Passage One

1．Have you ever asked yourself what are the defining characteristics of being“white”or“black”in America today?Is it solely a matter of skin color?Are other factors important or even more important?What makes someone“Hispanic”or“Latino．”Is it language or country of origin or cultural traditions or family values or religion or Skin color?Can you be“white”or“black”and Hispanic at the same time?Can you be a non-Spanish speaking member of one of Mexico's Indian communities and be Hispanic?The answers to these questions probably are not entirely clear to you nor are they to most Americans．It addition，the answers very likely will differ depending on the region of America in which you live．

2．The ways in which we personally acquire our own group identities are often complex．Similarly，the way we assign group identity to others is not always straight forward．Race and ethnic group labels in America are not clearly based on criteria that everyone understands，agrees with，and can easily use．As a result，someone else may label you in a way that you consider inaccurate and very offensive．To comprehend the human diversity of the United States or any other country，it is important to first understand the criteria commonly used for making group distinctions．These generally are based on cultural and/or biological factors．Americans tend to see each other in terms of age，economic class，religion，gender，ethnicity，and race．We are usually a member of a particular group for each of these criteria．Which of our group identities is most important varies with the social situation．In America today，gender，ethnicity，and race often have the most far ranging impacts on us as individuals．

3．Ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics used to classify people into groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others．Commonly recognized American ethnic groups include American Indians，Latinos，Chinese，African Americans，European Americans，etc．In some cases，ethnicity involves merely a loose group identity with little or no cultural traditions in common．This is the case with many Irish and German Americans．In contrast，some ethnic groups are coherent subcultures with a shared language and body of tradition．Newly arrived immigrant groups often fit this pattern．

4．It is important not to confuse the term minority with ethnic group．Ethnic group may be either a minority or a majority in a population．Whether a group is a minority or a majority also is not an absolute fact but depends on the perspective．For instance，in some towns along the southern border of the U．S．，people of Mexican ancestry are the overwhelming majority population and control most of the important social and political institutions but are still defined by state and national governments as a minority．In small homogenous societies，such as those of hunters and gatherers and pastoralists，there is essentially only one ethnic group and no minorities．

5．For many people，ethnic categorization implies a connection between biological inheritanceandculture．Theybelievethatbiological inheritance determines much of cultural identity．If this were true，for instance，African American cultural traits，such as“black English”，would stem from genetic inheritance．We now know that this is not true—biological race and culture are not the same thing．The pioneering English anthropologist Edward Tylor may have been the first scientist to understand this fact and to state it in print．In 1871，he wrote that cultural traits are entirely learned．Subsequently，a baby can be placed into another culture shortly after birth and can be thoroughly enculturated to that culture，regardless of their skin color，body shape，and other presumed racial features．

6．A race is a biological subspecies，or variety of a species，consisting of a more or less distinct population with anatomical traits that distinguish it clearly from other races．This biologist's definition does not fit the reality of human genetic variation today．We are an extremely homogenous species genetically．As a matter of fact，all humans today are 99．9%genetically identical，and most of the variation that does occur is in the difference between males and females and our unique personal traits．This homogeneity is very unusual in the animal kingdom．Even our closest biological relatives，the chimpanzees have 2-3 times more genetic variation than people．Orangutans have 8-10 times more variation．

7．It is now clear that our human“races”are primarily cultural creations，not biological realities．The commonly held belief in the existence of human biological races is based on the false assumption that anatomical traits，such as skin color and specific facial characteristics，cluster together in single distinct groups of people．They do not．There are no clearly distinct“black”，“white”，or other races．

Questions for Understanding

1．Why does the author raise so many questions at the very beginning of the passage?

2．According to paragraph 2，why do people need to conceptualize“race”and“ethnicity”?

3．What makes ethnicity?Is such term as“Latino”or“Chinese”an ethnic concept or racial concept?

4．What do you think the identical genetic make-up of human beings may disprove?

5．In what way(s)is the assumption about race false?