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Are you trying to be difficult. It is just a name. Not every name have to be perfect. Should we stop using colour entirely, because we can never identify the perfect colour?I'm pretty sure "black" isn't an ethnicity. I'm also pretty sure that no one actually looks "black". I know a lot of people in varying degrees of brown, some reddish/brown, some tan, and a lot of peach. I know a whole lot who are red on their neck, brown on their arms and face, and just about the color of vanilla ice cream under their shirts (their wives are sometimes sorta orange), but I'm not sure I'd say they "look" ethnic to me. If an Indian, Pakistani, and Brazilian look the same, does that make them the same ethnicity?
You are not allowed to say race anymore, so ethnicity has replaced it.Your confusing ethnicity with race...a black person would not stop calling themselves black because that is their race...
Ethnicity is nothing more than a social construct......In some parts of the world, it's very common for people to identify their ethnicity and their nationality as one and the same (i.e. China, Japan). In other parts of the world - especially in "melting pot" countries like the US - ethnicity is more often defined based on superficial traits like skin color and hair color.
They can use whatever method they want to identify ethnicity. I don't see why US should adopt a system that would make it impossible to identify different ethnicities, just because someone else does it differently.
I would have reformed it. Ethnicity should be measured through DNA, not through a self-survey.
They may have a lot of names for themselves, but can you quantify that there is a larger difference in DNA. For me, it seems like there is just as large difference between people from Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, as there are between European people.
And again, ethnicity has nothing to do with what you call yourself. That is called cultural heritage.
What would be messy about all of us identifying ourselves as “American”?
That is not how it is used anymore in many societies. For instance, you describe asian as a ethnicity even though there are massive differences in culture and history between japanese, and chinese people.First of all, I'd like to say people seem to be confusing ethnicity and race, which are two distinct concepts, ethnicity is race, combined with culture and history.
Yes if a Indian, Pakistani, and Brazilian look the same, then they do have the same ethnicity.
You are not allowed to say race anymore, so ethnicity has replaced it. Except ethnicity only relates to how you look, and not other kind of genes.
How you look, your race, and your DNA do not define ethnicity. Yes, people in the same ethnic group often look the same, are of the same race, and share DNA ancestral traits (all of those things mean essentially the same thing), but your ethnicity has to do with culture, beliefs, background, and such just as much.
Here's a little tutorial that might help consideration of the tread question.
That is not how it is used anymore in many societies. For instance, you describe asian as a ethnicity even though there are massive differences in culture and history between japanese, and chinese people.
No, they'd probably START calling themselves black, because that's how their adopted European culture would view them. I bet that most Africans don't even think of themselves as "black" - defining ethnicity by one's skin color is mostly a Eurasian concept. I would suggest that Africans would be far more likely to define themselves by their tribe or their nationality than by their skin color. In fact, Africa is the most heterogeneous place on earth, with far more diversity than the rest of the world combined.
Most Americans originate from western Europe, so we are, ethnically speaking, western European.
Obviously American is a nationality that everyone is a part of, but is American an ethnicity?...
Most Americans originate from western Europe, so we are, ethnically speaking, western European. Then it delineates from there into sub-categories. Nordic, Germanic, Anglo, etc...
Germany is part of Central Europe. And as Germans are the largest ethnic group in the USA, that would make us a Central European nation.
Where did you get that Germans are the largest ethnic group in the USA...they havent been that for decades...Italians were the largest european ethnic group in the USA for along time and soon if not now it will be Latino...the difference is it will not be a specific latin ethnicity...like puerto rican or cuban or mexican it will be a grouping of all of them together.
"Citizen of the United States of America" is 100% not an ethnicity, nor are we a nation-state.
"American" is a political nationality that has nothing to do with language, culture, religion, ethnicity, origin, etc etc.
Similar to that of Australian, Canadian, South African, Argentinian, Brazilian, and even to some extent.....British.
Where did you get that Germans are the largest ethnic group in the USA...they havent been that for decades...Italians were the largest european ethnic group in the USA for along time and soon if not now it will be Latino...the difference is it will not be a specific latin ethnicity...like puerto rican or cuban or mexican it will be a grouping of all of them together.
I would suggest that American IS an Ethnic group. It's the single most diverse Ethnic group on the planet. It revolves around two very simple, core principles. The first is having been BORN here in the United States (regardless of what Ethnic group one's parents identify and/or associate themselves with) and the second is a loyalty to the United States of American First, Foremost, and Solely in your heart....
"ethnic group" suggests a common origin, culture, customs, language, dress, history, etc etc.
American citizens are clearly not one single ethnic group. We have a VAST array of origins.
secondly, American citizens who are born in another country, are just as American as someone who's ancestors came off the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
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