THOUGHT'S OF RACE

First, let me start by saying race.  What is it? Why is it important? Is race the same thing as ethnicity?  Does the government use race to classify people into their own subgroups in today’s culture? These questions arise in my head when I think about and hear the word race. I will rant about some of the answers to these questions from my point of view.

What is race? Race is explained to be a local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history and nationality.  Humans considered as a group for an example the Mexican race. While analyzing this definition I have become more aware of why things such as racial discrimination and profiling exist and how they relate to the word race. I mean, genetically transmitted physical characteristics, is pretty specific and kind of come’s off a little racist. For example, “Damn that girls ass is huge, she must be from Brazil.” This person would be judging the female based off her physical appearance and relating it to her race and origin of people. The women could have been Puerto Rican, Mexican, or Peruvian, etc. I know this example was a little extreme but a person’s race does give them characteristics. More examples can be given when people of African American origin and people from China get offended when people do not specify how they are all different. It’s a sign of disrespect to most people when called another race. I believe this is so because in today’s society being different and unique as come to be a norm. People no longer want to be like everybody else they want their own distinguished title. “I’m not African,” but aren't you form Africa? “Yes I ‘am but I’m Nigerian, get it right!” This is why race is important and very much evident in today’s society. Even in the work field race/color discrimination is not tolerated. The government has made a law that nobody can be treated unfavorably because of their race or be denied employment. This is stated on every application distributed by businesses and corporations alike. 

Some might think that race and ethnicity are alike but they are not. People are confused because of their similar meaning pertaining too racial characteristics but ethnicity focuses more on the cultural aspects and traditions of where they live. For example, a Caucasian from Ireland, Canada, and the United Stated of America all have different ethnicity and cultural traditions; however they share the same race. I believe this is what confuses people the most there distinction is so similar when explained in dictionaries. Once one knows the difference they can have a better appreciation for individuals. The confusion between the two is where racial profiling stemmed from in my view.

Does the government use race to classify people into their own subgroups? Personally I believe they do and to back up my claim think about this have u ever been asked what your race is on any government document. I bet you cannot think of a time when they have not questioned you about what race you classify yourself with. Financial aid for schools, taxes, surveys, job applications, for unemployment, health and car insurance; these are just a few of the examples of documentation of your race. The government wants to know this so they can have a better understanding of the public, so they say, but I believe this information is also collected for racial profiling purposes.  With all the different mixing of races pretty soon it will be impossible to claim only one and hopefully when this day comes the government and society will no longer have to classify with one subgroup of people. We all are uniquely a whole of the human race.