Race And Ethnicity In Society Essay

Race and Ethnicity in American Society People identify themselves through their race and ethnicity. Those who are proud to assert their identity view the world in a more positive light. Meanwhile, others view people who are ascribed an identity in an undesirable manner. Depending on what race they are, a person has the ability to choose their identity. People of minority races do not have the same privilege as whites to choose whether or not they want to identify themselves with a certain ethnicity. On the other hand, whites have the option to celebrate their origins whenever they want to. Since minorities do not have the same freedom to choose their identity, they are often treated differently and marginalized by society.
Symbolic ethnicity is the ability to decide whether or not a person wants to be apart of their culture and celebrate their ethnic background. Waters (1990) states that “it is something that comes to you involuntarily through heredity, and at the same time it is a personal choice” (150). For most white Americans, one cannot see a person’s ethnicity just by looking at them. Therefore, they have the option to place themselves into an ethnicity. Waters (1990) also explains that symbolic ethnicity is important because it “fulfills this particularly American need to be ‘from somewhere’” (150). American …show more content…
American society sees people of color as uneducated and lethargic because they do not have high paying jobs and live in bad areas. This only occurs because they are not provided with the same opportunities as the rest of the population. Society also views them as criminals because there is an uneven percentage of minorities incarcerated compared to whites. However, this is because nonwhites often live in neighborhoods with a lot of crime and they are victims of racial