3 ms·
> For example, the passages you quote above use “race” and “ethnicity” as synonyms, but they’re different both in theory and practice. The idea that there is a
by skissane 3y ago
> For example, the passages you quote above use “race” and “ethnicity” as synonyms, but they’re different both in theory and practice.
The idea that there is a clear distinction between race and ethnicity is very American. In much (most?) of the rest of the world, there isn’t. The Australian government officially refuses to take a position on what the distinction is - it prefers to just talk about ethnicity; when it acknowledges the concept of race at all, it treats it as roughly equivalent to ethnicity. I think most countries worldwide are closer to Australia on this issue than to the US
- rayiner 3y agoRace as a concept distinct from ethnicity arises out of slavery and segregation.
- skissane 3y ago> Race as a concept distinct from ethnicity arises out of slavery and segregation. Brazil also imported slaves from Africa, but its concepts of “race” have always been quite different - much more fluid - than those of the US. Brazil never had anywhere near as much segregation as the US. Indeed, I think US ideas about “race” weren’t caused by segregation, they pre-existed and caused segregation-Brazil never adopted those policies, despite the shared experience of African slavery, due to having different ideas about “race” from the start And there’s a lot about American ideas of “race” which can’t be explained by either slavery or segregation. I mentioned before the arbitrary boundary between “White” and “Asian”, drawn along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border - that seems to have no logical connection to either