What is the difference between race and nationality

Race is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics, such as hair texture or skin color and covers a relatively narrow range of options. While some may be considered to be of a certain race, Black for example, people may identify more with their individual ethnicity, as opposed to race.

This could apply for any member of any race. When completing paperwork that asks for race, you may be asked to identify yourself as belonging to one or more of the following categories:. Sometimes, you may be asked to select just one category. At other times, you may be invited to check all the categories that apply. Ethnicity is a broader term than race. The term is used to categorize groups of people according to their cultural expression and identification. According to the U. Race data affects the funding of government programs that provide services for specific groups.

They want to monitor compliance with anti-discrimination laws and regulations as well. Their data on race is based on self-identification. Some of the terms that were previously used have been considered offensive and removed from the paperwork. The ways the questions are asked have also shifted. Currently, the U. Groups that fall under this category include:. There are individual Asian checkboxes for people who identify as one or more of the following:.

There are individual Pacific Islander checkboxes for people who identify as one or more of the following:. If you do not identify with any of the above groups, you can simply choose the "Some Other Race" category and input how you identify yourself.

The U. They recognize that individuals who describe themselves as fitting into this category may be of any race. They had to go through so many hardships. Even today, there are still people who consider black people to be mean and sinful as they have black skin.

There are metropolitan cities in many countries that are described as melting pots of races. This is because of the fact that one can get to see scores of different races and nationalities living in these cities. You may see whites, blacks, Mongoloids, and Caucasians all living in one country, and they all have the same nationality of the country they are living in.

Still, they are treated differently as they belong to different races and have distinct cultural identities. This has to do with genetic lineage. Now that you know the definitions of race and ethnicity, let's take a closer look at how the two differ from one another. Ethnocentrism happens when a person judges another culture based on the values and standards of their own culture.

The problem with this is that cultures vary widely, so the result of ethnocentrism is that a person thinks their culture is better than other people's cultures. Ethnocentrism leads to a person or a group of people thinking their way of life is natural and correct--and that cultures that don't share the same practices and values are dangerous, backwards, and uncivilized. Like racism, ethnocentrism leads to discriminatory practices.

For example, take this story about students being asked to remove their hijabs at one Virginia school. A hijab is an important part of some Muslim women's religious practice. The teacher who asked the girl to remove her hijab assumed that her cultural practices and values--in which hijabs aren't required--were superior. In this case, the teacher's actions were based on a false assumption that one ethnicity is somehow superior to all others, and that others should assimilate.

The differences between race and ethnicity are confusing at first, but we're here to help you understand the distinctions a little better. Race and ethnicity aren't the same thing, so you can't use the terms interchangeably. That's because race is defined by a person's physical appearance, whereas ethnicity is defined by a person's culture.

Let's take a look at an example using the languages people speak. Hispanics are people whose first language is Spanish. Not every Latino speaks Spanish—people from Brazil speak Portuguese, and tons of people speak only their indigenous language. Additionally, Hispanic people are not all Latino, since people from Spain might speak Spanish as their first language but aren't from Latin America.

The language a person speaks falls into the category of ethnic distinction, since it has nothing to do with a person's physical appearance. Ethnically, you can be Hispanic or Latino and be of many different races, including Black, indigenous, and Caucasian. For instance, people from Spain can be both Hispanic ethnically and Caucasian racially , while people from the Dominican Republic can be both Latino ethnically and Black racially.

The truth is that people have both a race and an ethnicity Additionally, many people identify with multiple races and ethnicity depending on their heritage. For example, someone who is biracial and lives in Haiti might identify as racially Black and Asian, while considering themselves ethnically South Asian and Latino. Fascinatingly, race and ethnicity exist within the cultural context of a specific national environment. In other words, races and ethnicities differ between countries, and they even differ within countries!

So, for instance, someone with an Algerian background who lives in France occupies a specific ethnic role that depends completely on the history of occupation and colonization between France and Algeria. In France, the ethnic distinction of "Algerian" carries specific connotations.

Once in the U. Now, they fit into American racial and ethnic categories. So while this person might be Algerian in France, they may be categorized as Muslim in the United States. While this person would personally continue to personally identify as ethnically Algerian, they would be perceived and treated as a Saudi or Iraqi might be treated based on American national perceptions of ethnicity. They would perhaps even be called "Middle Eastern," even though they are actually North African.

We've already talked about some examples above, but it's probably helpful to see a race vs ethnicity list, too. In the table below, you'll see a race in the left column, then some associated ethnicities in the next two columns. Keep in mind that this is a very small sample of the different race and ethnic combinations that exist. You can be more than one race and more than one ethnicity!

These definitions also differ significantly between countries, too. Again, these are not all the ethnicities that exist. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ethnicities. And there are even more combinations of ethnicity and race! For instance, you can be ethnically Latinx, but racially black, Asian, or Caucasian. The big takeaway is that race and ethnicity are separate categories, and a person's ethnicity often depends on both cultural and national contexts.

Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Essay What is the relationship between race and ethnicity? Ben Davis May 1, What is the relationship between race and ethnicity? What DNA test is most accurate? What DNA Does a woman inherit from her father?

Can I find my biological father through ancestry DNA? Why is it called 23andMe?