Is ethnicity a “natural” or “socially constructed” phenomenon free essay sample

It is commonplace to think of ethnicity as a phenomenon that belongs to the cultural domain. By its very nature, ethnicity involves ways of thinking, feeling and acting that constitute the essence of culture. That ethnic groups have unique cultural character can hardly be denied. The problem, however, is that culture does not exist in a vacuum; nor is it fixed or unchanging. On the contrary, culture is constant flux and is integrally a part of a larger social process. The mandate for social inquiry, therefore, is that ethnic patterns should not be taken at face value, but must be related to the larger social matrix in which they are embedded (Steinberg, 1989). The theoretical perspective that governs this study insists on establishing the social origins of ethnic values and trends. Without doubt, ethnicity forms consciousness and influences behavior. This paper attempts to de-mystify ethnicity and looks into what brings forth this phenomenon. Is it a natural phenomenon or a socially constructed thing? This paper maintains that it is a socially constructed phenomenon that has an interrelationship with a broad array of historical, economic, political and social factors. Historical Perspective The late 1960s witnessed an outbreak of what might be called â€Å"ethnic fever.† One after another, the nation’s racial and ethnic minorities sought to rediscover their waning ethnicity and to reaffirm their ties to the cultural past. Ethnic fever had its origins in the black community, where Black Nationalism, after a long period of quiescence, emerged with renewed force. The contagion rapidly spread to other racial minorities—Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Asians, Native Americans—who formed a loosely organized coalition under the banner of the Third World. Eventually, ethnic fever reached the   â€Å"white ethnics†Ã¢â‚¬â€Jews, Irish, Italians, Poles and others of European ancestry. For decades, the dominant tendency among the nation’s ethnic and racial minorities had been toward integration into the economic, political and cultural mainstream. Now the pendulum seemed to be swinging back, as these groups repudiated their assimilationist tendencies. Though art, literature and politics, they sought to promote ethnic pride and solidarity, and to affirm their right to a separate identity within the framework of a pluralist nation (Steinberg, 1989). Definition of Attitudes An attitude is a tendency to respond positively or negatively to certain persons, objects or situations. Prejudice is an attitude. The word means â€Å"prejudgment.† It generally refers to the application of a previously formed judgment to some person, object or situation. It can be favorable or unfavorable. Usually prejudice comes from categorizing or stereotyping. Meanwhile, a stereotype is an oversimplified, fixed attitude or set of beliefs that is held about members of a group. Stereotypic attitudes usually do not allow for individual exceptions. Attitudes are composed of beliefs, feelings and behavior tendencies. Most psychologists agree that attitudes determine what we attend to in our environment, how we perceive the information about the object of our attention, and how we respond to that object. Thus, attitudes guide behavior (Steinberg, 1989). Development of Attitudes The development of attitudes is influenced by age and cognitive development. For example, according to Goodman (1964) and Derman-Sparks (1989), ethnic attitudes develop in the following sequence:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Phase I – awareness of ethnic differences, beginning at about age two-and-a-half to three.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Phase II – orientation toward specific ethnic-related and concepts, beginning at about age four.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Phase III – true attitudes toward various ethnic groups, beginning at about age seven This developmental sequence is probably due to the reaction of others to children’s appearance—remarks about skin color, hair and facial features alert one to the fact that people look different. Cognitive development also enters into the explanation. As children develop cognitively, they are more able to categorize differences. Experience with differences promotes more awareness. Other research has supported Goodman’s delineation of ethnic attitudes. Reviewing many studies of Anglo children’s attitudes toward other groups, Aboud (1988) analyzed that four-to seven-year old Anglo children were already aware that white is the ethnic identity favored by the society. They referred to other groups as â€Å"bad† or with negative characteristics. For example, â€Å"He is lazy because he is colored.† Many African American children felt ambivalent about being African American and were envious of Anglo children. Hispanic children followed a similar pattern. After age seven, however, children of all ethnic groups were less prejudiced toward other groups and had more positive attitudes toward their own group. Aboud explained young children’s prejudicial attitudes as due to cognitive immaturity rather than malice (Aboud, 1988). As children learn of the existence of ethnic categories, they also become aware of the evaluation attached to them. These evaluations come from the family, the peers the schools, including teachers and textbooks), and the media. Exemplifying how color attitudes can subtly be transmitted. A 1993 Caldecott Honor Book (recognition given for pictures), Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young, is about seven blind mice, each a different and brilliant color, whose task is to identify an obje3ct. The white mouse solves the riddle and correctly identifies the object as an elephant. Many have criticized the book, complaining that the white mouse is portrayed as a â€Å"savior,† thereby perpetuating prejudicial attitudes of â€Å"white supremacy† (Jacobs Tunnell, 1996). Whether children pick up subtle messages from the media depends on their real-life experiences and interactions, especially with parents. Studies of young children show that those with the most prejudicial attitudes have parents who are authoritarian, who use strict disciplinary techniques, and who are inflexible in their attitudes toward right and wrong (Katz, 1975; Boswel Williams. 1975; Aboud, 1988). Thus, rigid parental attitudes influence similar ones in their children. Prejudicial attitudes are not only found in regard to ethnic differences but in regard to disabilities as well. In a longitudinal study of children’s attitudes toward the mentally ill, Weiss (1994) found that  Ã‚   by the time children entered kindergarten, they already had stigmatized attitudes which remained stable after being examined eight years later. (Weiss, 1994).