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Race and Ethnicity

Race refers to a classification of the human species in terms of observable physical differences resulting from inherited biological characteristics. Such physical characteristics may include a particular skin colour, eye or nasal shape, hair texture, etc. The popular classification of human races recognizes three groups: Caucasoid, Mongloid and Negroid. These three are also referred to as White, Yellow and Black races, respectively. However, there are at least two problems with this classification of races. First, some groups fit into none of these categories. For example, natives of India and Pakistan have caucasoid facial features but dark skin. Another problem with the biological classification of races is that there are no pure races. People in these groups have been interbreeding for centuries. (Miscegenation - process of intermixing of races)

Further, with the scientific development of genetics and the human genome

as fields of study, most scholars now recognize that the differences in physical characteristics found among racial groups are probably the evolutionary result of environmental adaptation. For example, the dark skin of Negroid people protects them from the burning rays of the sun; the relative lack of body hair aids the cooling action of evaporation when they perspire. Similarly Eskimos, a Mongoloid people, have compact frames and tendency towards heaviness, which helps insulate them from their cold climate.

Although it is true that people can be differentiated by their inherited

physical characteristics, racial identities are often more due to cultural factors than biological characteristics. According to Alex Thio, race is not a biological or genetic fact, but a socially constructed myth. Race is socially defined on the basis of biologically determined characteristics. There is no statistically significant difference in the genetic makeup between racial groups, thus it is often said that race is socially constructed. There is in fact more genetic variation within a particular racial group than between racial groups. Nonetheless, the perception of racial differences is a powerful social force.

Since there are no clear-cut biological distinctions between racial groups - in

physical characteristics or genetic makeup - sociologists define race as a social rather than a biological phenomenon. Defined sociologically, a race is a group of people who are perceived by a given society to be biologically different from others. People are assigned to one race or another not necessarily on the basis of logic or fact but by public opinion, which in turn, is molded by societys dominant group.

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More than race, it is racism that is practiced through a false attribution of inherited characteristics of personality. Racism is an ideology which correlates the racial or physical characteristics of people with negative valuated social and psychological traits, and therefore gives rise to the idea of racial superiority. In other words, racism is an ideological orientation and a form of ethnocentrism in which it is maintained that ones own group is a distinct race that is inherently superior to other races.

In light of the disagreement among scholars with regard to the definition,

identification and classification of pure races, the term ethnic group is being more commonly used in contemporary sociological literature. The term ethnic group refers to a collectivity or group of people who share common racio-cultural traits. Whereas race is based on popularly perceived physical traits, ethnicity is based on cultural characteristics. Sociologists use the term ethnic group to refer to any kind of group, racial or otherwise, which is socially identified as different and has developed its own subculture. In other words, an ethnic group is one recognized by society and by itself as a distinct group. An ethnic group, then, is a collection of people who share a distinctive cultural heritage. Member of an ethnic group may share a language, religion, history, or national origin. They always share a felling that they are a distinct people.

According to Anthony Giddens, an ethnic minority is the one:

1. sense of belonging together (group solidarity) 2. usually to some degree, it is physically and socially isolated from the large

community (endogamy) 3. its members are disadvantaged, as a result of discrimination.

Sociologically, an ethnic minority is characterized by its experiences of prejudice and discrimination at the hands of the dominant group in modern plural societies. Prejudice comes from two Latin words, prae (before) and judicum (a judgement). It implies a judgement expressed before knowing all the facts. Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a certain category of people. Whereas prejudice is an attitude, discrimination is an act. More specifically, discrimination is an unfavourable action that is taken against certain individuals because they are members of a certain category. Sometime, even state may actively promote such discriminatory policies and programmes. Such prejudiced and discriminatory attitude toward ethnic minorities has serious implications on their access to opportunities and share in social resources.

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In most cases, however, ethnic differences overlap with socio-economic and political discrimination thus giving rise to ethnicity based inequality. For example, Muslims in India low on educational parameters, government employment, political representation, etc. Sachar committee report. However, in some cases, minorities are prosperous Jews, Jains, Parsis, Sikhs, etc. ahead in socio-economic indicators such as per capita income, gender equality, sex ratio, education, etc. This leads to inequality in society based on ethnicity, which in turn, gives rise to ethnic conflict.

Please note that an ethnic minority is not necessarily a small percentage of

the population. Blacks are considered a minority in South Africa, even though they make up about 70% of the population, because they are the subordinate group. Similarly the dominant group need not make a large part of the population. People of English descent in the USA today constitute only about 13% of the population. But because of their continuing social and cultural influence, they are still considered the dominate group.

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Segregation defined as the involuntary separation of residential areas, services or other facilities on the basis of the ethnic or racial characteristics of the people using them. For example, Jim Crow Laws in USA (1876-1965), separate hamlets for untouchables in the traditional caste society in India.

Prejudice and discrimination against minorities may take many forms:

Expulsion forcing people out of an area. For example, in1970s, expulsion

of non- Africans from Uganda by its President Idi Amin.

Partition Hindus and Muslims (India and Pakistan, 1947)

Annihilation the ultimate form of discrimination (Genocide). Genocide implies the deliberate and systematic extermination of an entire ethnic or racial group. For example, Hitler extermination of Jews in Germany Holocaust.

Contemporary relevance: India Hindus vs Muslims communal riots Bangladeshi migrants (Muslims) in Assam Tamils in Sri Lanka

Policy of Affirmative Action (USA) The Civil Rights Acts of 1960, 1964 and 1968 outlawed discrimination. Government action against discrimination was followed by a policy of affirmative action, which required not only that there be no active discrimination but that positive preference be given to groups who are victims of past discrimination. It also requires employers and educational institutions to make special efforts to recruit qualified minorities for jobs, promotion and educational opportunities.

Remedial measures:

Welfare and social legislations (cite examples)

Interlinking concepts: Relative Deprivation, Social Exclusion

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