<p>"Ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics used to classify people into (ethnic) 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.</p>
<p>It is important not to confuse the term minority with ethnic group. Ethnic groups 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.</p>
<p>For many people, ethnic categorization implies a connection between biological inheritance and culture. They believe that biological 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. This is not true. The pioneering 19th century English anthropologist E. B. Tylor was able to demonstrate conclusively that biological race and culture are not the same thing. It is clear that any one 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.</p>
<p>For example, both women in the photographs on the right are genetically African, but they do not speak the same language nor do they share any other significant cultural patterns due to the fact that they were brought up in very different societies. The African American woman is far more similar culturally to her European American neighbors than to the Senegalese woman.</p>
<p>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 biologically an extremely homogenous species. 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 relatives, the chimpanzees have 2-3 times more genetic variation than people. Orangutans have 8-10 times more variation.</p>
<p>It is now clear that our human "races" are cultural creations, not biological realities. The concept 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.</p>
<p>The popularly held view of human races ignores the fact that anatomical traits supposedly identifying a particular race are often found extensively in other populations as well. This is due to the fact that similar natural selection factors in different parts of the world often result in the evolution of similar adaptations. For instance, intense sunlight in tropical latitudes has selected for darker skin color as a protection from intense ultraviolet radiation. As a result, the dark brown skin color characteristic of sub-Saharan Africans is also found among unrelated populations in the Indian subcontinent, Australia, New Guinea, and elsewhere in the Southwest Pacific.</p>
<p>The actual patterns of biological variation among humans are extremely complex and constantly changing. They can also be deceptive. All of us could be classified into a number of different "races", depending on what genetic traits are emphasized. For example, if you divide people up on the basis of stature or blood types, the geographic groupings are clearly different from those defined on the basis of skin color. Using the B blood type for defining races, Australian Aborigines would be lumped together with most Native Americans. Some Africans would be in the same race as Europeans while others would be categorized with Asians.</p>
<p>Historically, human "races" have been defined on the basis of a small number of superficial anatomical characteristics that can be readily identified at a distance, thereby making discrimination easier. Focusing on such deceptive distinguishing traits as skin color, body shape, and hair texture causes us to magnify differences and ignore similarities between people. It is also important to remember that these traits are no more accurate in making distinctions between human groups than any other genetically inherited characteristics. All such attempts to scientifically divide humanity into biological races have proven fruitless.</p>
<p>In the final analysis, it is clear that people, not nature, create our identities. Ethnicity and supposed "racial" groups are largely cultural and historical constructs. They are primarily social rather than biological phenomena. This does not mean that they do not exist. To the contrary, "races" are very real in the world today. In order to understand them, however, we must look into culture and social interaction rather than biological evolution"</p>
<p>From <a href="http://anthro.palomar.edu/ethnicity/ethnic_1.htm#return_from_ethnic_identity_question%5B/url%5D">http://anthro.palomar.edu/ethnicity/ethnic_1.htm#return_from_ethnic_identity_question</a></p>
<p>I am a reformed Jew, and I am Russian, too. But I am a fourth-generation Russian, and have few if any ties to Russia. I had my friend teach me some Russian last summer, but other than that, I have nothing to do with Russia. Does that make me not racial Russian? No, I am still racially Russian (Caucazoid, as they say), and slightly ethnically Russian. Really though, I am ethnically Jewish and American. Race, as it was said earlier, has few variations, and ethnicity means much more. Ethnicity can greatly vary. Most people that consider there to be distinct racial groups consider three; Mongoloid, Caucazoid, and Negroid. The US government also includes Native American on its list of possibilities, and it may include Hispanic or Latino as a possible choice on the census. This issue is hotly debated.</p>
<p>Even though this thread was started as a joke, let us address the issue anyway. Jews , an extremely small minority in the US and the world, get no preferential treatment in college admissions for any reason. Many advertisements and signs appeared in the papers and various other places, stating, Blacks and Jews need not apply for various jobs. This also occurred with other ethnic groups, such as the Irish. Jews get no special treatment. Anti-Semitism also existed in the elite Ivies, where people knew Jews were not admitted, and admissions officers give no special consideration. </p>
<p>I would say, however, that Jews do have an advantage in college admissions, just like Asians. The trend in Asian households is to have parents encouraging, motivating, or sometimes forcing children to work hard and perform well, and Judaism tends to produce similar results. Many Jewish parents expect from their Jewish children what many Asian adults expect from their Asian children. Also, the religion survived because its practitioners were learned scholars, and the culture includes much thought. Many spend years of their lives studying the intricacies of obscure laws. A lot of Jewish kids learn Hebrew and read various texts including the Torah, causing other learning to be easier for them, eventually leading to the possibility of harder classes, better grades, and therefore, college admissions.</p>