Defining Race and Ethnicity

Defining Race and Ethnicity

The terms race and ethnicity are most commonly used to describe the diversity of the American population. Race is based on physical or biological characteristics such as the color of skin, hair and eyes, facial features, blood type, and bone structure. Whereas, ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics, and those characteristics are often used to classify people into groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others.

People of different race and ethnicity have resided in the United States for many decades or even centuries. One thing that has still remains is that ethnic background and countries of are an important aspect of a person’s identity. Basically race and ethnicity is what has defined our country, it’s what holds our society together. A person’s race is listed on various government documents such as birth certificates, driver’s licenses, school enrollments, and crime statistics. The United States government has collected statistics on race and ethnicity for many decades. The data has been used to study changes in the social, demographic, health, and in economic characteristics of various groups that make up our population. Federal data collections, through censuses, surveys, and administrative records, have provided a historical record of the diversity which makes up our Nation’s population. They are also important because race and ethnicity have been used to monitor civil rights, employment, voting rights, housing and mortgage lending, health care services, and educational opportunities.

While it seems that the information collected can be useful, for most it cannot be deemed accurate since many Americans are a mix of nationalities.