You see a person. Who you have known for a long time, and you wonder to yourself, where do they come from, and what traditions do they hold close to their heart? You walk close to them and take a deep breath to ask them a simple question: where did your family originally come from?
Ethnicity is a person’s identity based on common traditions, culture, and stories that a specific person has. Our ancestors and kin have passed down all of these common traditions, cultures, and stories, which scientists have traced back to our ancestors centuries ago. Ethnicity also affects one’s taught and innate traditions that they hold throughout one’s life. The ethnicity of a person is determined by the practices held by their parents rather than the origin of their birth. This means you can be born in France but still be ethnically Korean.
Depending on how the person practices their culture, one can spot another person’s identity from their habits and traditions. But in some cases where the parents have a history of being ethnically mixed, it becomes hard to trace back one’s ethnicity.
If it is possible, you can ask your biological parents what ethnicity they are and the traditions they hold from their place of origin. This is the easiest way to understand the story, culture, and traditions your ethnicity can offer to you.
Another method you can use to research the history of your ethnicity is by searching all about it online. With the availability of information online, you can easily learn about the history of your ethnicity and what traditions they hold. Note that this is not foolproof as misinformation can be easily spread online; it is best to rely on trusted and reliable sources of information.
There are plenty of documentaries that are available for you to watch and enjoy. These documentaries compile easy-to-digest information about your ethnicity without you having to spend more energy researching about said information. Not only that but also it could include more factual information that you may not easily find online.
One of the best ways to research your ethnicity is to learn about it from people with said ethnicity. You can learn so much more about your ethnicity from the passed down traditions and stories told to you by people of said ethnicity. Some of this information is not what you can readily find online.
Race is a personal identity that is determined by a person’s biological attributes that they have inherited from their biological parents. While ethnicity is concerned with the common traditions, stories, and culture a person has inherited from their parents and environment. Both race and ethnicity are closely associated with the person’s place of origin but it does not set the person’s race and ethnicity.
Ethnicity is the different common culture, traditions, and beliefs that a person embodies as their ethnic identity. While nationality is the citizenship of the person and is directly concerned with the personal and legal obligation and duty a person has to their country. Unlike ethnicity which is determined by one’s parents and ancestors, nationality is wholly dependent on the origin of birth of the individual.
We need to understand and know our ethnicity as it helps stabilize or center our self-identification and our place in the world. Whether you want to distance or ingrain yourself from your ethnical background it is important to understand why a specific tradition, culture, or practice is important to your ethnicity.
Ethnicity is a very important key factor in our understanding of one’s identity. Maslow, himself has suggested that self-actualization is the highest and most important human need we have to accomplish in one’s life.