Ethnicity and Race - Literature review Example

Appendix I found this journal article “Race and the Construction of Human Identity” by searching the words “Race and Ethni in the AnthroSource search bar. I obtained this article by Richmond and after reading through it I found that it is comparable the reference article issued in class. The article, “We Were Dancing in the Club, Not on the Berlin Wall: Black Bodies, Street Bureaucrats and Exclusionary Incorporation in the New Europe” by Partridge discusses the rise of German great desire for black because of hypersexual performances (Partridge 660). In his article, Smedley expounds more on “race” as a social construct or a cultural invention, which did not exist in the old days. He targets the American community, which he refers to as the “New Land” as the birth of racism and ethnicity (Smedley 690). Partridge, on the other hand, uses a different approach to explain how racism and ethnicity grew in Germany, in which, it’s the hypersexuality aspect of black Africans. Abstract: In his journal article, Smedley, (1999) extensively explains the origins of “race” using scholarly references based on cultural anthropology. He uses people’s experiences to elaborate more on how racism could be socially constructed. Among the main areas covered by his article is the issues and problem of identity, historical constructions of human identity and race as an identity (Smedley 690). There are two problems that may propagate or bring about ethnicity and racism. First, when two ethnic groups are competing or have no common interest, then, it means there can be ethnic tensions leading to civil wars, for example, in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. Secondly, the individual conceptions about who you are may results to assumptions that you almost the superior human being over the others, for example, the Americans. Historical constructions of identity seem to have caused the problematic race and ethnic groupings in the modern world. Originally, “ethnic identity” seemed to be a normal way of identifying yourself even in the Bible. The occupational identity could just be assumed without knowing its potential danger to the American community. Richmond argues that these identities led to divisions even in the olden days. In the seventeenth century, the American population, however, assumed all other forms of identities, such as religion, ethnicity, occupation and more and considered race as the only form of identity. The article addresses the tragedy of “mixed-race” people, as well as, the young black people in America. Finally, the author urges scholars in cultural anthropology and other social fields to shun the restrictions of “racial” identity and use different approaches to study the origin of Racism. Author Tutor Course Date Ethnicity and Race Ethnicity may refer to the social identity associated to an ethnic group, which have a common history, ancestry, language and share a cultural heritage. On the other hand, race may refer to the group of people who share or have similar physical characteristics. Race became the physical traits of people in the 17th century particularly in America where people from Africa were considered ape-like because there were black. The natives were white and the Indians were considered red. Ethnicity and race have been propagated by the so-called dominant societies, where the black Africans are always the subjects of racism. As stated earlier, in his article, Smedley explains that “race” is a social construct or a cultural invention, which did not exist in the old American society. He targets the American community, which he refers to as the “New Land” as the birth of racism and ethnicity (Smedley 691). Partridge, on the other hand, uses a different approach in explaining how racism and ethnicity grew in Germany. He uses the aspect of hypersexuality performances in men to explain racism in the New Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall (Partridge, 661). In his article, Smedley gives a better explanation of ethnicity than Partridge does in his article about the street bureaucrats and exclusionary incorporation of black men in the New Europe (Smedley 691). As stated earlier, ethnicity has its roots even in the Bible where the society was stratified into different groups. Although by then, people didn’t see the potential danger of such groups in the future, the author ascertains that it led to the birth of racism in America. Growth of capitalism and occupational classifications such as farmers, drivers, and managers formed another form of identification used in America. In comparison to his article, Partridge provides a little history of ethnicity in his article that cannot be relied upon in the study of ethnicity in Germany. He states that after the fall of the Berlin war, many black men got the opportunity to interact with the German white women. He ascertains that the New Europe made it hard for immigrants to apply for asylum. Therefore, many African refugees, East Europe and the Jews existed in Germany illegally since they could apply for the asylum law (Partridge 666). The two articles are almost similar in that they address the issue of racism in America and the New Europe. The author of the journal entitled “We Were Dancing in the Club, Not on the Berlin Wall: Black Bodies, Street Bureaucrats and Exclusionary Incorporation in the New Europe” uses an interesting approach to racism. He ascertains that following the fall of the Berlin Wall; the German white women had an opportunity to relate to the black men for sexual favours. When the national government introduced the law on occupations of black people in the New Europe, they gave power to the street actors over the immigrants. It shows that the German legislation promoted racism against the Blacks. On another note, the German white women referred to as “street bureaucrats” favoured the black men in exchange of sexual favours and thus breaking the racism tension that existed in the German community (Partridge 667). Smedley, on another hand, explains that “race” was socially constructed where the Americans assumed all the other identities and considered race as the only form of human identity. As a result, many Africans who inhabited the New Land were considered as outcasts of the country and consequently caused the birth of slavery. The author provides a solution to racism as Partridge does in his article by introducing “Afrocentrism” among Africans and “Nativism” for Indians. Nativism and Afrocentrism aimed at creating a positive identity of the low-class members as an attempt of reducing the harshness of racism in America (Smedley 695). Another important aspect for consideration is the aspect of fate of young people in both articles. In the German-based article, the young black men seem to get fully incorporated in the German whites’ society. On the other hand, Richmond’s article presents the tragedy of young black men in the American society. We can see that there is hope for the end of racism in the New Europe because the black men are socially accepted in the name of the high hypersexual performances. The author argues that despite the German society oppressing the black people using the asylum law, the young men are favoured by the white women. The author presents many encounters with German white women who expresses themselves openly that they admire the African young black men. There is a danger for the American black youths who are considered to perform well in music and sports, but, not in other careers. Careers in law, medicine, engineering and more are left for the whites. In addition, those young men referred to as “mixed-races” have no place in the society. In fact, they are considered as people of no identity. The research methodologies and presentation of information in the articles differs a lot. The article focusing on racism and ethnicity in the New Europe has enough evidence on how the black men interact with the German white men. The author presents direct speeches from both the German white women and the black men (Partridge 673). In this way, the reader would have enough reference when going through the article. He will get an in-depth understanding of race and ethnicity in the New Europe, which is based on evidence. For example, the author explains how a Greek woman confesses her conjugal interactions with the black men. In addition, he presents his view of the “dance clubs” that were dominated by the black men. He states that he had visited the New Europe where he encountered many black men and German white women (Partridge 677). The American-based article is a scholarly piece of writing which tries to explain the origins of ethnicity and race. Although the author does not provide direct speeches from the Americans he argues from an anthropological perspective, and draws valid conclusions. There is enough literature review in this article that focuses on the aspect of “race” as a social construct and the tragedy of “mixed-race” people and the young black men in the US. Another aspect that makes this article scholarly is the authors’ approach to scholars in the social field to research more about race and ethnicity. He urges them to consider other determinants of racism other than “race” identity. He points out that biophysical features attributed to black men also appear in the Native Americans, and these people are also discriminated against by their fellows. Thus, there are other underlying factors, which lead to racism (Smedley 695). However, the two articles are relevant especially for researchers in any social field related to cultural anthropology. The two articles contain research findings, which give an insight of what is happening the modern society. For example, the article focusing on America indicates the origin of the Black American occupations, who nowadays engage mostly in sports and music. Most Native Americans have dominated careers in biology, medicine, law and engineering (Smedley 694). Also, the notion that whoever possesses the black colour complexion is a “nigger” has been upheld up to date. The German-based Journal article indicates the history of current intermarriages between the black African men and German white women (Partridge 678). Conclusion The two articles are relevant to the topic “Ethnicity and Race” and thus they should be used in research or studies in other social fields such as sociology and philosophy. As the essay explains the author of the article, “Race and the Construction of Human Identity” focuses on America during the colonisation period until later in the eighteenth century (Smedley 691). The other article by Partridge is based on the New Europe’s community, which changed in terms of racial interactions after the fall of the Berlin wall. The authors present the various scenarios that can lead to the end of racism both in the New Land of America and the New Europe. However, the two journal articles differ in terms of their methodology and presentation formats, as well as, their coverage in the study of race and ethnicity. The two scholarly pieces of writing, however, gives adequate evidence on the modern racial and ethnic interactions both in US and Europe. Works Cited Partridge, Damani J. We Were Dancing in the Club, Not on the Berlin Wall: Black Bodies, Street Bureaucrats and Exclusionary Incorporation in the New Europe. Cultural Anthropology 23(4) (2008):660-687. Print. Smedley, R. "Race" and the Construction of Human Identity .American Anthropologist 100(3) (1999):690-702. Print. Read More