Transcript What is Ethnicity?

What is Ethnicity?
• What is ethnicity? How is it different than
race?
Ethnicity = from the Greek ethnikos, meaning
“national”
– Ethnicities share a cultural identity with people
from the same homeland or hearth.
– Ethnicities have distinctive cultural traits derived
from distinctive features of particular places on
earth. Cultural traits can be learned.
Race – Biological Ancestor-traits that can be
transmitted genetically from parents to children.
Physical characteristics: hair type, hair color, skin
color, head and facial features.
DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN
ETHNICITY & RACE
• Why is skin color important to
geographers? Fundamental
basis by which people reside,
go to school, spend their leisure
time pg. 227
• African American = a group
with an extensive cultural
tradition (does not mean black)
• Black = skin color (does not
mean African American)
• African American and blacks are
not the same thing
– Most black Americans descend
from Africa (black race does equal
African-American ethnicity for
them)
– Some blacks descend from nonAfrican regions (black race does
not equal African American
ethnicity for them)
• Hispanic/Latino is an ethnic
group, not a race (On the
Census they choose which race)
• Asian as a race and AsianAmerican as an ethnicity
• https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=4WIiConeatM
One Drop Rule
The one-drop rule is a social and legal principle of racial
classification that was historically prominent in the United
States asserting that any person with even one ancestor of
sub-Saharan-African ancestry ("one drop" of black blood) is
considered to be black (Negro in historical terms).
This concept evolved over the course of the 19th century
and became codified into law in the 20th century. It was
associated with the principle of "invisible blackness" and is
an example of the automatic assignment of children of a
mixed union between different socioeconomic or ethnic
groups to the group with the lower status.
This concept originated during slavery and later received
powerful reinforcement under the Jim Crow system that led
to extended segregation and discrimination.
Are Jews a Race, Ethnic Group, or Religion?
In the 1980s, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Jews are
a race, at least for purposes of certain anti-discrimination laws.
Their reasoning: at the time these laws were passed, people
routinely spoke of the "Jewish race" or the "Italian race" as well as
the "Negro race," so that is what the legislators intended to
protect.
• In the Bible, Jews were called
Hebrews or Children of Israel
• The terms "Jew" and "Judaism"
But many Jews were deeply offended by that decision, offended by
come from the tribe or kingdom
any hint that Jews could be considered a race. The idea of Jews as
a race brings to mind nightmarish visions of Nazi Germany, where
of Judah
Jews were declared to be not just a race, but an inferior race that
had to be rounded up into ghettos and exterminated like vermin.
• "Jew" refers to all physical and
But setting aside the emotional issues, Jews are clearly not a race.
spiritual descendants of Jacob
Race is a genetic distinction, and refers to people with shared
• A person can be Jewish by birth
ancestry and shared genetic traits. You can't change your race; it's
in your DNA.
or by conversion
Common ancestry is not required to be a Jew. Many Jews
• Traditionally, Jewish status
worldwide share common ancestry, as shown by genetic research;
however, you can be a Jew without sharing this common ancestry,
passes through the mother, not
for example, by converting.
the father-But Wait that’s tied to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCmHd_s family
cHik
What is a Jew?