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Ruqaya Yassin
Professor Louise Bown
English 1050
Aug 6, 2016
Essay 2
Ethnicity
I have never really understood the difference between Ethnicity and
Race. I always kind of thought these two words were the same. Although,
they kind of go hand in hand, ethnicity is more of a social group that shares a
common and distinctive culture, religion, or language. Whereas race is more
of a physical attribute, like the color of the skin, or more distinct physical
features like the color of ones eyes, or bone structure. I think I understand
what the word means now, and I have a lot of strong opinions with this word.
I know that there is prejudice behaviors associated with ones ethnicity,
which is often confused with race, yet they are totally different in many
ways. I believe that the issues faced with ethnicity have always been an
issue with people in different parts of the world, and different time periods. It
is also a very relevant topic in the present time. There are so many conflicts
in many parts of the world, that we are forced to try and understand different
cultures of the world. As Gloria Anzaldua stated from one of her teachers, If
you want to be American, speak American. If you dont like it, go back to
Mexico where you belong (Anzaldua, 521). This kind of behavior is still going
on at the present time. Through some of the readings that I will attest to, the
behavior of different ethnic groups can have many positive and negative
effects on the future of our country.
Language is a key definition of someones ethnicity. There are many
different ethnicities within the United States. For example, Black English is a
type of language that is being more known and understood. This language
has had a history of believing it belongs to undereducated black people. As
June Jordan writes, I know that standard forms of English for Black people in

this country do not copy that of Whites (Jordan, 158). This is often confused
with racial profiling, yet its just another type of an ethnic group that is not
fully understood or even cared too much about. I think Jordans assumptions
between language and Identity is real. I think the language identifies a
person on the surface, but absolutely not their real identity. Black English
doesnt seem to be widely accepted, and assumptions will always be made
on a persons ethnicity because of their language. I really believed that
Jordans writing was very good, using raw behavior that was real and honest,
and to the point, without censoring bad sentiment. I personally could never
connect to this type of language, but after reading Jordans article, I could
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understand this ethnic group more and more, and I have the ability to accept
this language and have actually enjoyed reading and understanding how it
works with these people. Society as a whole has begun, and will continue to
understand, like I did, this different language.
Refugees pose another problem with how people view different
ethnicities. Sometimes we ignore, or just accept bad things in the world
when there are a lot of people suffering. Refugees are from different ethnic
backgrounds, and the majority has a tendency to reject helping refugees
because its apparently not our problem, and we dont have room to open up
our borders to the needy. There are many issues in todays world that affect
us in everyday living, yet without the knowledge and understanding of other
cultures, how can we expect to help ourselves, or ask for help someday if
needed?
Although, trying to stay on topic on Ethnicity Mike Davis writes In a
city of several million aspiring immigrants (where Spanish-surname children
are now almost two-thirds of the school-age population), public amenities are
shrinking radically, libraries and playgrounds are closing, parks are falling
derelict, and streets are growing ever more desolate and dangerous. (Davis,
287). This is a topic of not only class warfare, but is on a fine line of problems
with different Ethnicities. The argument can be made that the prejudices can
be blamed on economic issues, but I believe it digs deeper than that. Ethnic
backgrounds of Urban life, tends to be more of the non-white people, or at

least people that are from other countries; Immigrants. Not only do we
shame, or at least ignore these people elsewhere, but we are doing the same
negative thing in our own backyard. The fear of the unknown takes control of
peoples lives, and doing nothing actually hurts the oppressed people,
whereas do nothing is as bad as purposely doing something negative. This
approach can stop, if people would listen and talk more to people of different
ethnic backgrounds. This can fall into the same exact category of race issues
and class issues. The diversity in the world all boils around these points. If we
fail to make positive changes, then we will always have these issues forever.
People will continue to be labeled in a negative manner, simply because of
their ethnicity.
There has been a lot of focus on Ethnicity concerning our neighbors to
the South of us. Mexico. As we have read in Amitava Kumars article, a judge
said Now, get this straight. You start speaking English to this child because
if she doesnt do well in school, then I can remove her because its not in her
best interest to be ignorant. The child will only hear English. (Kumar, 516).
What a shame that a lot of people in this great country of ours have stooped
to a level of discriminating those of a particular ethnic background. Mexico is
a very hot and relative topic, especially as Donald Trump fills the airwaves
with lies and hate. The judging of ethnic groups, whether it is the country of
Mexico, or the people of the Middle East, is absolutely the most
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embarrassing thing that people can be brainwashed into believing. I am

thankful for not being incorrectly judged, or so I think, by so many people,
because this is just a promotion of hate.
In conclusion, we have learned a lot about diversities of different
cultures in this English 1050 class, including all the different students that we
learned about through the weekly discussions. I never really knew how much
I knew, and how much I didnt know until this class. It is amazing how every
assignment we have done is somewhat related to each other. Everything
from the slavery from a historic and present day view, from Indians and their
portrayal in photographs, from different languages and dialects from around
the country, and different social class distinctions and gender bias. Whether

it is about race, ethnicity, class or gender, if we can just try and focus
entirely on one of these subjects, then I believe we can slowly integrate
everything into a positive change throughout this world. I really doubt this
will happen, but as the saying goes, doing nothing, only helps the
oppressor.

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Works cited
Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to tame a wild tongue?" Reading Culture: Context for
Critical Reading and Writing. George, Diana & Trimbur, John. New York:
Pearson, 2012. Pages 521-527.
Jordan, June. "Nobody mean more to me than you and the future life of Willie
Jordan" Reading Culture: Context for Critical Reading and Writing. George,
Diana & Trimbur, John. New York: Pearson, 2012. Pages 157-167.
Obama, Barack. "A more perfect Union" Reading Culture: Context for Critical
Reading and Writing. George, Diana & Trimbur, John. New York: Pearson,
2012. Pages 476-483.
Davis, Mike. "Fortress Los Angeles" Reading Culture: Context for Critical
Reading and Writing. George, Diana & Trimbur, John. New York: Pearson,
2012. Pages 287-292.
Kumar, Amitava. "Passport photos" Reading Culture: Context for Critical
Reading and Writing. George, Diana & Trimbur, John. New York: Pearson,
2012. Pages 514-518.