Defining Race and Ethnicity

Defining Race and Ethnicity

Ethnicity is defined in terms of shared genealogy, whether actual or presumed. Typically, if people believe they descend from a particular group, and they want to be associated with that group, then they are in fact members of that group. Being a Egyptian Christian and Living in the United States since 2004 seeing the diversity of ethnicity beings gives me a great pleasure to be a part of the population and being considered as a United States Citizen. Growing up in a country that puts differences in racial and Ethnicity and seeing the difference how here in U.S we are all Equal regardless of color, height, weight, or where we come from. In last decades of the 20th century, the legal system as well as the official ideology emphasized racial equality. Racial prejudice remains a continuing problem throughout the world. However, there are fewer race-based conflicts in the 21st century than in the past. Different races and ethnic backgrounds hold our society together. The United States government has collected statistics on race and ethnicity. The data has been used to study changes in the social, demographic, health, and in economic characteristics of different ethnic groups in our society. Federal data collections, through censuses, surveys, and administrative records, have provided an historical record of the Nation's population diversity and its changing social attitudes and in policy concerns. They are also important because race and ethnicity have been used extensively in civil rights monitoring and enforcement covering areas such as employment, voting rights, housing and mortgage lending, health care services, and in educational opportunities.