Ethnorace is a term used for someone who has assimilated into a different society than their ancestry, in this case the American society, by being raised with American cultural values and a Christian religion. Despite their parents and ancestors’ race and ethnicity as African, Asian, Latino, etc., ethnorace allows this person to classify themselves as an American …show more content…
The black/white binary is the division of blacks and whites based on skin color, where Latinos, Asian Americans, or something else, are essentially ignored and placed in the category of “black” or “close to black.” This theory of two dominant racial groups has a descriptive and prescriptive version. The descriptive version makes a descriptive accusation about the basic nature of racism in America. This version looks at how racial groups and ethnicities already operate in America and base all of the different racial and ethnic groups of people off of that. Alcoff stated that Asian Americans and Latinos have been characterized under the circumstance of being classified as either “near black” or “near white,” but this doesn’t appropriately represent their religious depiction or political treatment as a whole. The prescriptive black/white binary prescribes how race will function and implements the appropriateness of the …show more content…
(248)” Even after hundreds of years of assimilating into the American society, the white supremacy still looks at people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds as unusual. This is why I believe that even with the application of ethnorace, they will still be looked at from their outside appearance and treated differently because of the way their look associates themselves to a specific race or ethnicity. Individuals’ physical appearances affect their treatment in legal issues. Alcoff gave the example of Mexicans being classified as white with Spanish decent in the court, but as black when it came to using public facilities. “White supremacy has moved Latinos and Asian Americans around the classification schema for its own benefit, (251)” supports this issue perfectly. No matter the issue, Latinos were compromised because of their classification as “near white or black.” These Latinos could have been raised completely with American values, but because of their outward appearance, they are treated with negativity in the court system, as well as the workforce, public settings, etc. Outward appearance is the most persuading factor when it comes to what kind of treatment you will get from the American society. The example of Irish Americans’ and Jews’ approval from American society to assimilate within it