OPTIONAL ETHNICITIES

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Sociology - how are identities formed?

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"Dear Abby, Why do people resent being asked what they are? The Irish are so proud of being Irish, they tell you before you even ask. Tip O'Neill has never tried to hide his Irish ancestry. Signed, JIMMY" (Waters 1996:201).

Whites have lack of knowledge about other ethic identities

"One important implication of these identities is that they tend to be very individualistic. There is a tendency to view valuing diversity in a pluralist environment as equating all groups. The symbolic ethnic tends to think that all groups are equal; everyone has a background that is their right to celebrate and pass on to their children. This leads to the conclusion that all identities are equal and all identities in some sense are interchangeable" ( Waters 1996:201).

"Whites, as the numerical majority, have had little contact with Black culture; Blacks, especially those who are in college, have had to develop bicultural skills-knowledge about the social worlds of both Whites and Blacks"(Waters 1996:204)

Misconceptions

"The issue of stereotypes about Black Americans and the assumption that all Blacks are alike and have the same stereotypical cultural traits has more power to hurt or offend a Black person than vice versa. The innocent questions about Black hair also bring up a number of asymmetries between the Black and White experience. Because Blacks tend to have more knowledge about Whites than vice versa"(Waters 1996:205).

Research question: What does it mean to talk about ethnicity as an option for an individual?

PROBLEM: Non-White Americans are not entitled to choose or change their ethnic identities at their lesiure which can lead to racial disadvantages.

"Who your ancestors are does affect your choice of spouse, where you live, what job you have, who your friends are, and what your chances are for success in American society, if those ancestors happen not to be from Europe. The reality is that White ethnics have a lot more choice and room for maneuver than they themselves think they do"(Waters 1996:200). 

"Because their political, labor, residential, social, and cultural advantages seem so natural, it is challenging for white Americans to realize their lofty status and to understand how they contribute to the persistence and reproduction of white hegemony. This idea is not, however, lost on minorities who are aware of the unequal distribution of resources in American society" (Admin 2012)

CONCLUSION

"If your understanding of your own ethnicity and its relationship to society and politics is one of individual choice, it becomes harder to understand the need for programs like affirmative action, which recognize the ongoing need for group struggle and group recognition, in order to bring about social change." (Waters 19961:206).

One must understand their own ethnicity and what effects it has on society in order to lessen racial disparities.

OPTIONAL ETHNICITIES

ETHNICITY

Subtopic

White American ethnic identies

"White Americans of European ancestry can be described as having a great deal of choice in terms of their ethnic identities. The two major types of options White Americans can exercise are (1) the option of whether to claim any specific ancestry, or to just be "White" or American, [Lieberson (1985) called these people "unhyphenated Whites"] and (2) the choice of which of their European ancestries to choose to include in their description of their own identities" (Waters 1996 :199). 

SYMBOLIC IDENTITIES

"(An example of symbolic ethnicity is individuals who identify as Irish, for example, on occasions such as Saint Patrick's Day, on family holidays, or for vacations. They do not usually belong to Irish American organizations, live in Irish neighborhoods, work in Irish jobs, or marry other Irish people. The symbolic meaning of being Irish American can be constructed by individuals from mass media images, family traditions, or other intermittent social activities. In other words, for later-generation White ethnics, ethnicity is not something that influences their lives unless they want it to"(Waters 1996:200).