Importance of Race in American Identity Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

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Importance of Race in American Identity
Erik Erikson, a well-known psychologist, defined identity as “the creation of a sense of sameness, a unity of personality now felt by the individual and recognized by others as having consistency in time-of being, as it were, an irreversible historical fact.” (Bowles, 1993). There must be a component in society, for an individual to become part of it, with which they can relate; and this highlights the issue of race and ethnicity. This idea has turned out to be exceptionally delicate in the current past to the degree that it evokes stress in many regions. While studying the society of the United State with regards to its cosmopolitan characteristics and the lifestyle of people, it was found that America is of diverse cultures including multiple racial and ethnic groups as well different cultural traditions. This applies to most of the world, not just the United States. The issue of human progress is thought to be race.
In conducting a survey of the problems relating to race, it is essential to ignore the biases in culture that already exists. The purpose behind this is because of some of these inclinations are generally based on ill-conceived suppositions and may, in turn, raise the profound emotions that individuals have with regards to this subject. Getting rid of these attitudinal boundaries is however justified regardless of the challenges that come with it.
It is essential to comprehend the factors that lead to these social differences. Race is the categorization of individuals based on their physical outlook with regards to their geographical locations.
Talking about race highlights certain important issues, the most important of which is the problem of minority groups. This alludes to a group of people that are considered below most people. Even though these individuals are country nationals, they have certain attributes, which set them apart from the majority. Ordinarily, the people belonging to such groups have comparative philosophies and endeavor to safeguard their way of life, and they often have to endure certain inconveniences on account of majority of the populace.
Labelling people has been a major problem for a long time. Even though many do not have any issues with it, labelling based on race still offends a considerable number of people out there. The acknowledgment that individuals will always feel the need to discover a place in society where they are at ease and where they can live a safe and secure life is of vital importance. It is, however, not easy to comprehend how individuals classify themselves into the social groups of which they are a part. Throughout the years, there have been repairs in the past prominent socio-cultural convictions, such as referring to an African-American as a Negro being found offensive in the United States. The emergence of racial identity relies upon the way ethnic mentalities and convictions are investigated and scrutinized, along with discovering a connection between the old and present encounters of a person's group and its relationship with another distinctive group. This results in the advancement of a protected and positive feeling of identity as an individual from a certain racial group.
Along with this comes the encouragement that other distinctive groups will acknowledge this affiliation. An individual's future may really be formed by the conditions of his reality, which is vital to acknowledge. This incorporates his or her social propensity and, specifically, race. A child’s future is, in great part, decided on the basis of social status. There are geographical locations where individuals from specific areas or individuals of a specific affiliation will have a tendency to flourish more so than others. This can serve as an explanation for how racial issues can be disputed because of the way they can influence an individual's position in the social progressive system.
There are some variables that play a noteworthy part in the race issue, the most important issue being that of imperialism. Most nations on the planet went through this process at some point in time. This resulted in critical changes in the societal development of the nations that were colonized. A significant example of this is the effect of colonization in the African region. The idea of predominance of races produced distinctive results in this region during the colonial time. The realization of this came due to the physical appearances of the Africans. The complexion of the colonizers differed from that of the Africans, because of which South Africa was the nation to suffer the most. This lasted up until the mid-1990s when the nation finally got its freedom. The racial clash in South Africa was extremely unpleasant up to the point that in 1977, Andrew Young, who was the Chief Representative of the United States to the United Nations claimed that a racial conflict in South Africa could encourage racial clashes to enter the United States. This observation may well have come because of African-Americans, despite being a minority group in the United States at the time, was still a very significant population. Seeing their people suffer could have set off a sentiment of pity, thereby motivating them to make a move, which may have been uncalled for. This is a result of the trademark unity which minority groups usually have with each other.
The presence of groups that lead to racial discrimination is outside an individuals' control. The American society, for instance, has had outsiders coming into the nation from different parts of the world. The French political scholar Alexis de Tocqueville saw the United States as “a society of immigrants each of whom had begun life anew, on an equal footing. This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old tradition who dared to explore new frontiers.” This is valid given that the American culture contains individuals from around the world who met at a collective place and chose to exist together. The underlying individuals who made up the American society were the Red Indians and immigrants from Europe. These were individuals of different social foundations; however, despite everything, they existed under the same ecological setting. The distinctive racial groups are seen to have diverse levels of evolution. The African-American, Hispanic and Asian populace living in the United States is ceaselessly expanding as are the disparities that come to fruition.
Media also plays a significant role in forming our ways of thinking when it comes to race and the way we comprehend race as a major aspect of our identity, our history, our social foundations, and our regular day to day existences. Despite the physical and, in some cases, geographical aspects associated with particular racial identities, it is essential to acknowledge that race is an ideology that allows to see and grasp an understanding of our general surroundings. Race, in this manner, is pervaded with importance. It gets utilized as a marker for extensive ideas and connections. Race determines your social standing as a pariah or as being different from the rest. These markers are not just limited to one's complexion or social foundation, but also work in a bigger framework and in connection to other racial and ethnic identities. In this framework, certain groups hold more power and benefits over other groups.
Keeping in mind the comprehension of social implications credited to races and ethnicities, the history and the philosophies of these frameworks should also be examined. Large portions of Western or American thoughts regarding race and ethnicity originate from crossroads in history set apart by imperialism, immigration and other factors that moved populaces and socio-economics. With such changes and the intermixing of various races and ethnicities, an overwhelming number of groups emerged to take control and applied influence over others by possessing and controlling the land, dialect, culture, and traditions. In these examples, the white people garnered more control and power, while the minority groups were consigned to the social, economic and political sides. This implies that the minority groups have had almost no control, and people in these groups were regularly denied the rights and chances that the dominant white groups had access to. The overwhelming majority holds social, political and financial power, and accordingly figures out who is deserving of being given a part in that power. Obviously, there is likewise a long history of resistance among the minority groups, who, for a considerable length of time, have fought relentlessly to secure rights that they have frequently been denied. This is a battle that continues to take place even today in new and advanced ways. In the 1950s and 1960s, quite a few legislations, such as the Civil Rights Act and the Brown vs. Board of Education, were introduced to address and bring changes to the racial discrimination faced by people (particularly African-Americans) in workplaces of the United States. However, racial discrimination continues to persist regardless of these laws and legislations. The methods by which we ourselves gain our identity are quite complicated. As such, the way we allocate group identities to others is also not that straight-forward. Labelling based on race and ethnicity in the United States is not simply based on a set criteria that everybody can comprehend, concur with, and use without difficulty. Accordingly, another person may label you in such a way that you consider exceptionally offensive and off-base. This can lead to instant barriers in open correspondence regardless of the possibility that the person's intentions were different from what you assumed them to be.
Multiracial and multiethnic individuals are a q...