Ethnicity And Identity – Can They Be Separated
While ethnicity is a way of life that is generally accepted in a certain society or group, identity is individuality; characteristics that are unique to each person. Though identity forms a vital part of ethnicity, it would be quite untrue to say they relate to each other perfectly. Ethnic groups are groups of people who share a common heritage that is real or unreal and use it to recognize each other. Though ethnicity is a mere identity group, identity is separate and it means much more because rather than being centered on culture alone, it includes individual characteristics that are unique to people regardless of all races, cultures and tradition; identity transcends culture and tradition.
Ethnicity is defined in the context of the cultural practices, beliefs, values and vices people engage in. In many cases, ethnicity is usually the main precursor in many racism and tribalism incidences. People believe they are part of a certain community, race and tribe with common beliefs, cultural practices and values which are unique to that particular group. Albeit not all cases, ethnic groups also share a language that is unique to them; in some occasions, people of the same ethnic group are also identical in appearance. In some cases, ethnic groups also share the same religious and behavioral characteristics.
Ethnicity is one of the most politicized aspects of the modern society; this is due to the fact that many communities create loopholes when they take much attention to ethnic linkages. Ethnic differences seem to matter a lot in the opinion of many people especially in cases where they look different, in terms of appearance, from members of other ethnic groups. Ethnicity is a basis of politics for many communities living in the developing nations. In the modern world, ethnicity is tied to minority and race issues; in social anthropology, ethnicity is the facets of relationships between groups which believe or are regarded to be culturally distinct.
While ethnicity is branded with traditions, heritage and communities, identity results from studying characteristics of populations. As opposed to ethnicity, which is consisted of traditions and practices shared by a community, identity relies on principles, values and characters that make an individual unique. Individuals can be born with a certain identity; individuals can acquire identity as well. Identity also has a lot to do with the conviction an individual has in life; identity is also characterized by how long one can be able to bear the challenges of life as compared to other people; depending on the values an individual holds onto, he or she can be able to stand challenges that another person cannot due to differences in characteristics, principles and values between them.
Identity can be personal or relative; in cases where some values, principles and characteristics are shared among individuals, they possess the same identity; in this case relative identity. As opposed to ethnicity, people can have the same identity even though they do not share cultural beliefs, customs, traditional beliefs and language. Identity is purely an issue of character and it is does not identify with issues such as tribe or race. In relative identity, people of the same identity should appreciate the fact that they could be having different traditional beliefs and different cultures; they do not use these differences as a basis of identification; the values shared between them are what are considered important.
In some nations, ethnicity and identity are interpreted differently from what they actually mean; the reasons behind this are selfish political, racial and tribal interests. Some politicians use ethnicity as a loophole to try and link political ideologies to a certain ethnic group. Ethnicity is has also been used for decades to perpetrate racial discrimination; in the past people with black colored skin have gone through tough times when coexisting with whites due to racial discrimination.
In conclusion, ethnicity and identity confuse many and that is a good reason to tackle this topic. Ethnicity consists of generally acceptable beliefs, customs and traditions among a community; though ethnicity and identity are mistaken to look alike sometimes, it is easy to distinguish identity from ethnicity since it is more centered on characteristics that are unique to an individual and not a community.
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