Race and ethnicity

1. Race and ethnicity

2. Why Do We Look Different? • Create a list of ethnicities/races that we have in our world. • Write a list of PHYSICAL characteristics that they have • Come up with a hypothesis as to why looking this way (through evolution) would have benefited them

3. Some Answers... • Skin color is based on the body’s need to absorb UV rays and convert cholesterol into Vitamin D • Bergmann’s Rule-In colder regions, warm-blooded animals will have stockier builds because it allows them to be more efficient at retaining body heat.

5. Definitions • RACE-biologically speaking, a race is a group of organisms of the same species that share similar physical and genetic attributes, and specific geographic regions...they are subdivisions of a single species • Race is passed down genetically • How many Canusfamiliarisraces can you think of? • On a side note, HABITUATION and ASSIMILATION (changes throughout one’s life, for example, getting used to living high on a mountain with low oxygen) are not genetic or passed down! They are also reversible!

6. Important to Note... • Race is not important biologically to our species. Every race can mate with every race • Therefore, anthropologists don’t like to study races as much as they like to study ancestry (knowing your lineage will help you understand your physical self and needs) • Cultural behavior is not genetically linked to geographic areas • Most behaviors of a race are learned

7. Why Is Hard to Define Human Races? • Humans mate with other races! • What do you call the race of a child who has parents that are Native American and Asian? • Is a Greek person black or white? • How many race groups do you make?

8. Genetic Relationships of Human Races

9. Racial Typing • First evidence of classifying humans comes from ancient Egypt in their cave drawings • They classified humans by skin color: Egyptians were red, those south were black, those north were white, and those to the east were yellow • In 16th century, Europeans travelled the globe, and accused anyone of not being white Christian to be a savage • The less European looking you were, the more savage you were considered to be (which meant you were less intelligent and less moral) • Some went as far as to say that savages were not even apart of the human species, this made it easier to abuse and enslave them

10. Biological Determinism • This is the idea that your biological self determines everything that you are • Naturalists in the 1800’s started looking at brain and skull size, chin and nose size, etc. • Since they thought that one’s genetics determined their behaviors, they started to advocate for state regulation of marriage, family size, and if one would even be allowed to reproduce • This became known as eugenics, which is creating a superior master race. • What is the greatest known historical even of eugenics? • Why is creating a master race considered suicidal?

11. Still Happening Today... • Today, the U.S Military still uses its old-school letter identification system on some paper work to classify ethnicities • N-Negro • C-Caucasian • M-Mongoloid (Asian) • R-Native American (Redskin)

12. Culture • If our genetics do not define our “races” behaviors, then what does? Culture! • Cultures differ because people live in different conditions • One’s culture is an adaptation to their unique environment • Today, culture has changed dramatically, and way faster, due to mass communication and mass movement of people

13. So What is Ethnicity? • Many people use “race” and “ethnicity” interchangeably. This is wrong! • An ETHNIC GROUP is a collection of people who share some cultural characteristics because they share a common ancestry, and this culture has been passed down by learning • Ethnic groups often persist because people were marrying their own race for quite some time in history • Ethnic groups are often bonded by traditions and rituals, and they usually identify with a specific geographical region, even if they do not live there • Ethnic groups are difficult to define. Why?

14. Ethnic Cleansing • Sometimes, the values of ethnic groups are in conflict with each other • Tyrannical leaders will often pit one ethic group against another • The attempt to eliminate an ethnic group is called genocide

15. Ethnic Identity • Most people feel at ease when interacting with members of their own ethnic group, however, many people like to travel to learn about other ethnic groups! • Having an ethnic identity provides people with a specific identity, which they often manifest in the following aspects of culture: • Music/artistic preferences • Food preferences • Child-naming traditions • Language or dialect • Religion or value system

16. Mixing Ethnic Groups • In 1985, a couple anthropologists classified 6 ways in which different ethnic groups have interacted in recent history • Pluralism-several intact, identifiable culture groups coexist in a single society • Assimilation-ethnic minorities are absorbed into the greater society • Legal Protection of Minorities-ethnic groups coexist in a society but they are hostile towards one another • Population Transfer-occurs when minority groups can’t coexist with the dominant population or the dominant population does not want to coexist with the minorities • Long-term Subjugation-ethic groups are politically and economically repressed, either legally or through social pressures • Genocide-the mass murder or extermination of a ethnic group by another one

17. Homework • 1. What is your race? /2 • 2. What is your ethnicity? /5 • 3. Besides WWII, research another example of ethnic cleansing or genocide. There are lots in history! Write a couple of paragraphs about what happened, and cite your source or website! /8 • 4. Besides genocide, there are 5 other ways that anthropologists believe that different ethnic groups can “mix”. Find an example of each of the other 5 (pluralism, population transfer, etc). You can work with a partner for this one. /5