Checkpoint - Defining Race and Ethnicity

Checkpoint - Defining Race and Ethnicity

Race is unimportant to me, I believe there is one race and that’s the human race. I don't have pride in a biological circumstance that I have no control over.   The way that most people think of race is a man-made way of separating and dividing people, and we place far too much importance on race in our world. Still today there are people who think that men are more important than women when it comes to success. I believe anybody can be successful no matter gender, color, size, or ethnic background.
Ethnicity however is important, to a certain extent. Ethnic groups are created through common traits such as religion, geographical location, behavior, and linguistics. Many changes have had to been made to American traditions because of the many different coulters here. For instance we do not say the Pledge of Elegance any more in schools because of the different religions and beliefs. Ethnicity is an important means through which people can identify themselves. It's a way in which we identify and relate with one another.
Different races and ethnic backgrounds hold our society together. The United States government has collected statistics on race and ethnicity. The data has been used to study changes in the social, demographic, health, and in economic characteristics of different ethnic groups in our society. Federal data collections, through censuses, surveys, and administrative records, have provided an historical record of the Nation's population diversity and its changing social attitudes and in policy concerns. They are also important because race and ethnicity have been used extensively in civil rights monitoring and enforcement covering areas such as employment, voting rights, housing and mortgage lending, health care services, and in educational opportunities.