Concept of Race and Ethnicity Faruk Biswas CWTT in Geography, Dept. of Geography, Nabadwip Vidyasagar College Nabadwip, Nadia, 741302 Zozibini Tunzi Nawazuddin Siddiqui What is Race? The word ‘Race’ came into usage in English language in the 16th century. It was Thomas de Gobineau who attempted the first classification of human beings on the basis of physical characteristics. Anthropologists have defined “A race is a principal division of mankind, marked by physical characteristics that breed.” Race has also defined as a “biological grouping within the human species, distinguished or classified according to genetically transmitted differences.” Haldane in his celebrated work "what is race" published by UNESCO writes (race) "is a group which shares in common a certain set of innate physical characters and geographical origin within a certain area." According to A. W. Green "A race is a large biological, human grouping, with a number of distinctive inherited characteristics which vary within a certain range." Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” Krober states “A race is a biological, human grouping, with a number of distinctive combination of physical traits that tend to breed true from generation to generation.” So, therefore we can say that race is as a ‘biological quality.’ The conference of expert sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists arranged by UNESCO arrived at the following conclusions about a race: ➢ Fundamentally the entire human species has one origin and all men are homosapiens. ➢ National groups, geographical groups, religious groups, cultural groups, linguistic groups, etc., are all entirely unconnected and unrelated to race. ➢ Physical characteristics of men are due both to heredity and to environment. ➢ Some races can be claimed of purity but this is not true. ➢ The inner capacity for the development of mind and culture is found equally in every race. ➢ Races can be classified but these classifications are based solely on physical traits. ➢ One nation the degree of racial difference may be greater while other nation it may be of a greater or a lesser degree. ➢ From the biological viewpoint, mixing of races is deleterious, is an essentially incorrect and invalid belief. ➢ The race has no important effect in the social and cultural differences between various human groups has been found in historical and sociological studies. What is Racism? “An ideology which ascribes negatively evaluated characteristics in a deterministic manner… to a group which is traditionally identified as being in some way biologically… distinct” (Miles, 1982). Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another. What is Ethnicity? Ethnicity refers to shared cultural practices, perspectives, and distinctions that set apart one group of people from another. That is, ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language and/or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art, and physical appearance. Ethnicity is a term that describes shared culture— the practices, values, and beliefs of a group. This might include shared language, religion, and traditions, among other commonalities. So, ethnicity is defined as cultural phenomenon. An example of race is brown, white, or black skin (all from various parts of the world), while an example of ethnicity is German or Spanish ancestry (regardless of race) or Han Chinese. Your race is determined by how you look while your ethnicity is determined based on the social and cultural groups you belong to. You can have more than one ethnicities but you are said to have one race, even if it's "mixed race". Race vs Ethnicity Definition The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from genetic ancestry). An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population group whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions. Significance Race presumes shared biological or genetic traits, whether actual or asserted. In the early 19th century, racial differences were ascribed significance in areas of intelligence, health, and personality. There is no evidence validating these ideas. Ethnicity connotes shared cultural traits and a shared group history. Some ethnic groups also share linguistic or religious traits, while others share a common group history but not a common language or religion. Genealogy Racial categories result from a shared genealogy due to geographical isolation. In the modern world this isolation has been broken down and racial groups have mixed. Ethnicity is defined in terms of shared genealogy, whether actual or presumed. Typically, if people believe they descend from a particular group, and they want to be associated with that group, then they are in fact members of that group. Distinguishing Factors Races are assumed to be distinguished by skin color, facial type, etc. However, the scientific basis of racial distinctions is very weak. Scientific studies show that racial genetic differences are weak except in skin color. Ethnic groups distinguish themselves differently from one time period to another. They typically seek to define themselves but also are defined by the stereotypes of dominant groups. Nationalism In 19th century, the concept of nationalism was often used to justify the domination of one race over another within a specific nation. In 19th century, there was development of the political ideology of ethnic nationalism -- creating nations based on a presumed shared ethnic origins (e.g. Germany, Italy, Sweden...) Legal System In the last decades of the 20th century, the legal system as well as the official ideology emphasized racial equality. In the last decades of the 20th century, in the U.S. and in most nations, the legal system as well as the official ideology prohibited ethnic- based discrimination. Conflicts Racial prejudice remains a continuing problem throughout the world. However, there are fewer race-based conflicts in the 21st century than in the past. Often brutal conflicts between ethnic groups have existed throughout history and across the world. But most ethnic groups in fact get along peacefully within one another in most nations most of the time. Examples of conflict Conflict between white and African-American people in the U.S., especially during the civil rights movement. Conflict between Tamil and Sinhalese populations in Sri Lanka, or the Hutu and Tutsi people in Rwanda. Formation of Races ➢ Mountain ✓ Isolation ➢Natural Selection ✓ Hybridization ➢ Genetic drift ✓ Sexual Selection ➢Migration ✓ Social Selection Basis of Racial Classification Any classification of the human species must be based upon observable or measureable bodily characteristics of a presumably inheritable type. For ethnological purposes physical characters must be said two kinds- I. The superficial or external, and II. The Internal or structural. The physical characters include such points as the colour and texture of skin, the colour and shape of eyes, the colour and texture of hair, and the form of face and features. The internal or biological characters include such point as blood groups, cephalic, nasal and stature indices. Indefinite Physical (Phenotypic) Traits Skin Colour • Caucasoid (White Colour) • Mongoloid (Yellow Colour) • Negro (Black Colour) Cephalic Index Head Shape Range of Cephalic Index Long Head (Dolichocephalic) Below 78.5 Medium Head (Mesocephalic ) 78.6 – 82.5 Broad Head (Brachycephalic) Above 82.5 Stature: Different races are distinguished on the basis of differences in stature. Martin has classified stature in the following manner: • The Shape of the Nose • Finger Prints • Body Build • Hemoglobin variants • Blood Groups • Ear form • DNA • Face Form • Nose Form • Lips Characteristics of Major Races of the World after Haddon (1925) & Krogman (1945) Trait Caucasoid Mongoloid Negroid Skin Colour Light reddish white to Brown to Brown Light yellow to yellow olive brown. Some are Black. Some are brown. Some are brown yellow-brown reddish Brown. Head Hair Light blond to dark Brown-Black in colour, Brown to brown black brown in colour, fine to coarse in texture, curly in colour, coarse in medium in texture, to frizzly or woolly in texture, straight in form straight to wavy in form form Head form Dolichocephalic to Predominantly Predominantly branchycephalic, Height dolichocephalic, Height branchycephalic is medium to very high is low to medium height is medium Body Hair Moderate to profuse Slight Sparsely distributed quantity Trait Caucasoid Mongoloid Negroid Face Narrow to medium Medium broad to Medium broad to very broad narrow. Prognathism broad. Check bones is very often present are high and flat Eye Colour is light blue to Brown to brown black Brown to dark brown. dark brown Mongoloid eye fold is very often present Lips Very thin to medium, Thick, much aversion Medium thickness small aversion with aversion of membranous often heavy integumented lips Strature Medium to tall Very short to tall Medium to short ABO Blood More A and B High in B High in Rhe (cDe) Group Nose Bridge: usually high; Bridge: usually low to Bridge: usually low; Form: narrow to medium; Form: Form: medium broad medium broad medium broad to very broad .