Can you mark the differences between "race", "ethnicity" and "culture"?

Question

to get this out of the way first: i'm not a fan of racism. i think discrimination between people based on their origin or outward features is not ok. I think however that acknowledging differences between people without attaching judgements is totally fine.

so having that out of the way, what is the difference between "race", "ethnicity" and "culture"? i don't mean in a normative or morally judging sense. i mean purely in a descriptive sense on a level of what those words actually mean.

so my thoughts on this in a VERY nutshell kind of way: i think race can be seen as a colloquial word for the word "taxa" used in phylogenetics. ethnics means the same as culture but we smuggle some "racial" (or taxonomic aspects) into it to still differentiate people without using the word race, cause that caused ideological problems in the global past. so the reason we don't use the word "race" or the taxonomic method of identifying morphologically very obvious differences on the species homo sapiens is a political one, not a scientifical one.

I think the words "culture" or "ethnicity" are not clearly separated in meaning. i think they mean the same. though we often still use "ethnicity" to mean "race" without saying "race". for example when we say "African americans" we never mean white caucasian people. that clearly indicates that we're making a statement about morphological differences that are phylogenetically very relevant, yet we still avoid acknowledging the blatant and obivious differences for reasons of political correctness. am i wrong?

if you disagree, please tell my why with reason and logic, using the definitions of the words. i do not mean to offend anybody with what i said here. i'm not selling my thoughts as facts. this is what i think. i'm open to be corrected.

NathanDavis · Accepted Answer

I can try...

Race is biology, physical traits and bloodline mostly... so, race is the most simple way in which we like to categorize people. Heavily based on your skin and hair, and a couple more features.

Ethnicity is another way to categorize people that is mostly based on social constructs, it's not only about race but also nationality, religion, (tribal) associations, your language as well as culture... so the differentiation between ethnicity and culture is the range of the two. Ethnicity is a much more broader way to group people, while culture is way more specific

Culture to me is mostly geographical (but not always) and it is based on your actual background, where were you actually raised or how were you raised. It's a much more specific categorization of groups of people, and it can give you a more distinct sense of identification.

For example, my skin is white, so that's the one race I am perceived to be, mere physical traits. But when it comes to ethnicity and because of where and how I was raised, I'll he Hispanic or Latino.. and that's mostly because of my language which is Spanish, and my associations to yes, a Hispanic or Latino countries.

However, my culture is very specific... as there's dozens of Latin American countries and backgrounds and I sure can relate with many if not all of them, I cannot identify with all of them in more specific ways, other that my own culture which is Mexican, that's my culture, that's what I know, what I've lived... and it can be different from being born'raised in Argentina or Cuba, or Spain for that matter.

And I could even go further into denominations, and being actually Mexican-American.

anylolone · Accepted Answer

Race is a clade either at the sub-species level, or slightly bellow it.
It's natural, different from breed.
First, it's an ecotype, which means there must be several clines that mark one subspecies from another, be it geographically, niche or sexual selection related.
But it goes way beyond an ecotype, a race must breed true with itself and always produce clear hybrids with other races and other races must never produce a member of the race.

A lot of races are wrongfully called different species, because the higher you go on the clade, the more fantastical and impressive a discovery is.

An ethnicity is instance of ethos, as the name implies. Like race, it's metastable up to "historical times", but it's a completely different beast. Look at where you live, the people you live with, their values and habits, that's your ethnicity. It's cultural differences on steroids. It's discerned by association and communication.

Culture is just, well, a collection of verbal, physical, written, recorded, etc, languages/memes.
It's not necessarily metastable even at the individual level.

DarkCarousel · Accepted Answer

I tend to use the format of data collection documents to define differences in race and ethnicity.

The US Department of Interior standards "provide a common language for uniformity and comparability in the collection and use of data on race and ethnicity by Federal agencies."

"The standards have five categories for data on race: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. There are two categories for data on ethnicity: "Hispanic or Latino," and "Not Hispanic or Latino."

(I don't know how all this changes as society moves deeper into identification fluidity.)

Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. --Oxford Dictionaries. So basically this is related to where you grew up, where you choose to immerse yourself, or if your family maintained these customs in the household in an alternative location.

In conclusion, no, I am not easily versed in the differences in race or ethnicity. But I have some decent reference material.

iboobs · Accepted Answer

A race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally viewed as distinct by society. It’s an umbrella term such as White, Asian, Black, Native American,

Sub race: Celtic, Germanic, Semitic, Latin, Iroquois, Nordic, etc.

An ethnic group or ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups such as a common set of traditions, ancestry, language, history, society, culture, nation, religion or social treatment within their residing area. For example, Irish, German, French, Zulu, Punjabi, Japanese, Ashkenazi (ethnoreligious), Navajo,

Culture is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.

Pretty much people who live in the same country. So a black person, hispanic, white person can have the same culture because they live in America.

Astarlessnightsky · Answer

For RACE i would use the way its classified in biology, wether or not they can have a child together under "normal" (by having sex and not with artificial fertilization or other lab shannenigans) circumstances, so there is only one human race, cause everyone from all corners of the world can produce a child with everyone from all corners of the world.

ETHNICITY i would define as how the avarage person from a certain region/country/continent looks. Stuff like most common skintone, haircolour, faceshape, eyeshape, eyecolour, height, ...

CULTURE is the most difficult one, as there are also subcultures, but its would be everything regarding the habits, lifestyle, mindset, language, politics, art and music, food, ... of the avarage person in this country, state, region, ... social economic circle, generation, ...

Eg: an African American and a member of the Masai tribe will be really similar from an ethnic background/perspective, but from a cultural aspect they are complety different.

While a "european" American and an African American look different, but they are from the "same" culture.

purplepoppy · Answer

Race- based on shared physical features common to a group of people originating from a shared geographical location. We can all tell the difference between an Negroid and a Caucasian.

Culture- behavioural and social norms linked to a group of people living. They may not be the same race or live in same place but will share same values and enjoy same things.

Ethnicity- you're right, more tricky. But I'd say it's culture linked more to race or religion perhaps even nationality. Cultures tends to over lap quite a bit but if something is ethnic it's more the gold standard.

ohshee · Answer

I see two men. Both had 97% of the exact same DNA both have 3% a different DNA it comes from your parents. And are smart loving God having common sense knowing that the Earth is a big giant place with extreme conditions harsh conditions, with different parts of the planet he added DNA so that we could adapt do any extreme conditions that we are up against- parts of the Earth have very hot sunny conditions it also has below freezing so with our God having common sense he gave us the ability to adapt. 2 protect th us is from the harsh elements. I don't see race I see two people there two men we came from the same God with the same idea keep us safe make it so we can adapt to live a long healthy life and love each other

Dinosaursandanime65 · Answer

This is a Japanese girl from the Human Race And this is a Robonian from the Robonian Race

Aiko_E_Lara · Answer

I'm going to use my own words without doing any research. As far as i know,

Race is personal, DNA and usually what you look like.

Ethnicity is more linked to country, nationality, religion, historical practices

Culture is societal behaviors like trends, influences, pop culture, what people do and has nothing to do with religion, history and the country.

TheSpaceGnome · Answer

To me culture is any kind of group of people who share the same individual preferences, they can be the same race, or different races.

I do not think a person's race results in any specific cultures, though there are cultures people typically stereotype to a given race.

Ethincity I typically use as a synonym for nationality, like japanese is an ethnicity, Asian is the race, culture is it's own separate thing. For example, I fit certain forms of geek culture, then there is jock culture, religious culture, scientific community culture, farmer culture, city person culture, etc. and a lot of times cultures blend, and people will share parts of a culture but not all of it, so it's sort of a fabrication to say cultures even exist.

Gray-Wisp · Answer

Race: Genetically there are several races. Each group is genetically much closer to others in that group than those outside of it.

Ethnicity: Genetically there are sub-groups as well and many more of them than there are races. Ethnicity is usually used just to mean a genetic sub group.

Culture: Beliefs, Values, Religion, Traditions, Language, Foods, Holidays etc.

zagor · Answer

Ethnicity and culture are not the same. One of my co-workers is of Japanese ethnicity, but was born and grew up in the US. When he went to Japan he felt totally out of place, and it wasn't just the language. Basic social behavior is quite different there.

DaisyM23 · Answer

Race is the colour of your skin e. g. white, black, brown
Ethnicity is more to do with culture and the country you or your parents were born in and the culture you were raised around e. g. chinese, egyptian

captain_voidwalker · Answer

Race is your physical traits such as skin tone, and bone structures. Ethnicity is your genetic structure and ancestry. Culture is the rules and traditions of the society you grew up in.

princeofromance · Answer

They are three different classes. You need to do some research. That will give you your much needed answer.

Smegskull · Answer

Low resolution continental biology. High resolution geographical biology. Geographical sociology.

Can you mark the differences between "race", "ethnicity" and "culture"?

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