How Is Race Different From Ethnicity And Culture?

The concepts of race, ethnicity, and culture fall into a complex discussion about humanity. All three of them are important for every society, and play a major role in the development of the identities of all people. Their interaction is an important part of our reality and is basically a large part of what forms it. People are usually not aware of how important race and ethnicity are for all aspects of their lives.

Of course, there are many other factors that play a role there, but these are as big as any other. People may be looked upon differently because of their race or ethnicity, or different expectations may be placed upon them. This can be positive, or negative, but more often than not it is the latter.

Race And Ethnicity

To better understand race, ethnicity, and culture, it is important to know how different they are from each other. Race is mostly defined by our physical attributes. Of course, there are other things that tie to it, like culture, and behavior. More often than not, it is the color of the skin. Ethnicity on the other hand is a state of belonging to a specific nation or culture. It is defined as a social group. Of course, these social groups are humongous, since we are talking about nations.

So there you have it. Race is in our biology, it is something we are born with, while our ethnicity is defined by other things. Place of birth, the culture we belong to, and many others, it is something we acquire throughout our lives. Culture is similar to ethnicity but is even more complex. Culture is an extremely broad term that encompasses many different things. It is used every day by people in different contexts, and none of those are wrong. When speaking of culture, we can actually speak of an extremely diverse range of things, so it is a concept that is difficult to define.

The Importance Of Culture

Culture most often encompasses various forms of social behavior and norms that can be found in our societies. Many things fall under a culture, including the arts, beliefs, knowledge, and habits of people that are in the groups that practice a specific culture. Religion is also an important part of a culture, but it also helps shape it. Given the complexity and variety of all things that can fall under the umbrella term of culture, it is easy to see how broad its definition is.

However, despite it being a grandiose term, it is still a term that does not cover the scope that the terms race and ethnicity do. Both race and ethnicity are much broader, and culture is always just a part of them. Every race has its culture, however, it can have multiple different cultures. The same can be said about every ethnicity.

This is why, despite culture being an umbrella term for many different things, race and ethnicity are placed “above” it, so to speak. One could say that culture is generally more important, and because it is so varied, it is often analyzed everywhere. However, race and ethnicity can often cause extremely important movements in society and is a topic that should not be ignored.

People are being judged because of their race and ethnicity every day, and this is something that should be stopped in today’s age. Culture plays a role there as well. But since we are living in a diverse world, it is important to allow everyone to live the way they want to, as long as they are not hurting others. It does not matter what race, ethnicity, or culture they fall under.