Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity

David Hardy
ANTH-1020
Salt Lake Community College

David Hardy

ANTH-1020

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between

Race and Ethnicity

Race. Ethnicity. Whats the first thing that comes to mind when you see those four words? Is it
black, white, American or Muslim? It can be a hard question to answer, and we can thank that to
all of the different definitions people give them, so I will attempt to do my best in the following
paper to explain how both science and culture define each of these terms and how they differ and
relate from one another.

Race
Lets start off with race. Both science and culture define it similarly, but there are some
major differences between their point of views. If we were to define race in biological terms, its
a geographically isolated population of organisms that differs from other populations of the same
species in certain heritable traits. These traits dont necessarily have to be expressed
phenotypically, they might only be expressed genotypically. Also, when referring to the humans,
the species is known as homo sapiens, and although people around the would divide themselves
into separate races, the morphological variation between races is not indicative of major

David Hardy

ANTH-1020

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

differences in DNA. For example, lets say we have DNA from two humans chosen at random.
One of those samples is from a person in Africa which happens to have black skin pigmentation,
and the other from a person in The United States, who has white skin pigmentation. How much
do you think their DNA would vary? 5% maybe, or could it possibly be 10%? Though it may
come as a surprise to some, the DNA of two humans generally varies by less than 0.1 percent.
But how could this be, they look so different? Well, those physical traits that we see on the
outside are just a small portion of their total traits, and theres much more thats similar than
different inside, and even outside that we might not see by just looking at them. That .1%
variation is such a small amount, and thats why scientists look at us humans as a single race.
The human race.
So how exactly do cultures, more specifically my western United States culture, look at
and define race? Well, the way we define it is pretty similar to how science and other cultures
around the world do, its a group of people that is distinct from other groups because of supposed
physical or genetic traits shared by the group. Like I said, not too different, there are definitely
some differences though. The main difference can be seen when we look at the way we view
race, not define it. These distinct physical differences between sub races are sometimes looked
at as a negatively by people, and this can cause problems. Culturally that problem tends to be
discrimination of some sort. What may have started hundreds or thousands of years ago as some
sort of survival mechanism that helped distinguish allies from enemies, by recognizing negative
patterns among certain groups that may or may not have looked differently, has evolved into a
much more complicated issue. Whether or not someone has personally negatively effected your
life or someone elses, if they look like someone who has, many people in both my culture and
many other cultures around the world, are going to look at that person as an enemy and not as

David Hardy

ANTH-1020

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

someone from the same human race. Even if the rest of their DNA is 99.9% the same, they
wont care, that person is from another world. Of course, this view of other races isnt shared by
all people in the different cultures across our world, and the more logical and open minded the
person, the more understanding theyre going to be of the minor differences.

Ethnicity
Similar to race, both science and many cultural meanings of ethnicity are similar to one
another. We can more or less define it as the culture of people in a given geographic region, and
this includes their language, heritage, religion, and customs. When it comes to ethnicity,
anthropologists look at it as just that, a peoples culture and the location of that culture. They
look at it as a way to better understand humans and the past. Although cultures around the world
would define it similarly, they dont necessarily look at it the same way, and that could be for a
number of reasons. Many cultures and people around the world tend to stereotype different
ethnicities with specific races, and in some cases these stereotypes can be true, but not always.
This is what I feel to be the main difference between the cultural views and anthropological
views of ethnicity. Scientists/Anthropologists dont look at race as the defining factor when it
comes to ethnicity, and it seems like many cultures do. There are many more factors involved
that make an ethnic group unique, and I mentioned a few of them earlier. The people in my
culture and cultures around the world think, for example, that if you look middle eastern that you
must be Muslim, and if youre Muslim, you must be a terrible person who is in cahoots with the
small terrorist groups around the middle east, that happen to be Muslim, and thats just not true.
The fact is, race and ethnicity can overlap with one another. Race can definitely be part of
ethnicity, but its not always going to be the case, the two are distinct. I was reading through an

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ANTH-1020

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

article on the Live Science website I came across the following explanation that described just
that.

A Japanese-American would probably consider herself a member of the Japanese or

East Asian race, but, if she doesn't engage in any of the practices or customs of her ancestors,
she might not identify with the ethnicity, but might instead consider herself to be American.

So sure, you may possibly look like the stereotypical person that lives in Japan, but just because
thats the case it doesnt mean youre necessarily going to follow the same traditions and life
styles that the people located in that geographical location have. Its not the race that makes the
person, its their ethnicity, their culture.
As hard as it may be to accomplish, because of all of the indoctrination that occurs across
the world, especially during child hood, people need to try and look at ethnicity and race as two
separate entities, not one.

Conclusion
In conclusion, differentiating between race and ethnicity can be difficult, and we can
thank that to all of the different definitions people give them. And even though both science and
culture define them similarly, there are still some major differences between the two when it
comes to how theyre viewed. Science tends to look at both race and ethnicity as two separate
entities and as a way to better understand humans and our past, whereas many cultures seem to
view them as one entity and as a way to separate people from one another. And as it was
mentioned before, as hard as it may be to accomplish, because of all of the indoctrination that

David Hardy

ANTH-1020

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

occurs across the world, especially during the earlier stages of life, people across the world need
to try and look at ethnicity and race as two separate entities, not one.

David Hardy

ANTH-1020

Cultural and Biological Similarities/Differences Between Race and Ethnicity By David Hardy

References

1. Crocetti, D. (2013). Genes and Hormones: What Make Up an Individuals Sex. In M. AhKing (Ed.), Challenging Popular Myths of Sex, Gender and Biology (pp. 23-32).
Switzerland: Springer International.

2. James, G. D. (2010). Climate-Related Morphological Variation and Physiological

Adaptations in Homo sapiens. In C.S. Larsen (Ed.), A Companion to Biological
Anthropology (pp. 153-166). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

3. Staff, B. L. (2012). What is the Difference between Race and Ethnicity? Retrieved March
20, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/33903-difference-race-ethnicity.html

David Hardy

ANTH-1020