Race Vs Ethnicity

Race, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “...divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics” which establishes race as a label dependent of our physical appearance. However, with a glimpse throughout the history of our planet, racial labels are a clearly a concept created by European settlers who wanted to differentiate themselves from the natives of the lands they invaded (Omi and Winant 1). Creation is power; to be the creator of a divider of humanity gives one absolute control over its impact and influence. However, race is a concept blindly created out of desperation for a barrier. While at the time of its creation, race was a blatant factor to separated white people and people of color, race as a contemporary label …show more content…
This sense of loss is what feeds the ability to continually marginalize us based on race and ethnicity. As a Latinx person, I often found myself having to choose between one or the other. Growing up in an ethnic community where this is the norm, I realized in the latter portion of my life that there were people who could comfortably state “I am an American” while I, despite being born in this country, say “I’m American” and within seconds clarify that, “No, wait, I’m Latinx.” Additionally, our appearances matter. Humans, as a species that is constantly categorizing, will often assume the race of a person. However, people who appear racially or ethnically ambiguous, thus receive a differing experience. As an ambiguous Latinx, I was assumed to be “something else” by strangers. Due to this, I never experienced unfair treatment at first glance, whereas my friends who fulfilled the typical Latinx image did. While I remained ignorant to race for a long time, my more ethnic-appearing friends did not have that privilege. Instead, they faced being followed in stores, being targeted by security guards, and other unjust activities from far younger ages. In reality, while my ethnicity makes me vulnerable to forms of discrimination such as ethnic name discrimination, my ambiguous appearance places me in a privileged situation. Despite our culture saying race and ethnicity is irrelevant, these labels have become prevalent enough that the identity of individuals are shaped by them. Due to the the embellished impact of these labels in our culture, it is vital to move away from stereotypes and allow people to be themselves versus our expectations of