With the wide ranges of physical appearances, it makes it difficult
to determine what category each person should be in. I believe this brings about racism. According to
Parillo, racism slowly evolved out of sorting humans into categories based physical appearances
(2016). However, ethnicity caused racism within the races due to the different languages and cultural
traits. A good example is Rwanda genocide in 1994. This was mass slaughtered trying to wipe out
the entire Tutsi ethnic group which killing over 800,000 people. In America, I wonder if the same
thing is happening among African Americans. They are being sent to the prison systems due to the
systematic racism They are getting longer prison sentences or getting murdered by police officers
due to systematic racism.
Growing up, I learned the following things about race and ethnicity
I was born in upstate New York. When I was about 4 years old, my family decided to move to
eastern North Carolina. My parents were originally from North Carolina and, so they decide to
move back home to their hometown. They thought moving to the South was better to raise a
family. I have seen my father's talk about racism in the South and compare to the living in the
North. My father has told me that he worked around every race and ethnic groups. When we
move to the South, I saw the frustration that my father face as an African American male. The
racism for against my dad was depraved that we were going to move back to New York after only
being in North Carolina for only three years. As I look back, I wish we did return to New York. My
mother was

Ethnicity And Ethnicity Essay
This essay will be discussing the correlation between ethnicity and educational attainment. Whether
your race affects your life chances or if other factors are involved as well. It will be looking at
different ethnic minorities and how well they are doing in school.
Although most schools are seen as multicultural, you can see clear differences between ethnic
minorities. Statistics show that clearly some ethnicities are doing poorer than others. At the moment
Black Caribbean boys are achieving the least amount of GCSE A*–C grades whereas more than 50%
of Chinese girls are achieving the most GCSE's. There are many factors as to why some ethnicities
do better than others. Ethnicity can have a major affect on your achievement but other things like–
social class, gender and location can also play a part in how well you do.
Success or failure can be influenced by what happens within the school and classroom. If teachers
have low expectations of an ethnic minority it may affect the actual progress of a pupil. This is
known as the self fulfilling prophecy. If a teacher labels most Bangladeshi boys as 'not very bright
and able'. The teacher has labeled the group and made a prediction about them. Because the teacher
has low expectation, he/she will except below average homework. Also teachers will not encourage
the pupils as they are already labeled as 'failures'. As the teacher has not helped the Bangladeshi boys
they would have made the prediction true. So this shows that teachers

Race And Ethnicity Research Paper
Ethnicity Ethnicity, to me, can be defined as a group of people who share the same religion,
ancestry, and cultural regions. This opinion of what ethnicity means was developed when I took
a course in sociology. By no means am I saying this is the actual definition of ethnicity, the first
time I could really identify with the word was when I was taking the course. As mentioned in
class, we come from an area where there is not a lot of diversity, and the word ethnicity was not
really mentioned in school. In this area, we aren't taught about ethnicity, diversity, or other cultures.
Sure, there was an occasional mention of different ethnicities or cultures, but we were given no real
definition as to what these words meant. Therefore, I had no identification with the word, or even
how the people in this region with a difference in ethnicity or culture feel. I believe this is a real
hindrance to the people in this area; the lack of knowledge about these topics can lead to a
misunderstanding between people. This misunderstanding could have been avoided if people were
taught about these topics in school....show more content...
This may make other people feel uncomfortable, as the cause of mistreatment was often by the
hands of white people. Once again, this leads back to schooling. In school, we often talk about the
mistreatment of other ethnicities, but we never talk about how they felt. That topic is often
glossed over, I believe, because of the fear of hurting someone's feelings or making someone
uncomfortable. In my opinion, I think we need to see the other point of view to see what things
were like during that time, and get a true feeling of what it is like to be a different

Essay On Race And Ethnicity
I believe that everyone has their own perspective on identifying different race, ethnicity or gender,
etc. I think it is hard for people to have exactly the same perspectives on human traits because
everyone has their own opinions and thoughts. However, something I found interesting is that
people who have similar thoughts seems to hang around together because they have the same
beliefs. For example, at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, we can easily see that people who have
same race, ethnicity, class, or religion, etc, they are always gathering together. The question of the
essay is how do I identify and why? Personally, I identity people by looking at their appearance and
the apparel they are wearing because it is easiest way to figure which...show more content...
However, for the ethnicity, it is about a group of people who gather together because they came
from the same place and would be able to share their culture. Race and ethnicity are different types of
human traits, however, they have something in common. The common thing that they have to
face is discrimination. Even though in today's society the discrimination problem is better
compared to the history, however, there are still a lot of discrimination occur in today's society. I
will take myself as an example; I remembered that once I was sitting with all my American friends.
Suddenly, there was a kid walked by and whispered, "She's looks different than her friends." I was
shocked because I did not know how to react in this type of situation. Therefore, I just laughed and
pretended nothing had happened. However, the experience had made me feel uncomfortable and
awkward when I am hanging out with my American now. Second I would like to talk about class.
Class makes me think of the level of the social hierarchy. For example, how wealthy people are or
how poor people are. If a family were wealthy, they would absolutely be treated differently compared
to a family who were

Personal Narrative: Race And Ethnic Identity
Born in a small village called Manchester in the country area of Guyana. As the evenings grew
dark I would sit in my father's lap as he retold the history of tense racially aligned political issues
between two electoral parties in my country. I never understood what he was talking about,
despite his definition of the words and vivid storytelling. Without a doubt, he was conscious of the
lack of interest I had in his stories, but would often continue, which was evidently forgotten the
next day since I was only 6 years old. At that age often times the stories our parents tell us do not
apply to us. However, at the age of 9, I had my very first experience of racism and learned my ethnic
identity.
The results had just been announced after months...show more content...
A land of many opportunities as it was portrayed, nevertheless; it was a struggle to adjust since I
had left my entire life in Guyana, coming here with just a few pieces of clothes I owned and the
ethnic identity that was instilled in me, which I immediately found out would work against me in
my career choices. Emphatically, my first job was in retail, working with a diverse population
where each individual had their own personal ethnic identity. The vast majority of the population
of people I worked with were Caucasian, however I did make a few friends. I was even more excited
when I saw someone that looks like me, but she quickly sought to assimilate and be accepted by
our Caucasian coworkers so she actively distanced herself with the emphasis that if she were seen
with me it will be a downfall in her own

Sociology Of Race And Ethnicity
Nicole Tetzlaff
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Essay Exam 1
Understanding race and racism can be very difficult for American citizens. This also leads to
confusion when discussing current events around racial disparities and inequalities. Mainstream
American general society views racism and race differently than sociologist who study these
disparities and inequalities. The idea of double consciousness and ethnicity directly relate to the
different ways in which different individuals understand and experience race and racism. In our
current society where media is widely used, individual's understandings of these topics becomes
confusing and difficult to understand and/or comprehend. Discussing the blurry ideas of race and
racism is so...show more content...
One of the biggest mistakes that the white population makes in Mainstream American society
regarding the way they view racism is the way in which they actually think or envision racism.
Racism is thought to be events that have happened in history, but that don't necessarily happen
"anymore". Many of American's that are white typically think of significant occurrences such as
slavery, segregation, wars between races, and internment camps. Racism is viewed very differently
for the non–white population. Discussed in lecture by Professor Chernega, "non–whites think of
racism in terms of something that happened to them yesterday, today, or even potential racism they
will face in the future" (Chernega, 2017). This produces two very different views that two different
populations experience simultaneously. There is a reason for this difference in understanding what
discrimination means. It is no surprise that blacks have faced a much longer period of
discrimination when compared to whites. Another idea that plays a large part in the reason for these
differences of understandings is the way in which history is told. Many historic stories are told as if
racism is something that only occurred in the past and doesn't necessarily happen anymore. More
often than not, racism is not addressed as a current issue when historic events are explained. Author
Kohl discusses the issues regarding children's literature

Race and Ethnicity According to Anthropologists
Examining the ideas and beliefs within ones own cultural context is central to the study of
Anthropology. Issues of Race and Ethnicity dominate the academic discourses of various disciplines
including the field of Anthropology. Race and Ethnicity are controversial terms that are defined and
used by people in many different ways. This essay shall explore the ways in which Anthropologists
make a distinction between race and ethnicity and how these distinctions serve as frames for
cross–cultural comparison and analysis. It is important to accurately define these coined terms
before one is able to make accurate comparisons and distinctions between them, and their relation to
the concept of...show more content...
The concept of race and the meanings associated with the term have continuously changed and
evolved throughout history. Many negative connotations have been associated with the word race
and these are evident as one reflects on the historical origins of the term. Commonly the term race
is closely connected to the notion of 'racism.' Racism is a specific form of prejudice which
focuses on physical variations between people. It describes the ideological belief that a person, or
groups of people can be classified into 'races' which can be ranked in terms of superiority and
inferiority (Spoonley, 1988:4). Giddens defines racism as "the attribution of characteristics of
superiority or inferiority to a population sharing certain physically inherited characteristics"
(1997:584). This supports the idea that racism is a manner of prejudice or animosity against people
who have different physical characteristics. It is in virtue of circumstances such as these that
Anthropologists find it necessary to make a distinction between the concepts of race and ethnicity.
In contrast to the idea of race, Ethnicity refers to ethnic affiliation, or the "cultural practices and
outlooks of a given community of people that set them apart from others" (Giddens, 1997:210).
Members of a particular ethnic group see themselves as culturally distinct from other groups of
people in a society or culture. There are different characteristics which serve as a way of

Ethnic Identity Essay
They are groups that within a larger society that display a unique set of cultural traits. It keeps
populations together through culture, history and geography. Together others shape their identity
which is the sense of belonging to a group and sharing its culture. Each person, wants to discover his
or her identity through their culture even if it is exploring their traditions. You wonder when is the
right time to introduce a child to their culture? Throughout, your life you find out what ethnic group
you belong to what traditions to keep or not to keep. But, you also decide whether or not to pass it
on to your future children.
Local groups may merge into a larger group which became a region or nation. Some people who are
from different ethnic groups tend to move into regions where their people from the same culture this
is called Chain Migration. Most of them may not know each other, they may see as having more in
common with each other than with the people of other ethnic groups. Ethnicity is a person's ethnic
identity this not the same as their race, religion or language but it is however defined by some or all
these following factors.
A person can have multiple ethnic backgrounds but their ethnic identity can be one or the other
ethnic background. Trying to find your ethnic identity is difficult if you have multiple ethnic
backgrounds. Ethnic Groups share a common language or religion, each person ethnicity means alot
to them.
Ethnicity is seen as a social

Reflection On Race And Ethnicity
Race and Ethnicity Reflection
Introduction
Race and ethnicity are important factors that influence the diversity of the school. According to an
article by Hawley and Nieto (2010), race and ethnicity affect both how students respond to instruction
and opportunities to learn. By understanding the races and ethnic backgrounds of the students,
administrators may promote a supportive school environment, while educators promote a positive
learning community and differentiate lessons to meet the needs of all students, regardless of race and
ethnic culture. Also, through understanding the diverse backgrounds, teachers and students may
develop a "trusting relationship" by respecting cultural backgrounds, avoid stereotyping, adapting
instructions to meet needs, and build on prior knowledge of the students (Hawley & Nieto, 2010).
Race and ethnicity may impact a school district through developing instructional practices to enhance
learning, influencing teachers to connect with parents and create engaging lessons for their classes,
and allow collaboration among administration and teachers to support students, no matter their race.
Developing practices and Differentiated Lessons for All Students Race and ethnicity impact how
teachers create lessons and assessments for students. According to the article from Hawley and Nieto
(2010), teaching should be adapted to students' learning styles (pg.68). All students demonstrate the
ability to learn a new concept in class, whether seeing the concept visually, listening and repeating
through voice, a hands–on project, or through the use of technology. As teachers plan and prepare
lessons for their students, they must consider the races and ethnic backgrounds of the students, as
well as their learning styles in order to meet their needs. As a professional educator, I have had the
experience of working with students with all kinds of learning styles. By understanding the ethnic
backgrounds and learning ability of my students, I would create lessons and materials that were
appropriate for all learners in my math classes, such as step–by–step notes for my visual and low
learners, repetition of concepts and formulas for the auditory learners, and using algebra tiles or
creating

Descriptive Essay About Ethnicity
Big Bird As I child, unfortunately, I was bullied at a very young age. The school was tough for
me because I felt different. I have always felt different because of my ethnicity. I felt that being
bullied for my looks, my clothes, and my Mexican name, made me not love myself and my cultural
background. As a child, I was bullied because of my appearance. As a result, I began to believe it
was because of my ethnicity.
I grew up in a family of seven, I have always been very family orientated. I had strict parents that
kept me home a lot. I didn 't have many friends, making friends didn 't come easily to me. Through
my childhood, I moved a lot, so I was always the new kid. I only had about two friends growing up.
As a result, I didn...show more content...
He always wore his jordans that he would brag to everyone. One day, during my English class, He
tapped me on my shoulder, and As I turned around, I heard him saying " You have a weird nose, it
's enormous it covers your whole face; has anybody ever told you?" I didn't know what to say to,
him so I just said "no nobody has ever said that" He then told me " Oh my god! I'm going to start
calling you Big bird!" He then told everyone in my class, and they just laughed at me. All I kept
telling myself, was that I would be home soon. I kept looking at the clock waiting so that I could
go home because I couldn't contain the tears. I walked home alone that day; my whole walk
home I was cursing my dad for giving me his big Mexican nose. I felt so empty my entire body
just wanted to realize everything but I couldn't. I walked home crying; I began to feel so ugly. I
thought to myself if any of my sisters felt the way I did, but I quickly told myself they didn't and I
couldn't talk to them. I looked for answers; I began to think well why doesn't Ashely or Kim get
made fun of, Why only me? I then thought well they look nothing like me; they have pretty hair and
pretty fair skin. I believed that because of my brown skin and frizzy dark hair I was ugly. I was very
young, and I became to feel incredibly insecure about my looks. I decided to do my best and ignore
him. The next day, he tried to make fun of my name, he would say my name

Essay On Race And Ethnicity
Race and ethnicity is something that we all have to live with because we all have a race and
ethnicity that claims us. Race and ethnicity was something discussed daily at my household because
I was the only Hispanic at my school until the third grade. This was difficult because as a child it's
hard to understand why my skin color, language, and ideals are different. I wouldn't have survived
school without my parents and support from my instructors that allowed me to transition into the
mainstream without a traumatic effect. Throughout the year my parents would take me to activities
like Cinco De Mayo, Religious activities, Independence of Mexico, and other cultural events that
celebrated our history and culture. This helped feed my love for my culture and ancestors. Race is
usually determined by how one looks but your...show more content...
Some of these differences include, dialects, accents, food, music, religion, lifestyle, values, and
clothing.
Ethnicity is something I'm proud of and something I would never deny. (Catholic/Hispanic)
Ethnicity is something that you can't change and if you disrespect or deny it then you are
disrespecting your ancestors. You can't change who you are or where you came from. I believe that
we should embrace your ethnicity in a positive manner.
It doesn't matter to which ethnic group one belongs to, it all depends on the environment you
grow up in. I would have the same mentality of respect for my culture and history. I think my
childhood would all depend on my parents because they are the ones who help teach us about our
culture and how we should act and treat others. They lay down the foundation to how you view the
world and how the world will view you as part of society.
One has to evaluate his/her thoughts, ideas, behavior patterns, customs, values, skills, language, arts,
and faith or religion to understand and respect others who might not share the same culture or

Ethnicity And Its Impact On Development Essay
Ethnicity has always been seen as a factor that helped bring people in a certain community together.
In earlier years, ethnicity was nothing more than just identity that people were proud of. However
times have changed and the silver lining that was in ethnicity has begun to fade and in some areas, it
has completed ceased to exist. Today, ethnic ambitions have continuously replaced the patriotism of
people to a nation further dividing their loyalties to their nation (Manyasa, 2005:69). Tribal
orientations and ethnic labels have taken over in most of African states. In such cases, a person is
first loyal to their ethnic group and then second comes the nation. This is a scenario that has been
seen to impact on development. That is to say, both negative and positive ethnicity has an effect on
development. Unfortunately, negative ethnicity tends to be more pronounced. As it is well known,
development is a multi–faceted process that can be hampered by several factors.
Development in any society is meant to positively impact the lives of the people through advancing
in terms of social and economic status. Ideally development brings about opportunities for the people
but when these opportunities are hindered due to the fact that one belongs to a certain ethnic group,
then development is blocked. Existence of various ethnic groups in a country does not necessarily
mean conflicts, but when competition among these groups arises, then conflict is inevitable
(Alemayehu, 2009). In

A multi–ethnic society is a society which includes people from a variety of different races, religions,
cultures, backgrounds etc. Multi–ethnic societies can have many negative and positive effects which
I am going to explain in the following paragraphs.
The benefits of living in a multi–ethnic society are that you get to meet new people and learn
interesting things about them. People get a chance to understand others and realise they're equal to
us. It makes people less ignorant and alters stereotypical views they may have had beforehand from
media influence or friends/relatives. We begin to respect them more and understand their views on
specific subjects. This could help people become less racist. Also, you get a chance to learn a...show
more content...
Some of the world's best chefs are from other countries so food standards would decrease too.
Also, many of our favourite films and TV programmes wouldn't exist because many are made by
foreign directors. Lots of famous actors/actresses are also foreign so our standard of films wouldn't
be as good. People from other cultures may have better ideas about behaviour and what rules to live
by which could improve our society. We've gained different fashion designers such as Versace and
have more clothes to choose from as a result. Exciting festivals such Chinese New Year wouldn't
exist if we didn't have a multi–cultural society. We get a wider choose of music to listen to by
different artists and different genres of music such as bollywood and country and western. For
many of our Olympic medals we've received we can thank black and Asian athletes such as Kelly
Holmes who won 2 gold medals in the 2004 Olympics. More sports are available now too and
many of our favourite sporting achievers are foreign. Technology has advanced because of
foreigners coming up with new ideas. We've got improved health care because of accomplished
foreign doctors uncovering new medicines. Education has improved because of knowledgeable
foreign teachers and books written by people from different cultures. Also, without people from
other cultures living in Britain we'd have a shortage of qualified people to employ

How Does Ethnicity And Race Affect Society?
Ethnicity and race are ways to differentiate a group of person from another; therefore, in the 21th
century this terms has acquired a powerful meaning in society. A few months ago, I learned how
significant this terms are. I was born and raised in Colombia, a South American country surrounded
by a huge diversity of cultures united by one language, the Spanish. However, since I was 1 year
old I traveled to the United States every summer and sometimes Christmas for vacation, family and
parent's business. With the pass of years, I grew up knowing persons with a different cultural
background. I got used to the physical and cultural differences, and the fact that there was always
one thing in common.
I never thought that color and language could defined the person's personality till I started hearing
how citizens from a different skin color can be judged as...show more content...
When I moved from Colombia to the United States on December of 2013, I started studying the
language and using it for necessities. Despite of my efforts, I could not got rate of my accent and
it made my pass a temporally hard time. People made fun of me and my bad speaking skills. Even
though that I was from Colombia, for them I was Mexican. At the beginning it hurt my feelings
because I knew that my speaking was not perfect but also it made me stronger, and made me want
to improve it every day.
At the end, I started thinking about the persons that suffer those offenses every day of their life,
those that wake up every morning and at least more than five persons re state their skin color or
they cultural background. And then after all, they keep smiling and enjoying every second as it
was the last one. Then, I restated to myself that I would never be in their position and I would never
feel what they felt because only them know how to put a smile over the

The Importance Of Ethnicity In Schools
Teaching students about their ethnicity or even others should be enforced by the Board of Education
directors in high schools. American School Boards should mandate a curriculum that provides
multicultural and ethnic studies programs for their students. This allows our American youth to
have a wider perspective on human interaction and historical events that lead to world we currently
live in. More specifically, in American history, it provides a foundational understanding of the
numerous ethnic backgrounds that help shape this country into a pillar of freedom for the world to
see. America was built by people from all over the globe and this historical fact is the primary
reason our educational programs should include an understanding of all the cultures that played a
role in its success.
As a child I gained limited knowledge about other ethnicities, including from my own through
family and small circles of friends. Now that I'm in college I'm embarrassed by the fact that I know
so little about my own ethnic background as well as others. It's one matter to not know much about
other ethnic groups, but to not know about my own makes me feel like I'm letting myself down.
Schools are meant to teach kids things they will need to know for in the future such as math, reading,
writing, science, and history. So, if ethnic studies teaches kids race, ethnicity, nation, gender and
sexuality, isn't that something kids will need to know more about in the future. Leaning those
concepts

Essay about Race and Ethnicity
Upon entering the class I was anxious, curious, and also oblivious to the ideas I would be
encountering. Like other students who had not previously spent time discussing topics of race and
ethnicity, I myself had nervous tendencies in assuming that such a class may not strengthen my
understanding of ethnic and race relations. I realized I knew little about race or ethnicity, and even
the possible similarities or differences. However, I welcomed the opportunity to further discover
the possibilities of the class. My understanding of race was concentrated in a definition that could
be understood as different skin colors. My limited conception of ethnicity applied to people's origin
or where they lived. It seemed as though my lack of...show more content...
Explanations as to why such areas seemed trivial in my life may possibly be found in the life I have
lived.
My pre–adolescent years were spent in a community thick with diversity. My friendships were as
diverse as the environment in which I lived. It never struck me that racial and ethnic ideals separated
people in society. However, upon moving to a predominately whiteupper–class community I began
to question such racial and ethnic ideas. From my adolescent years through today I began noticing
that certain people are viewed differently for reasons relating to race and ethnicity. As a result, the
most recent community I grew up in has kept me sheltered from aspects of society. As a product of
a community where majorities existed, I found myself unexposed to the full understanding of race
and ethnicity. Prior to the class I had never fully dealt with issues of race or ethnicity, as a result I
wondered why they would be of any importance in my life.
Nonetheless, these feeling changed. Even though my understanding of ethnicity and race was limited
my interest for understanding grew. For example, one weekend among peers at Connecticut College
my last name was referred to in conversation about the Jewish population on campus. Without any
hesitation the people around me highlighted a distinction that I was not Jewish due to my German
name and looks, and therefore not included with the concern of the discussion. I came to wonder
why such a distinction was made. I knew that

The Positive And Effects Of Ethnicity
Effects of Ethnicity As we go about everyday lives we don't think about this one question of: How
important is ethnicity to us? This may be a tough question to answer for some of us, as we may not
even know the meaning of this question. Ethnicity refers mainly to a person's culture, nationality,
language, geographical location etc. This gives individuals their identity in the World and some of
them might not like it because they don't like to stand out. For me, ethnicity is very important
because I have a sense of belonging to the world and makes me feel included. Ethnicity can be seen
in the many literary texts read in this class. Ethnicity can affect the identity of individuals in a
positive and negative way, but can also show us a better understanding of multiculturalism in the
United States. Each of the non–fiction texts is unique in their own ways of expressing ethnicity by
the ways of the characters. In the book titled " The Round House" by Louise Erdrich, ethnicity is
very important to the characters because their ethnicity will determine if Geraldine can seek justice.
Readers can tell that this story related to ethnic backgrounds, when women said to Joe, " Don't you
Indians have your own hospital over there? Aren't you building a new one?" (8). This shows that
After Geraldine's rape, Bazil and Joe knew that due to their ethnicity, they have higher chances of to
failing to seek justice. They are not able to convict anyone that is not from the reservation making

Ethnicity Essay

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