Race And Ethnicity

Introduction
What exactly is race? Is there a true definition to the word? Does it even exist? There is so much uncertainty behind the development of the term over time. It is often thought that race is a social construct brought forth by humans to justify things like the discrimination of others and has also been named the cause behind many other issues. It is easy to blame tragedies such as the Holocaust, a mass extermination of people who follow the Jewish religion, on the basis of racism. However, many people are not sure if religion, color of skin, or even customs have anything to do with the concept of race. During my study on my research paper I intend to delve deeper into the term “Race” and further define it. I hope to find
some differences between race and ethnicity because I find that people often get the two terms confused for one another. I want to look at the ways many different people and groups define race. Also I’d like to look at many events that have happened throughout history as a result of someone's race. Many people are uninformed on this topic and it is my intention to further my reader’s knowledge while searching for more information than I already obtained from the brief section we covered in class earlier in the semester. I think it is important to further our general understanding of race because it has a lot more effect on our lives than we might think.
Race and Ethnicity
In order to understand race it is first essential to distinguish it from what is can often be mixed up with.
Often times we think of race and ethnicity to have the same meaning. However, there is a quite large difference in the two. Race usually pertains to the biological aspect, whereas ethnicity tends to describe the culture of an individual or a group of people. When I say that race pertains to biological differences I am talking about psychical differences. Race is associated with people's genetic patterns which often make us look alike. For example, our genetics are what control the color of our skin. This is one of the most obviously differences when we define race. Our genetics do change our physical appearance and we are all different. However, we all belong to the same species, homo sapiens. Amongst all of our racial categorizations there are very few biological differences but it is still enough for us to separate ourselves from one another. In fact, Live Science says “the DNA of two humans chosen at random generally varies by less than 0.1 percent. This is less genetic variation than other types of hominids (such as chimpanzees and orangutans), leading some scientists to describe all humans as belong to the same race — the human race.” (Live Science, 2012). Human genetics are always changing and adapting to our surroundings. “Recent genetic studies show skin color may drastically change in as few as 100 generations, spanning 2,500 years, as a result of
environmental influences.” (Live Science, 2012.)
Ethnicity is described as a group of people whom share the same language, heritage, religion, food preference, social norms, and usually geographical region.
Groups are often compared by their religious beliefs and other cultural differences. Although it is obvious that race and ethnicity can be intertwined with each other this is also clear distinctions between the two. For example, an african-american man might consider himself a part of the african race. However, if he does not practice any of the customs or rituals that his ancestors had done in the past, he might not consider himself to be part of the african ethnicity and would rather identify as an
american.

Social Influence Although most anthropologists and scientists in general like to look at race as biologically influenced there is a lot of argument that race might simply be constructed by society. Angela Onwuachi-Willig, a professor of law at the university of Iowa, posted an article to the New York Times newspaper stating bluntly that “Race is not biological. It is a social construct.” (Onwuachi-Willig, 2016.) Angela published her book According to Our Hearts in June of 2013. Her book focused on what it means to be a multi-cultural couple in today's society. She explains in her book that whites in interracial relationships or marriage, specifically a black-white couple, frequently tend to have a shift in how they personally view themselves and their racial identity. She further explains her point by saying “In a society where being white (regardless of one’s socioeconomic class background or other disadvantages) means living life with white skin privileges - such as being presumed safe, competent, and noncriminal - whites who begin to experience discrimination of their intimate connection with someone from another race, or who regularly see their fall prey to racial discrimination, may begin to no longer feel white.” (Onwuachi-Willig, 2016.)