The Meaning of Ethnicity and Ethnic Identification
ethnicityÂ -Â (n) - A quality assigned to a specific group of people
historically connected by a common national origin or language. Ethnic
classification is used for identification rather than differentiation.
The term "ethnicity" is a complex term. In today's public discourse,
it has replaced the term "race" as a more "politically correct"
representation of the classification of humans on the basis of national
origin and language. However, in practice, "ethnicity" as a term carries
with it all of the ambiguity and controversy that the term "race" carries.
This is especially true when one attempts to apply the term to a particular
individual by "ethnic identification."
At one time in history, many believed that ideas of race and ethnic
background would slowly fade from human consciousness; that the world would
slowly meld into one homogeneous society as a result of modernization,
industrialization, and individualism. However, as the world progresses
into the 21st century, the issue of ethnicity and ethnic diversity,
inequality, and conflict seems to grow in significance every day. In fact,
since 1991, thirty-five out of thirty-seven major wars and conflict have
been directly related to ethnic conflicts. Further, smaller, social
conflicts between various societies, based on the inherent problems with
ethnic identification and discrimination have remained steady world-wide.
According to the American Anthropological Association, the concept of
"race" carries with it a long history of ideas of superiority and
inferiority, where, "Perceived behavioral features and differences in
intellect were inextricably linked to race and served as a basis for the
ranking, in terms of superiority, of races." For this reason, combined
with the very real practical problem of classifying individua...