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Module 7

Student’s First Name, Middle Initial(s), Last Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Number and Name

Instructor’s Name and Title

Assignment Due Date

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Module 7

Writing Assignment

When people talk about the differentiation of members of society according to their skin

color, they frequently confuse two crucial terms: race and ethnicity. Both of them are important

not only for a deeper understanding of the nature of social relations but also for the self-

identification of some groups of people. Therefore, the fact that Hispanics/Latinxs are an ethnic

group is straightly related to the definitions of race and ethnicity.

The idea of race is quite dissimilar to the concept of ethnicity and is based on a different

notion. According to Cornell and Hartman (1998, as cited in Golash-Boza 2018), race is an

external social construction that often relies on skin color, a person’s appearance, and hair

structure and appeared historically to justify unequal treatment of people of color. On the other

hand, ethnicities are categories based on notions of “similar and shared history, culture, and

kinship” (p. 6). Thus, even though both terms are used for the stratification of society, the

concept of race relies on physical characteristics while ethnicity focuses on cultural background.

The category of Latino traditionally is considered to be ethnicity even though there are

some contradictions. Ethnicity is mainly related to culture (history, language, traditions), but

often, people in the United States who associate with being Latino do not practice those things

(Golash-Boza, 2018). Moreover, the traditions of Latinos vary depending on geographical and

historical influences. Nevertheless, their shared history and kinship caused common cultural

memory that makes Latinos an ethnical category. The argument that Latino is a racial category,

in its turn, is based on how Latinos identify themselves. During the 2002 National Survey of

Latinos, half of them chose black or white races, but when allowed to identify racially as
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“Latino,” half identified as such (Golash-Boza, 2018). Hence, even Latinos consider themselves

racially black or white, but ethnically, they feel Latino.

To sum up, notions of race and ethnicity are not interchangeable as they rely on different

concepts. Thus, the determination of Latino as race or ethnicity is complicated and requires deep

learning of the topic. Yet, traditionally, society prefers to consider the category of Latino as

ethnicity, even though some Latinos see themselves as a separated race.

Film Reflection

Nowadays, people do not want to be labeled racists since it automatically means they are

bad. Yet, the facts show that racism still exists and is reinforced by the subconscious behavior of

the whole society. Thus, racism is not an individual “bad” act done by “bad” people but a system

that promotes white privilege that exists not only among whites but within certain racial/ethnical

groups.

First of all, each social phenomenon would not exist if it was not a system supported by

lots of people, and racism is not an exception. According to Dr. DiAngelo (General Commission

on Religion and Race of The UMC, 2018), racism is a system of unequal power where every

institution reinforces inequality. Furthermore, people themselves reinforce a new form of racism

that is built on the idea of good/bad binary. It proclaims that a racist is a bad person and a non-

racist is a good one. Consequently, this concept makes it impossible for white people to talk

about racism as they want to withdraw from the idea that they can be bad, and it does not allow

them to engage with social reality (General Commission on Religion and Race of The UMC,

2018). Thus, racism has established as a natural order of the USA, a system where the

community subconsciously reinforces racially unequal practices.

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Apparently, such a system of unequal power prompts the concept of white privilege.

White privilege exists even within racial/ethnic group which is not considered white. For

example, some Latino people have absolutely white skin, so they are indistinguishable from

whites (MTV Impact, 2016). They may be not followed in a shop or not asked to show their

identity cards all the time. Nevertheless, once other people notice white Latino’s kinky hair or

unusual accent, they revert to the stereotypical way of thinking. Thus, “white people of color”

can experience white privilege, yet once their ethnical affiliation opens, they lose it.

Overall, racism as a social phenomenon exists not as an individual “bad” act but as a

system encouraged by different institutions and mere people. Exactly community of “non-

racists” reinforces the practices of new racism by prompting the bad/good binary. It also creates

the concept of white privilege that exists not only among different races/ethnicities but within

them too. Yet, the whiteness and privilege of “white people of color” are always open to

controversy.
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References

General Commission on Religion and Race of The UMC. (2018, March 20). Deconstructing

white privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo. [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7mzj0cVL0Q

Golash-Boza T. (2018). Race and racism: A critical approach. (2nd ed.). Oxford University

Press.

MTV Impact. (2016, August 24). Are Hispanic white? |Decoded | MTV News. [Video].

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aosT6Kecj24