Race and Ethnicity: Sociological Analysis of Concepts and Conflicts

This essay provides a comprehensive sociological analysis of race and ethnicity. It begins by tracing the historical evolution of the concept of race, moving from a biological basis to its modern social construction, emphasizing the influence of socioeconomic factors. The essay contrasts race with ethnicity, defining the latter as shared cultural elements like language, religion, and traditions. It highlights the impact of globalization on ethnic identity and the potential for social conflict when diverse ethnic groups coexist. The essay further examines the changing nature of racism, linking it to socioeconomic disparities and exploring how these concepts influence individual perceptions, behaviors, and societal structures. It also provides historical context, particularly the role of slavery and colonialism in shaping racial dynamics, and concludes by reiterating the complexities and evolving definitions of both race and ethnicity.

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Race and Ethnicity
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Race and Ethnicity
Traditionally, race was used to refer to differences based on biological characteristics
(Delgado and Stefancic 2017). Particularly, skin colour was an important factor in
determination of race. Using this differentiation, there were two main races, black and white.
Racism started during the slave trade and became a matter of concern in the following
centuries. Even after the abolition of the slave trade, racism became a matter of great
concern in the United States of America. In the modern days, the meaning of the word race
has greatly changed. The change occurs through the process of social construction. In the
contemporary society, the term race does not refer to biological differences but differences in
the socioeconomic status. Ethnicity on the other hand refers to some shared beliefs, values,
religion and traditions. There are unique characteristics that are used to distinguish an ethnic
group from another. In the modern days, the mobility from one ethnic identity to another is
high. Sociologists have linked this increased mobility to the process of globalisation and
increased intercultural interactions. Sociologists argue that when people from different ethnic
backgrounds are subjected to a single rule, there is high likelihood for social conflicts to
occur. The social conflicts witnessed in Africa could be explained by this phenomenon.
Race
Historically, the concept of race has greatly changed across cultures and region. The
concept has evolved to become less connected to ancestral lines and more connected to the
superficial physical characteristics that exist among human beings. In the past, theorists
used to look at race in terms of geographical regions and skin colours. Therefore, people
could be categorized to belong to different races if they were in different regions or of there
were a variation in their skin colour. In the modern day, the conceptualization by of racial
science by sociologists and other scholars has greatly changed. According to the modern
sociological understanding, race cannot be identified on biological basis. Contemporary
understanding of race is mainly pegged on socioeconomic issues illustrate the great change

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that has occurred. In the modern society, it is common to find people who refer to
themselves as white having more black pigmentation (melanin) than those that are referred
as black (West 2017). This phenomenon clearly illustrates that skin colour and biology are
no longer important in determination of race. In some countries of the world, race is
determined by social class rather than skin colour. Therefore, racial discrimination in the
modern times mainly occurs along socioeconomic lines. Level of education is another
important factor that is used in the modern definition and categorization of race. The more
educated a person is, the more they are thought to acquire the ‘white’ while low levels of
education are associated the quality of being black. Therefore, there is a sense in which
‘white’ as defined in the modern way, is thought to be superior to black.
The social construction of race in the contemporary society has great significance. As
we have seen, race is not just a matter of categorization according to some aspects. It is a
concept that has far reaching effects in a society. There exists evidence to show that the
concept of race affects how we view both ourselves and other people (Smedley 2018). It has
so far reaching effects that it also plays a role in determining how we behave and the people
that we interact with. In most societies, people learn at an early age on how to value people
based on the characteristics that those people have. In the modern society, there is a
tendency of thinking highly of person who belongs to a high social class and look down upon
those who are from a lower one. It is very unfortunate that these beliefs that people have
about others have greatly contributed to stereotyping (Andersen and Collins 2015). For
instance, there is a tendency for people to think that the poor are weak while the rich are
strong. In addition, it is common for what rich person says to be respected while the words of
a poor person may not be greatly considered. Although there has been shifts in the
dimensions in which race in understood, racism remain to be largely a negative thing.
It is almost impossible to alienate the topic of race from that of racism. In fact, when
most people hear the word race, they almost always think of racism. Racism has been
considered a great ill in the society for centuries now. In order to understand the significance

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that the concepts of race and racism, it would be important to have a brief background on
the same. The issues of race and racism were not popular until the 15th century (Gerstle
2017). When British established colonial rule in America, they started establishing
plantations. Due to the increased need for cheap labour, slave trade became a common
phenomenon. The slaves were predominantly black. The white owners of plantations used to
treat their slaves as if they were third class citizens. This discrimination was the genesis of
the issue of race and racism (Matsuda 2018). In the centuries that followed, there was great
fight in an attempt to bring the racial discrimination to an end. Although the fight seems to
have significantly reduced, cases of racism are still widespread in the modern society. As
noted in the section above, the understanding and conceptualisation of race has changed.
Therefore, although racism is still widespread in the society, it has taken different
dimensions than it did traditionally. In the modern days, the skin colour of a person no longer
matters greatly when it comes to racism. There is a sense in which globalization and
intercultural interactions have helped reduce this racism (Mendelberg 2017). Sociologists
argue that there are two main races in the modern days. The race of the poor and the race
of the rich. Due to capitalism, there is a crop of few individuals who are extremely wealthy
while the majority of people in the population are poor. The rich are the owners of the factors
of production while the poor work of the rich.
Ethnicity
There are various definitions that have been put across in an attempt to define
ethnicity. Despite this, the terms are generally defined as shared culture. The core areas that
the concept of ethnicity covers are shared language, religion and culture. In a nutshell, it
refers to the practices and values that are shared by a group of people. Just like race, it is
difficult to find a universal definition of this terms. Due to the process of social construction,
the concept of ethnicity has evolved. The world is home to thousands of different ethnic
groups. Each ethnic group has a set of special characteristics that makes it different from the
rest of the groups. For instance, different ethnic groups may have different cuisine, dress

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codes and cultural products such as music and art. Ethnicity has been shown to be a source
of major conflicts between communities across the world. An ethnic group may refer to large
group of people on one hand or only a few dozen of people on the other.
Ethnicity is not like race because there are some unique characteristics that are
required for inclusion (Rampton 2017). In other words, there are some identifiable
characteristics that serve as requirements for membership. Therefore, for ethnicity, it is
possible for a person to belong to a certain ethnic group even if they did not originally belong
to that particular group. Here is an example. Suppose a person learns the language and
practices of a particular ethnic group. Through so doing, such a person qualifies to become a
member of the foreign ethnic group. In the modern days, the ability of a person to belong to
different ethnic groups is greater than it is to change from on race to another (Fishman
2017). It is important to note that the term race is used to mean different social classes. A
person may also be accepted in a foreign ethnic group if they decide to adopt a new religion.
Here is an example, a Muslim will be accepted to Christianity if he/she decides to become a
Christian convert.
In the modern society, it is common for people to confuse ethnicity with nationality. It
is worth noting that the two terms are entirely different and cannot be used interchangeably.
While there may be some countries that are mainly composed of one ethnic group, most
others are composed of many ethnic groups. Countries that are largely composed of one
ethnic group include Egypt and China. On the other hand, countries that are composed of
different ethnic groups include the United States of America and Australia. The rise of
nationalities in Europe in the 1600s led to common nationalities which are still common in
the present day (Kalish 2019). For instance, the population of Germany contains more than
90 percent Germans. Countries that were founded as colonies are more likely to be home to
multiple ethnicities.

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It is important to note that different ethnic groups of the modern days have unique
factors that they consider for membership (Bolin and Kurtz 2018.). One ethnic group may
emphasize on the importance of a shared language. On the other hand, a different ethnic
group may consider religion to be the most important factor for inclusion. For instance, the
most important factor for becoming a member of French Canadians is language. It is the
language that makes them unique from other Canadians. A factor such as religion may not
be important in joining this ethnic group because although most are Christians, some are
Catholics while others are protestants (Brubaker, Feischmidt Fox. and Grancea, 2018). In
contrast, religion may be a very important factor for other ethnic groups such as the Jews.
Unlike the group of French Canadians described above, Jews do not define themselves
using a single language. In fact, Jewish communities living in different parts of the world
have developed various languages. Because ethnic groups are self-defined, it is imperative
to note that there is no single aspect of a group that may be used to sort people in to
different groups (Yanow 2015).
In addition to the observations made above, there are other significances of ethnicity
in the modern society. Sociological studies have shown that there will always arise social
conflicts when different ethnic groups are combined together in one country (Arora 2018).
These social conflicts may explain why European countries rarely engage in ethnic crashes
while some African countries do. As noted above, most countries in Europe are comprised of
only single ethnic groups. The Rwanda genocide may be an example of how different ethnic
groups may lead to rise of social conflicts. Although there are only two ethnic groups in
Rwanda, there were fatal crashes in the 1990s (Tonkin, McDonald and Chapman 2016). The
social conflict that arises as a result of ethnicity may have great negative consequences.
Prior to colonization, African communities lived in peace because each ethnic group carried
out its activities independently (Short 2018).

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Conclusion
Race is a broad term that lacks a universal definition. The meaning of the term race
has evolved with time. In the 20th century, when there was great fight against racism in
America, to mean difference on skin colour, that is black and white. In the modern days, the
term has changed its meaning. Through the process of social construction, race no longer
refers to some biological characteristics. Rather, it refers to the differences that the created
by socioeconomics. A person who is poor is discriminated against while the rich one is
celebrated. Ethnicity on the other hand is a term that refers to a common heritage. People
belong to the same ethnic group if they share some unique and identifiable characteristics
such as language, culture and traditions. It is possible for a person of one ethnic group to be
accepted to another if they master the unique characteristics. Most countries in Europe were
founded along ethnical lines. Countries in most other parts of the globe have more than one
dominant ethnic groups due to the process of colonization. Sociologists argue that when
people from different ethnic groups live together in a country, there is a high likelihood of
social conflict.

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References
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