What is the difference between race and ethnicity? Many people tend to think of race and ethnicity as the same thing. Often the words are used interchangeably.
These two words have separate meanings. Understanding their distinctive meaning is increasingly important, particularly as diversity in the world continues to grow.
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Simply stated, race is the word used to describe a person's physical characteristics. These characteristics can range from skin color to eye color and facial structure to hair color.
This term is physiological in nature and refers to distinct populations within larger species. Race was once a common scientific field of study. Today, however, most scientists agree that genetic differences between humans do not exist, therefore there are no different human races.
Ethnicity, on the other hand, is the word used to describe a person's cultural identity. These identities may include language, religion, nationality, ancestry, dress and customs.
Members of a given ethnicity tend to identify themselves based on these shared cultural traits. This term is considered anthropological in nature because it is based on learned behaviors.
An example of the difference between these two terms is examining people who share the same ethnicity. A person born of Asian descent who grew up in Germany may identify racially as Asian and ethnically as German.
People who share the same race may also have different ethnicities. For example, people who identify as white may be of German, Irish, or British ethnicity.
Some researchers believe that the idea of race and ethnicity was socially constructed. This is because their definitions change over time based on widely accepted public opinion.
It is believed that race is defined by genetic differences and morphologies. This belief gave way to racism, to the idea of racial superiority and inferiority. For example, when Italian immigrants first arrived in the United States, they were not considered part of the “white race”.
Ethnic identity is believed to promote group cohesion, particularly in immigrant communities. Sharing ethnic identity within groups or communities offers individuals security that might otherwise be shunned in the host country.
Over time, however, ethnic identity is replaced by racial identity. This replacement occurs as each successive generation begins to assimilate with the culture of the host country, which, consequently, ceases to be the host country to be the country of origin.
