Ever wonder what the difference between race and ethnicity is? Because, contrary to what some may believe, they’re not the same thing.
In college, I signed up for this sociology course called “Concepts of Race and Ethnicity.”
At first, I thought race and ethnicity were the same things. Race, to me, was what a person was born as –their skin colour, their culture and traditions, etc. I defined ethnicity in the same way.
But boy, was I wrong (and I learned this lesson on the very first day of class)!
In the very first session, the prof talked about what the course is about and what we (the students) are expected to do.
She handed us syllabuses and talked a bit about the assignments and readings –you know administrative stuff.
After about 15 minutes of this, she started getting into the good stuff. She grabbed a marker and started writing some terms down.
Then she explained them to us.
The Difference Between Race and Ethnicity
She said that race is a socially created identity that society assigns groups of people. Ethnicity, on the other hand, are the beliefs and traditions that groups of people practice. It is a person’s culture or customs.
And the most important thing about both these terms, she says, is that they are made up.
Not everyone from a certain race will have a gene that allows them to do something really well (or do really horribly).
And not everyone from a certain ethnicity will practice and believe in the same customs.
The reason? Race and ethnicity are creations of society.
Mind blown!
Understanding these two concepts opened my mind to so many things.
See, I always thought I was an oddball for being Asian and not liking and being good at math (I always preferred social studies if were wondering, but you probably weren’t, so anywho).
I didn’t think there was something wrong with me, but I always thought I was an outcast or something.
So when I learned this concept, which is pretty basic and common logic now that I’m thinking back, my view about society and myself just changed. And it was amazing!
Who would’ve thought that a second-year sociology class would teach me so much about myself and the world? I sure didn’t.
So, thank you to that one sociology class and a really hippy professor.
*Shameless Plug
Now, (WARNING: SHAMELESS PLUG) if sociology is something you are interested in learning, I just published a book on the subject. It’s called SOCI 001: An Armchair Sociologist’s Guide to Sociology.
This book is by no means a textbook on sociology.
But what it is a clear and concise guide that will discuss all the core theories and major concepts.
And it also has descriptive examples that will help you better understand a theory.
So if you are interested, you can buy a copy from Amazon here.