There are many reasons the word race is a heated topic of debate today. Occasionally, they might even be painful.Īs we grapple with our divisions like never before, as we aspire to embrace our diversity like never before, it’s more important than ever to better understand what is meant, exactly, by the words race and ethnicity. These descriptors might be deeply personal. The ways a person might utilize race and ethnicity to define their identity are myriad. But the uses of these often interrelated terms very often don’t intertwine. The words race and ethnicity don’t share a dictionary definition, and yet their meanings sometimes overlap, helping individuals define not just their skin tone and other physical characteristics, but their ancestry and heritage as well. They’ve also never been so complicated to untangle.

In this cultural moment, the concepts of race and ethnicity have never been more important to grasp. Arguments about border walls, language barriers-rising tensions over immigration despite an increasingly diverse populace. National debates over offensive names of sports team names and conflicts over the place of Confederate monuments in our culture. Historic protests against racial inequality.

Another word for previous studies