The term race refers to the division of living beings according to a series of physical attributes and biological attributes. In the case of the human raceis a social construct in which human populations are divided under the assumption that a set of people possess physical attributes that unite them.
As for the ethnicityThis refers to a group of people who maintain a social bond as a result of a shared culture, language, religion or origin.
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Race |
Ethnicity |
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Definition |
A categorization of human populations based on physical and biological attributes. |
It is a human group in which its members share a culture, religion, language, geographical origin and/or provenance. |
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Characteristics |
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Determining elements |
Physical characteristics and genetic inheritance. |
Common origin (geographic or by descent) and shared cultural practices. |
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Main attributes |
Skin color, hair type, face shape, region of origin. |
Geographic origin, religion, dress, language, dialects, common history. |
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What is race
Talk about a race is to refer to a social division that is made of different human groups according to physical characteristics.
The term race is a social construct. It has been used since the Middle Ages and means ‘persons sharing common descent’. As early as the 18th century, race came to include the grouping and division of people according to their phenotypic (observable) characteristics.
Today, in both the social and natural sciences, the use of the term “race” is controversial. Its function as a way of establishing a division of human populations has no scientific value. This is because the attributes that separate one race from another, at the genetic level, are not well defined, and their selection is often arbitrary.
Even if phenotypic variations exist between individuals, genetic diversity (and its causes) is a complex issue. Races as scientific concepts are not able to contain the complexity of these genetic phenomena.
When a group of people is categorized as a “race,” it is generally done to establish differences between human populations and in the treatment of individuals belonging to a race.
Characteristics of race
- It is based primarily on observable physical differences in individuals (phenotypic attributes).
- These differences result from and are transferred by genetic inheritance.
- It is common to be confused with the idea of ethnicity.
- Skin color, hair type and face shape are some of the most commonly used attributes in their categorization.
- It is assumed that the attributes of a race as a whole tend not to change over time.
Race as a social construct
The idea of race is to a large extent a social construct. It is a product of the categorization made between human groups, established mainly through phenotypic (physical and observable) differences.
It is also common to designate as a race, or racial group, a population or group of people who share an ethnicity (culture, nationality, religion) or have the same geographical origin.
Thus, the definition of a race changes according to the social context, as well as throughout different historical moments.
Why divide human groups into races?
One of the main reasons for dividing humans into races has been to establish discriminatory and segregationist policies, in order to legitimize the dominance of one human group over another.
In any case, race as a scientific category of analysis in the human context has lost value. This does not mean that it is impractical to establish divisions between human groups.
For example, studying different ethnic groups for social/anthropological analysis, or studying populations that share genetic attributes for medical reasons, are valid scientific reasons for categorizing human populations.
Historical factors that influenced racial classification.
- European maritime and commercial expansion. of the 15th and 16th centuries led to the meeting of large human groups on different continents.
- Migration, both forced and voluntaryresulted in the differentiation between ethnic groups and individuals with different physical characteristics.
- Colonialism and Ethnocentrism led to the creation of hierarchies between people of different origins.
- Slavery that accompanied the colonization of America was markedly racial.
Carolus Linnaeus’ classification of races.
The Swedish physician, zoologist and botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) proposed that humans were divided into 4 subspecies or races based on people’s place of origin and skin color: the americanus, asiaticus, africanus and the europeanus.
For Linnaeus, each of these races presented particular characteristics, favoring the race. europeanus. For example, among the behaviors attributed to the africanus were found to be negligent and capricious. In contrast, the europeanus were gentle and guided by the law.
Johann F. Blumenbach’s classification of races.
At the end of the 18th century, the German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) made a division of human populations into 5 different racial families or types, namely the Caucasian, Malay, American, Ethiopian (Negroid) and Mongoloid.
Samuel Morton’s cranial study
In the 19th century, the physician and naturalist Samuel Morton (1799-1851), made a study in craniology, specifically with the analysis of the size of human skulls from different parts of the world.
According to his research, the total brain volume of Caucasians was larger than that of Africans. Among his conclusions was that brain size was proportional to the intellectual capacity of each race.
However, later on (even up to a few years ago) there would be debates about possible biases that affected the methodology and results of Morton’s studies.
Race and eugenics during the 19th and 20th centuries.
At the end of the 19th century and during a large part of the 20th century, different positions proposing racial and ethnic discrimination were based on practices such as eugenics.
This practice was aimed at improving or cleansing the human species. Eugenics relied on biology, particularly genetics, and established that behaviors and differences between races were the result of biological inheritance.
This current would serve as a support on the part of science to racist ideologies. For example, as in Nazi Germany, eugenics promoted the idea of a superior and pure race, promoting the murder and sterilization of those racial groups that were considered inferior.
Contributions to the study of races by Theodosious Dobzhansky.
The Ukrainian-American biologist and geneticist Theodosious Dobzhansky (1900-1975) proposed that races are not static, being capable of showing changes. For this biologist, the definition of race depends on the categories used to analyze it and the scientific methodology employed.
Dobzhansky considered that although races exist, these are constructs that help to understand biological phenomena, and that they do not have a scientific character to establish arbitrary (social) divisions between human beings.
Human races and their relationship with genetics.
According to biologist and geneticist Richard Lewontin (1929-) approximately 85% of genetic variations in humans occur regardless of a person’s ethnic, geographic or cultural background.
This means that between a person classified as “white” and another as “black”, the genetic variation existing is no greater than that between two people of the same race. In other words, there is no specific genetic trace in one human population that differentiates it from another.
The distinctive physical traits of populations coming from different regions are the result of the remaining 10%-5% of the genetic content. These traits are a consequence of the evolution and adaptation of different human groups to different environmental conditions.
For Lewontin, genetic differences in humans are not a matter of differences between human populations, but between human individuals.
What is a cline?
In biology and genetics, a cline refers to the gradual change that occurs in specific characteristics of a species, caused by environmental conditions (geographic spaces).
A cline is expressed in the genetic adaptation that occurs an individual of a given species to a habitat.
An example of two clines that adapted to the environment can be seen in the skin pigmentation in humans.
Generally speaking, genetic adaptation to life near the equator, where there is greater exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays, stimulated the skin of humans near that region to become pigmented in such a way as to have greater resistance to these rays, resulting in a darker skin tone.
On the other hand, human populations that settled farther away from the equator have gradually less pigmentation, resulting in a lighter skin tone. Thus, people living far from the equator are better able to absorb vitamin D, which is synthesized by exposure to the sun’s rays.
Race and racism
The racism is the belief that the members of a race possess certain characteristics or qualities that make them superior to another.
The division of human groups into races was and has been influenced by positions that are not limited to the scientific field. The different races have been categorized according to a social and cultural value, as inferior or superior.
This has resulted in inequity, segregation and slavery, as well as underpinning extremist positions and promoting racism.
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What is an ethnicity?
A ethnicity is a human group in which its members share the following characteristics a common origin and a socio-cultural bond..
The members of an ethnic group generally share a common language, culture, religious practices and/or habits. They may also share physical characteristics, thanks to their genealogical ancestry (common ancestors).
The word ethnicity comes from the Greek ethnos and means ‘people who live together, tribe or nation’, and from the suffix -ia meaning ‘action or quality’. That is, according to the origin of the word, an ethnicity represents the shared identity of a group of people who live together or form a tribe or nation.
Ethnicity as a concept is a social construct (a product of human beings) and involves a great variety of aspects. The members of an ethnic group share a bond and organize themselves around it. Thus, the existing similarities foster the union within an ethnicity.
This dynamic also manifests itself in the case of differences, on the basis of which ethnic groups separate from each other. It is worth mentioning that these differences have a subjective element and depend to a large extent on who observes them.
As habits and cultural elements are constantly changing, the traits that define and separate one ethnic group from another are also changing.
Characteristics of an ethnic group
- It is based on the common origin of a group of people.
- It is expressed in behavior, habits, traditions, religion, culture, etc.
- It involves the idea of a shared bond, which forms an ethnic identity.
- It is dynamic, the characteristics of an ethnicity are adaptable.
Ethnic identity
The ethnic identity is the feeling of belonging to an ethnic group or ethnicity that an individual possesses. It is a key aspect in terms of a person’s socialization and feeling part of a group.
The existence of different ethnicities implies the formation of ethnic identity. When different ethnic groups interact, they recognize the differences that exist with other groups. In the same way, their members recognize the similarities that unite them to their own ethnicity.
In a society, ethnic identity can be promoted voluntarily or involuntarily. The education or establishment of a community, the construction of patriotic symbols or myths about a people, are forms voluntary to promote ethnic identity.
If a population establishes a stronger bond of union and identity over its ethnicity as a result of a process of discrimination or segregation, caused by another group, this is a way to strengthen ethnic identity in a way involuntary.
Ethnicity and ethnicity
While an ethnicity represents a human group or population, the ethnicity refers to the characteristics that each of these groups possesses and by which they are classified.
The term ethnicity began to be used in academia in the second half of the twentieth century, with the development of the study of ethnicity and the formation of various social identities. Some of the most important approaches that attempt to explain the phenomenon of ethnicity are the primordialist, instrumental and constructivist approaches.
Primordialist approach
According to this approach, members of a cultural group come together through a primordial essence and the existence of a type of ethnic loyalty.
Ethnicity is seen as a result of biological inheritance (kinship), where people with whom a bond is shared tend to support each other. This is due to a kind of basic or primordial evolutionary adaptation that allows members of the same ethnic group to recognize each other.
The primordialist approach also considers that geographic proximity and having a shared culture and habits promotes cooperation among the members that make up an ethnicity.
Instrumental approach
In terms of the instrumental approach, ethnicity is a product constructed for a particular purpose.
Different interest groups within an ethnicity create their ethnic identity through symbols such as historical myths, traditions, shared values, etc.
These symbols function as instruments and referents for people to feel part of an ethnicity. Thanks to this, it is possible to appeal to a past that was shared by the ancestors of the current members of the group.
To a large extent, ethnicity has a utility value and is used to create identities, often in the likeness of certain elites or power groups.
Constructivist approach
In the constructivist approach, ethnicity is a consequence of the human interaction between groups and also with the context.
Various characteristics are emphasized in order to establish differences with groups with which one interacts. In the same way, the similarities that the group members themselves share are pointed out.
The existence of relationships between different ethnicities is what allows them to be constructed. Since, in this approach, ethnicity finds meaning in the interaction between different ethnic groups, it is constantly under construction, so that the elements that make up an ethnicity are dynamic and change over time.
Ethnicity and ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism occurs when the members of an ethnic group maintain the belief that their ethnicity, culture, or traditions, and other social elements, have a superior value to that of other ethnicities.
Ethnocentrism is not always an explicit form of discriminating against or disparaging another ethnic group. It can occur without negative intent. A key aspect is that an individual or group observes reality from their point of view, without consideration of the point of view of another group.
Most people at some point commit ethnocentric acts, since it is sometimes difficult to understand the reality of other human groups.
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