Race+and+Ethnicity

__**Essential Questions**__ 1. How does one define race & ethnicity? Are there clear and agreed upon definitions? 2. What is racialization and racism? What is implicit association? 3. How do race, ethnicity, and nationality play into the complex fabric of identity politics? 4. How is nationalism and state (political) power tied into these concepts? 5. How do the concepts of race, racialization, race, ethnicity, and nationalism play into political conflict? How are ethno-political/environmental/cultural conflicts different from one another? 6. What role does globalization play in the complex interplay of these many factors?

Check out the [|Human Race Machine]!

[|Race: The Power of an Illusion]


 * Is there such a thing as "race"?**
 * According to the Human Race Machine website, human's DNA is 99.97% identical between any two people, in which race is not a part of. There is no scientific answer to whether or not "race" exists.
 * The only way to determine race is by how society determines race. For example, the U.S. government created races for people from Latin America who immgrated to the U.S. They created names like Hispanic and Latino to characterize these immigrants. A problem with this is that Latin America is a very diverse place. People would not classify their selfs the same way some one in another country in Latin America.

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 * How is "ethnicity" defined?**
 * **ethnicity** (n) a term which represents social groups with a shared history, sense of identity, geography and cultural roots which may occur despite racial difference. ([|http://racerelations.about.com/od/skillsbuildingresources/g/ethnicityrace.htm)]

What is the origin of the US term "hispanic"?

Why do humans categorize themselves by racial or ethnic categories?

How does popular media portray "racial" or "ethnic" differences?

How do children's toys portray race or ethnicity?
 * Check out Razanne
 * What about [|Barbie]and its "Dolls of the World Collection"?

How does music portray race or ethnicity? South Africa addresses racial harmony... [|through its music!] See [|Freshlyground's website...]

Other questions to consider...


 * 1) The role of race and ethnicity in commercial media (you can use lots of YouTube links here!!)
 * 2) More on race in America, and how people are working with that very idea... (Hate groups might come into play here, too)
 * 3) More on the Two Towns of Jasper type incidents in America
 * 4) Certainly more on Rwanda... what happened, why there, and what now
 * 5) Other emerging race-based (or ethnic or national) conflicts anywhere in the world...