Chapter: Race, Ethnicity and Identity

 

Race

It is derived from Latin word ‘Genus’ meaning “birth”, “descent” or “family.”

Race refers to idea of classifying people on the basis of their physical appearances which is result of their genetic ancestry and shared genealogy.

The grouping of people are based on the physical appearance such as skin color, hair texture, facial features and eye formation.

** Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (German anthropologists) started the idea of classification of human (human race) based on facial configuration and color of the skin as a basis of the division of humankind.

Major Races of the World.

Types	Physical Appearance	Origin	Dominant
Australoid	Dark brown complexion, long head, short narrow face, broad nose, thick lips, dark brown eyes.	Africa	Australia
Caucasoid	Light white skin, tall body, long head, broad face, light brown hair, light blue eyes.	Caucasus Mountain between Black Sea and Caspian Sea.	Europe and North America
Mongoloid	Yellowish skin, medium body, broad head, black hair, dark brown eyes.	Mongolia and Manchuria (China)	Asia and Pacific Islands.
Negroid/Africoid	Dark complexion, muscular, tall body, thick lips, black hair, black eyes.	Equatorial region	Equatorial region of Africa.

 

Source: Google

Ethnicity

The word is derived from the Greek word ‘ethnos’ and in Latin ‘ethnicusin.’

Ethnicity means a group of people who has common cultural characteristics such as distinct cultural heritage, religion and language.

Max Webber (German Sociologist) defined ‘ethnic group’ as “human groups (other than kinship groups) which cherish a belief in their common origins of such a kind that it provides a basis for the creation of a community.”

Examples of Ethnic Groups

1.      White British

2.      White Irish

3.      Other White people

4.      Indians

5.      Bangladeshis

6.      Pakistanis

7.      Chinese

8.      Other Asians

9.      Black Africans

 

Types of Ethnic Groups

Primary Ethnic Group	Secondary Ethnic Group	Majority Ethnic Group	Minority Ethnic Group
They are indigenous groups who live in the place of their origin and share common heritage, history and language of their ancestors.   Example: Bhutanese people living in Bhutan.	People who have migrated from their place of origin to another place and in a different society.       Example: Bhutanese people settled in USA, Australia and other countries.	Group whose character determines the norms of the larger society. Their culture is followed by the other minorities.      Example: People living in UK influences the people who migrated from other countries.	Group whose characteristics do not influence the norms of the larger society.        Example: People migrated to Australia and UK follows their characteristics.

Identity

Latin word "idem" meaning 'sameness.'

Identity refers to a set of characteristics of an individual or group which describes themselves.

Types of Identity

Collective Identity- a group of individuals are labelled as same based on the similarities that they share in terms of of ethnicity, religion, language, culture, profession, geographical areas or other features.

Individual Identity-  unique characteristics of a person, including personality traits, values, physical characteristics and different from others.

Factors influencing the Construction of Identity

• Ethnicity
• Family and the environment
• Values and beliefs
• Religion
• Occupation