America has in the past had immigrations that brought about the various ethnic groups that exist in the vast country. The existence of different ethnic groups here has since impacted on its racial relations. Race may be defined as a biological variance between two groups of people.
The phenotypic racial difference is characterized by physical appearances while the genotypic racial difference is determined by variance in genetic makeup. There are quite a number of racial groups in the USA. They include the whites, blacks, Asians and Indians. Additionally, there are other groups of Americans who are not recognized in any of these racial categories. These are Hispanics, Asian Indians, Arab Americans and Bi-racial persons.
While races can be differentiated on a phenotypic (physical appearance) basis, they cannot be differentiated on a genotypic basis (genetic makeup). This is because people from different races can be identified by their complexion and other physical and cultural perceptions but their genetic makeup remains more or less the same.
This is because of the fact that they belong to the same species. Researches indicate that humans have a tiny genetic variation of about 0.5%; inconsiderate of their physical differences. This difference is too small to give rice to a considerable variation on ability or innate intelligence.
This implies that the difference in genetic composition of humans may only be used to establish human physical appearance as opposed to determining ability. However, this has given rise to a number of debates as to why some racial groups are comparably better at carrying out some activities than others.
Every racial group is characterized by its unique and distinct cultural beliefs and practices. The distinction in cultural beliefs and practices has brought about the perception of some social groups as superior and others inferior. This is a justification of social disparities and exploitation of groups perceived as inferior by their superior counterparts. It is important to note that this is also the cause of racisms that is a menace in America. Racism is a belief of instinctive inferiority of a cluster of races as a result of their biological disparities.
Ethnicity, on the other hand, incorporates race as its component. People of the same ethnic group share universal cultural and racial ancestry. Therefore, the membership of a person in an ethnic group is innate and based on birth and hence cannot be altered. However, there have been arguments that ethnicity can be altered as dictated by social circumstances of an individual or situation.
This is still subject to a lot of debates since ethnicity has always been perceived as the ancestral origin to which someone or a group of people can be traced or identified with. Owing to the fact that some ethnic clusters are smaller in terms of numbers as compared to others, there is bound to be ethnic prejudice. The smaller ethnic groups are discriminated against by the bigger groups because of their inability to be heard.
Ethnic prejudice is the negative perception or beliefs people may have on others. Ethnic discrimination, on the other hand, is the actual manifestation of ethnic prejudice in terms of actions. This is, in most occasions, exhibited through unequal treatment. Ethnic minority may come as a result of indigenous inhabitants of a given geographical location being dominated over by immigrants who may be larger in number.
Additionally, it may come about when a small group of immigrants are dominated over by indigenous inhabitants. In the USA, for instance, the helm of ethical superiority is dominated by the whites and their black counterparts come at the bottom of the hierarchy ladder. Other ethnic clusters are positioned in between.