The term race refers to the division of living beings according to a series of physical attributes and shared biologicals. In the case of a human race, This is a social construction in which human populations are divided, under the assumption that a group of people has physical attributes that unite them..
Refering to ethnicity, This refers to a group of people who maintain a social bond as a result of a shared culture, language, religion or origin..
| Race | Ethnicity | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It is a categorization of human populations based on physical and biological attributes. | It is a human group in which its members share a culture, religion, language, geographical origin and / or origin. |
| Characteristics |
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| Determining elements | Physical characteristics and genetic inheritance. | Common origin (geographic or ancestry) and shared cultural practices. |
| Main attributes | Skin color, hair type, face shape, region of origin. | Geographical origin, religion, dress code, language, dialects, common history. |
| Examples |
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Talk about a race is to refer to a social division that is made of different human groups according to physical characteristics.
The term race is a social construction. This has been used since the Middle Ages and means 'people who share a common descent'. Already in the 18th century, the race began to include the grouping and division of people according to their phenotypic (observable) characteristics.
At present, both in the social and natural sciences, the use of the word "race" is controversial. Its function as a way of establishing a division of human populations has no scientific value. This is because the attributes that separate one breed from another, at the genetic level, are not well defined, and their selection is usually arbitrary..
Even if there are phenotypic variations between individuals, genetic diversity (and its causes) is a complex issue. Races as scientific concepts are not capable of containing the complexity of these genetic phenomena.
When a group of people is categorized as a "race", it is generally done to establish differences between human populations and in the treatment of individuals belonging to a race.
The idea of race it is largely a social construct. It is a product of the categorization that is made between human groups, established mainly through phenotypic differences (physical and observable).
It is also common to designate as a race, or racial group, a population or group of people who share an ethnic group (culture, nationality, religion) or who have the same geographical origin.
Thus, the definition of a race changes according to the social context, as well as throughout different historical moments..
One of the main reasons for dividing humans into races has been to establish discriminatory policies and segregation, in order to legitimize the domain of one human group over another.
In any case, race as a scientific category of analysis in the human context has lost value. This does not mean that it is not practical to establish divisions between human groups..
For example, studying different ethnic groups to perform a social / anthropological analysis, or studying populations that share genetic attributes for medical reasons, are valid scientific reasons for categorizing human populations..
The Swedish physician, zoologist, and botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) proposed that humans were divided into 4 subspecies or races based on people's place of origin and skin color: the americanus, Asian, africanus and the europeanus.
For Linnaeus, each of these races had particular characteristics, favoring the race europeanus. For example, among the behaviors attributed to africanus these were found to be negligent and capricious. In contrast, europeanus they were gentle and were guided by the law.
At the end of the 18th century, the German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) divided human populations into 5 different families or racial types, namely: Caucasian, Malay, American, Ethiopian (Negroid), and Mongoloid..
In the 19th century, the physician and naturalist Samuel Morton (1799-1851), made a study in craniology, specifically with the analysis of the size of human skulls from different parts of the world..
According to their research, the total brain volume of Caucasians was greater than that of Africans. Among his conclusions was that the size of the brain was proportional to the intellectual capacity of each race.
However, later on (even until a few years ago) there would be debates about the possible biases that affected the methodology and results of Morton's studies..
At the end of the 19th century and for much of the 20th century, different positions that proposed racial and ethnic discrimination were based on practices such as eugenics..
This practice was aimed at improving or cleansing the human species. Eugenics was based on biology, particularly genetics, and established that behaviors and differences between different races were the result of biological inheritance.
This current would serve as a support on the part of science to racist ideologies. For example, as in Nazi Germany, eugenics promoted the idea of a superior and pure race, promoting the murder and sterilization of those racial groups that were considered inferior..
The Ukrainian-American biologist and geneticist Theodosious Dobzhansky (1900-1975) proposed that races are not static, being capable of showing changes. For this biologist, the definition of breed depends on the categories used to analyze it and the scientific methodology used..
Dobzhansky considered that although races exist, these are constructions that help to understand biological phenomena, and that they do not have a scientific character to establish arbitrary (social) divisions between human beings.
According to biologist and geneticist Richard Lewontin (1929-), approximately 85% of genetic variations in humans occur regardless of a person's ethnic, geographical or cultural origin..
This means that between a person classified as "white" and another as "black", the existing genetic variation is not greater than that between two people of the same race. That is, there is no specific genetic trace in a human population that differentiates it from another..
The distinctive physical traits of populations that come from different regions are the result of the remaining 10% -5% of the genetic content. These traits are a consequence of the evolution and adaptation of different human groups to different environmental conditions..
For Lewontin, genetic differences in humans are not a matter of differences between human populations, but between human individuals..
In biology and genetics, a clina It refers to gradual change that occurs in specific characteristics of a species, caused by environmental conditions (geographic spaces).
A cline is expressed in the genetic adaptation that occurs an individual of a certain species to a habitat.
An example of two clines that adapted to the environment is observed in the skin pigmentation in humans.
In general terms, genetic adaptation to life near the equator, where there is greater exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays, stimulated that human skin near that region will be pigmented in such a way that it has greater resistance to these rays, resulting in a darker skin tone.
On the other hand, human populations that settled farther from the equator, have gradually less pigmentation, resulting in a lighter skin tone. In this way, people who live far from the Equator can better absorb vitamin D, which is synthesized with exposure to sunlight.
The racism is the belief that members of a race possess certain characteristics or qualities that make them superior to another.
The division of human groups into races was and has been influenced by positions that are not limited to the scientific field. The different races have been categorized according to a social and cultural value, as inferior or superior.
This has resulted in inequality, segregation and slavery, in addition to founding extremist positions and promoting racism.
Learn more about the Difference between prejudice, racism and discrimination.
Learn more about the Difference between racism and xenophobia.
A ethnicity is a human group in which its members share a common origin and a sociocultural bond.
The members of an ethnic group generally share a common language, culture, religious practices and / or habits. It is also possible that they share physical characteristics, thanks to their genealogical ancestry (common ancestors).
The word ethnic comes from the Greek ethnos y means 'people living together, tribe or nation', and from the suffix -ia which means 'action or quality'. That is, according to the origin of the word, an ethnic group represents the shared identity of a group of people who live together or form a tribe or nation..
Ethnicity as a concept is a social construct (product of the human being) and involves a great variety of aspects. The members of an ethnic group share a bond and organize around it. Thus, the existing similarities promote union within an ethnic group.
This dynamic is also manifested in the case of differences, on which ethnic groups separate from each other. It is worth mentioning that these differences have a subjective element and depend largely on who observes them..
As cultural habits and elements constantly change, the traits that define and separate one ethnic group from another are also changing..
The ethnic identity is the feeling of belonging to an ethnic group or ethnic group that an individual possesses. It is a key aspect in terms of socializing a person and feeling part of a group.
The existence of different ethnic groups implies the formation of ethnic identity. When different ethnic groups interact, they recognize the differences that exist with the other groups. In the same way, its members recognize the similarities that unite them to their own ethnic group..
In a society, ethnic identity can be promoted voluntarily or involuntarily. The education or establishment of a community, the construction of national symbols or myths about a people, are forms voluntary to promote ethnic identity.
If a population establishes a stronger bond of union and identity over its ethnic group as a result of a process of discrimination or segregation, caused by another group, this is a way to strengthen ethnic identity in a way. involuntary.
While an ethnic group represents a human group or population, the ethnicity refers to the characteristics that each of these groups possesses and by means of which they are classified.
The word ethnic group began to be used in the academic sphere in the second half of the 20th century, with the development of the study of ethnicity and the formation of various social identities. Some of the most important approaches that attempt to explain the phenomenon of ethnicity are the primordialist, instrumental and constructivist approaches..
According to this approach, members of a cultural group come together thanks to a primordial essence and the existence of a type of ethnic loyalty.
Ethnicity is seen as a result of biological inheritance (kinship), where people with whom a bond is shared tend to support each other. This is due to a kind of basic or primordial evolutionary adaptation that allows members of the same ethnic group to recognize each other..
The primordialist approach also considers that geographic proximity and having a shared culture and habits promote cooperation between the members that make up an ethnic group..
Regarding the instrumental approach, ethnicity is a product built for a particular purpose.
Different interest groups within an ethnic group create their ethnic identity through symbols such as historical myths, traditions, shared values, etc..
These symbols function as instruments and references for people to feel part of an ethnic group. Thanks to this, it is possible to appeal to a past that was shared by the ancestors of the current members of the group..
To a large extent, ethnicity has a utility value and is used to create identities, many times, in the likeness of certain elites or power groups.
In the constructivist approach, ethnicity is a consequence of the human interaction between groups and also with the context.
Various characteristics are emphasized in order to establish differences with groups with whom one interacts. In the same way, the similarities that the group members themselves share are pointed out..
The existence of relationships between different ethnic groups is what allows them to be built. As in this approach, ethnicity finds meaning in the interaction between different ethnic groups, it is in constant construction, so the elements that make up an ethnic group are dynamic and change over time..
Ethnocentrism occurs when the members of an ethnic group maintain The belief that their ethnicity, culture or traditions, and other social elements, have a higher value than other ethnicities.
Ethnocentrism is not always an explicit way of discriminating or belittling another ethnic group. It can happen without a negative intention. A key aspect is that an individual or group observes reality from their point of view, without considering the point of view of another group..
Most people at some point commit ethnocentric acts, since it is sometimes difficult to understand the reality of other human groups.
See also: Prejudices and stereotypes: what are they, differences, types and examples
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