What Race and Ethnicity Means to Me

What race and ethnicity means to me.

Steve Allen

University of Phoenix

What race and ethnicity means to me.

What race and ethnicity means to me is a hard question for me to answer. I would define race in simplest terms as a classification of a group of people’s genetic heritage and physical attributes. I would define ethnicity as a group of people’s generalized cultural background and heritage. I think that the reason it is so hard for me to define these two words, is that to define them simply as a general group is difficult when, in today’s society we have such a mixture of individuals that challenge the old group classifications. I think that often the lines are blurred in these two word’s definitions or at least somewhat overlapped in today’s society. Often times when we account for someones race or ethnicity we also take into account their ancestry, religion, physical attributes and social traits.

With America’s vast history of immigrantion, the lines have been even further blurred from the old simple definitions of race and ethnicity, with a country filled with people of different nationalities, heritage, and cultural backgrounds. In American society there are also many people who have parents and grandparents of mixed races and ethnicities, mixed national backgrounds, people who come from multi-cultural and multi-religious homes and people who observe different traditions from multiple cultures. Therefore, many of the old classifications and definitions fall short because they are intended for generalized groups, and they do not define the unique individuals who define America. This is important to American society because we need to be aware and respectful of our racial and ethnic diversity.