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Ethnic group

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Culture and Diversity

   An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population of human beings whose
   members identify with each other, usually on the basis of a presumed
   common genealogy or ancestry. Recognition by others as a distinct
   ethnic group is often a contributing factor to developing this bond of
   identification. Ethnic groups are also often united by common cultural,
   behavioural, linguistic, ritualistic, or religious traits. Processes
   that result in the emergence of such identification are summarized as
   ethnogenesis.

   The term is used in contrast to race, which refers to a classification
   of physical and genetic traits perceived as common to certain groups.

Ethnicity, nation, and race

   An ethnic group may overlap or even coincide with a nation, especially
   when national identity is defined primarily in terms of common origin.
   Members of nations may also identify with each other, often presuming
   common ancestry, and are generally recognized by others as a distinct
   group with a specific name. Nations tend to have a common identity:
   mostly cultural, usually linguistic, and sometimes religious. An ethnic
   group that is also a nation may be the titular nation of a
   nation-state. Some ethnic groups have no sovereignty.

   Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities
   over time, although historians and anthropologists have documented that
   many of the cultural practices on which various ethnic groups are based
   are of relatively recent invention. Walter Pohl notes that historians
   have projected the nineteenth-century conceptions of the nation-state
   backwards in time, employing biological metaphors of birth and growth:
   "that the peoples in the Migration Period had little to do with those
   heroic (or sometimes brutish) clichés is now generally accepted among
   historians," he remarked. Early medieval peoples were far less
   homogeneous than often thought, and Pohl follows Reinhard Wenskus whose
   researches into the "ethnogenesis" of the German peoples convinced him
   that the idea of common origin, as expressed by Isidore of Seville was
   a myth.

   While ethnicity and race are related concepts, the concept of ethnicity
   is rooted more in the idea of social grouping, marked especially by
   shared nationality, tribal affiliation, shared genealogy/ kinship and
   descent, religious identification, language use, or specific cultural
   and traditional origins, whereas race is rooted in the idea of a
   biological classification. In 1950, the UNESCO statement The Race
   Question, signed by internationally renowned scholars (including Ashley
   Montagu, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Gunnar Myrdal, Julian Huxley, etc.),
   suggested to "drop the term 'race' altogether and speak of 'ethnic
   groups'."

In the United States

   Collectivities of related ethnic groups are typically denoted as
   "ethnic". Most prominently in the U.S., the various Latin American
   ethnic groups plus the Spanish are typically collectivized as,
   depending on the part of the country you are in, either as " Hispanics"
   or " Latinos". The term used is inversely related to the amount of
   Latinos (Hispanics) in a given population. Perhaps as a reflection of
   the slippery matter of racial labeling, Spanish-Americans can be
   mislabeled, or even self-identify, as "Latino", though technically they
   are European (White). The many previously designated ' Oriental' ethnic
   groups are designated as Asian ethnic groups and similarly lumped
   together as "Asians". So too with the many Native American groups. The
   terms " Black" and " African-American," while different, usually
   describe the descendants whose ancestors, usually in predominant part,
   were indigenous to Africa. Even the racial term " White Americans" are
   generally peoples from Europe, Central and South-Western Asia, Russia
   (including Northern Asia or Siberia), and parts of North America.
   "Middle Easterners" are peoples from the Middle-East. These countries
   include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, et cetera even though the
   majority of Egypt's surface lies in Africa.

   Categories and data on "ancestry" in the U.S. are compiled on the
   following criteria from the U.S. Census Bureau: "Ancestry refers to a
   person’s ethnic origin or descent, 'roots', or heritage, or the place
   of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before
   their arrival in the United States." The ancestry questionnaire is only
   available on a random basis to one out of six households during the
   census.

In the United Kingdom

   The classification of ethnic groups in the United Kingdom has attracted
   controversy in the past: particularly at the time of the 2001 Census
   where the existence and nature of such a classification, which appeared
   on the Census form, became more widely known than general.

   Different classifications, both formal and informal, are used in the
   UK. Perhaps the most accepted is the National Statistics classification
   (identical to that used in the 2001 Census in England and Wales) which
   contains the following groups.
     * White: British
     * White: Irish
     * White: Other

     * Mixed: White and Black Caribbean
     * Mixed: White and Black African
     * Mixed: White and Asian
     * Mixed: Other

     * Asian: Indian
     * Asian: Sri Lankan
     * Asian: Pakistani
     * Asian: Bangladeshi
     * Asian: Other

     * Black or Black British: Black Caribbean
     * Black or Black British: Black African
     * Black or Black British: Other

     * Chinese or Other: Chinese
     * Chinese or Other: Other

   In practice the 16 categories above are often supplemented with a 'Not
   stated' category, and this convention is known as the '16 + 1'
   classification. More detail on this classification is available on the
   National Statistics website.

   Different classifications were used in the 1991 Census in England and
   Wales, and in the 2001 Census in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

   Other classifications also appear. For example UK police began to
   classify arrests in racial groups in 1975, but later replaced the race
   code with an Identity Code (IC) system.
     * IC1 White person
     * IC2 Mediterranean or Hispanic person
     * IC3 African/Caribbean person
     * IC4 Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or any other Asian person
     * IC5 Chinese, Japanese, or South-East Asian person
     * IC6 Arabic, Egyptian or Maghreb person
     * IC0 Origin unknown

   This classification is still referred to on some police websites and
   police chase TV shows, e.g. "Driver is IC1 male, passenger is IC3
   male".

   However, from April 1, 2003, all police forces were required to use the
   new 16 + 1 system described above). The IC classification is still used
   in relation to descriptions whereas when suspects are asked to indicate
   their "ethnic background" for statistical purposes they are asked to
   pick from the 16+1 classification.

   In terms of popular use as opposed to official policy there is one main
   difference, the use of the term Oriental is widespread and without
   negative connotation in the UK and Europe while in the UK Asian is
   generally reserved for people from the Indian subcontinent (see
   Oriental and British Asian for more details).

In China

   The People's Republic of China has officially split the population into
   56 ethnic groups of which the most numerous are the Han Chinese. Many
   of the ethnic minorities maintain their own individual culture and
   language, although many are also becoming more like the Han. The Han
   Chinese are the only ethnic group bound by the One-child policy and
   many villages faked a change in their ethnic group (e.g. from Han to
   Manchu) to avoid the policy.

   Some of the minorities suffered the Cultural Revolution. Many minority
   cultures remain under threat. Han Chinese dominate the whole of China
   with the exception of Tibet and Xinjiang where the Han are still in the
   minority.

   There is a degree of autonomy granted to areas with a high minority
   population. Inner Mongolia is an example of such. Sometimes ethnic
   minorities are allowed to use their own language in official documents,
   but not always. For example, a Tibetan can request an official document
   to be in either the Chinese or Tibetan language. But a Han Chinese can
   only request Chinese. Some ethnic groups do not have this option, like
   the Hui, who can only request Chinese.

   There is no equal opportunity law in China, and although the ethnic
   groups are stressed to be equal, it is commonplace to specify which
   ethnic group is preferred, or even required, when (for example)
   advertising employment.

   Most official government bodies are required to employ at least one
   member of an ethnic minority.

   Sometimes people are given the choice of which ethnic group they wish
   to belong to, but 'mixed-race' is not an option.

   All ID cards in China state which ethnic group the holder belongs to.

   The 56 ethnic groups are:
     * Han Chinese
     * Zhuang
     * Manchu
     * Hui (Chinese Muslims)
     * Miao
     * Uyghur
     * Yi
     * Tujia

     * Mongolian
     * Tibetan
     * Buyei
     * Dong
     * Yao
     * Korean
     * Bai
     * Akha

     * Li
     * Kazak
     * Dai
     * She
     * Lisu
     * Gelao
     * Lahu
     * Dongxiang

     * Va
     * Shui
     * Nakhi
     * Qiang
     * Tu
     * Xibe
     * Mulao
     * Kyrgyz

     * Daur
     * Jingpo
     * Salar
     * Blang
     * Maonan
     * Tajik
     * Pumi
     * Achang

     * Nu
     * Ewenki
     * Vietnamese
     * Jino
     * De'ang
     * Uzbeks
     * Russian
     * Yugur

     * Bonan
     * Monba
     * Oroqen
     * Derung
     * Tatars
     * Hezhen
     * Lhoba
     * Taiwanese Aboriginal People

Ethnic ideology

   In the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation, developed
   in the context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and
   capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same
   time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined.
   In the nineteenth century, modern states generally sought legitimacy
   through their claim to represent "nations." Nation-states, however,
   invariably include populations that have been excluded from national
   life for one reason or another. Members of excluded groups,
   consequently, will either demand inclusion on the basis of equality, or
   seek autonomy, sometimes even to the extent of complete political
   separation in their own nation-state.

   Sometimes ethnic groups are subject to prejudicial attitudes and
   actions by the state or its constituents. In the twentieth century,
   people began to argue that conflicts among ethnic groups or between
   members of an ethnic group and the state can and should be resolved in
   one of two ways. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, have
   argued that the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion
   of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. According to
   this view the state ought not to acknowledge ethnic, national or racial
   identity and should instead enforce political and legal equality of all
   individuals. Others, like Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka argue that
   the notion of the autonomous individual is itself a cultural construct,
   and that it is neither possible nor right to treat people as autonomous
   individuals. According to this view, states must recognize ethnic
   identity and develop processes through which the particular needs of
   ethnic groups can be accommodated within the boundaries of the
   nation-state. This is the nationalist viewpoint.

   In English, Ethnicity goes far beyond the modern ties of a person to a
   particular nation (e.g., citizenship), and focuses more upon the
   connection to a perceived shared past and culture. See also Kinship and
   descent, Romanticism, folklore. In some other languages, the
   corresponding terms for ethnicity and nationhood may be closer to each
   other.

   The nineteenth century saw the development of the political ideology of
   ethnic nationalism, when the concept of race was tied to nationalism,
   first by German theorists including Johann Gottfried von Herder.
   Instances of societies focusing on ethnic ties arguably to the
   exclusion of history or historical context have resulted in the
   justification of nationalist goals. Two periods frequently cited as
   examples of this are the nineteenth century consolidation and expansion
   of the German Empire and the Third (Greater German) Reich, each
   promoted on the pan-ethnic idea that these governments were only
   acquiring lands that had always been ethnically German. The history of
   late-comers to the nation-state model, such as those arising in the
   Near East and southeastern Europe out of the dissolution of the Ottoman
   and Austro-Hungarian Empires, as well as those arising out of the
   former USSR, is marked by inter-ethnic conflicts that usually occurs
   within multi-ethnic states, as opposed to between them, in other
   regions of the world; thus, those other conflicts are often
   misleadingly labled and characterized as "civil war."

   In last decades of the twentieth century, mass migrations have occurred
   in most countries of the Northern hemisphere. The legal system as well
   as the official ideology emphasized race equality, and prohibited
   ethnic-based discrimination. It has been suggested by The Social
   Capital Foundation that this new ideology could be regarded as the
   reversal of the previous racialized ethnocentrism in the form of an
   ideology of systematic ethnic mixing and cross-breeding.

Research

   The Human Genome Diversity Project ( HGDP) has attempted to map the DNA
   that varies between humans, which is a less than 1 % difference. This
   data may shed light on the origin of some ethnic groups.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_group"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
