Defining Ethnicity and Race

We’re coming back from a brief hiatus, so I’m excited to be bringing you a new episode. So, what’s the difference between ethnicity and race? I had always assumed that they were the same thing: what physical characteristics a person has that can be attributed to a certain group of people. But in reality, ethnicity is a much more complex, abstract concept regarding how strongly we identify with our cultural origins or surroundings. Is one a more important and valid representation of a person’s background than the other? Mrs. McKinney gives a summarization of the two concepts. Mrs. McKinney also recants the experience of being stereotyped on campus as a latinx-identifying woman and the numerous words typically associated with Hispanic people that reinforce ethnic assumptions. That and more on today’s episode of White-Passing.