Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Post reading questions for week 2

If I had to come up with my own definition of race and ethnicity, I would say that both are similar. They both deal with like where someone comes from and where like they originated from but what differentiates them is that I would say that race has more something to do with a person’s appearance. Honestly, my understandings of race and ethnicity somewhat changed from my pre-reading response. Like I’m still confused between the two of them but, I did learn that races aren’t something that was created naturally or forcefully. They were created because of how we see and classify other people. In other words I guess when we think a certain group is important or different than the others, we start to criticize or analyze them by giving them a certain meaning or definition, thus creating the word race. Also, from my understanding from the reading, I learned that ethnicity has more something to do with an individual and how they seem themselves as in their group while race I believe refers to everyone in a single group. Lastly, I’ve also read that ethnicity, like race, originated from us. That we can give the word itself an identity but it mainly depends on how we see us or other people. Since race and ethnicity have many meanings in this country, I believe it causes confusion because not everyone sees the same point of view as someone else. In other words, it all depends on the individual and how their opinion differs from another person’s view. Because of this, I believe this is the reason why there are still some debate on what the real meaning is behind race and ethnicity. Since no one can really agree on what the real definition is between the two, every one starts creating their own meaning which leads to confusion between race and ethnicity. Yes, I believe everyone has the right to self-identity their own race and ethnicity because no one should tell a person that “they can’t have the same skin color as them” or “they can’t be from the same culture.” I mean it’s not exactly their fault how they were born or like how they both have the same ancestry. Every individual has the right to be the person that they want to be without being judged. Honestly, I don’t really know if this counts as a link between biology and race but some people think that because I’m Asian, I’m smart. Like to me, I feel like this is more like a stereotype than something else. Like just because I’m Asian doesn’t mean I’m smart. Intelligence has nothing to do with someone’s race but how determine they are when it comes to during their homework or winning a competition.
 
 
 
Words: 462

1 comment:

  1. Hi Patricia,
    In the first couple sentences of your posting, it seems you do have a sense of the difference; race is based on physical features and ethnicity is based on cultural practices and shared origins. I would challenge you on your statement that because there are so many definitions floating around that it really becomes a matter of opinion and point of view- if this were true would we see one racial group 'on top' and the same racial groups being penalized consistently? Would that also vary?
    I also think your connection between 'race as biology' and stereotypes are right on- people believe that these traits are inborn.
    --eas

    ReplyDelete