As I read both Bernier and Kant’s thoughts on the idea and
definitions of both race and ethnicity, I could but contemplate the implications
such a discussion has on my own brother who is biracial. While he has both
black and white ancestry, the darkness of his skin urges the superficial eyes
of our society to view him as a member of the black race. This external
evaluation of one’s heritage based upon placing an individual in a particular
race category due to varying degrees of skin color follow both philosopher’s
arguments. This practice is also consistent with both the past and current
practice of our society to focus an individual’s identity around the fairly
crude structure of skin color. However, shortly after my brother was adopted
when he was two, my parents changed his name from a fairly non-traditional name
to one which is commonly used throughout the Judeo-Christian society.
Furthermore, at this young age, my brother was moved from the Urban area
surrounding Baton Rouge to the suburbs of Houston. In this area, my brother was
surrounded by a white neighborhood, white friends, and, quite simply, a white
society. For this reason, my brother has told me that he probably identifies
more with the white community than I myself do.
Because of this, I believe race as
defined by Bernier and Kant is insufficient in properly categorizing cultural
identifications. Thus, it is my argument that the philosopher’s definition of
ethnicity best accounts for possible variations in race and cultural
identification. For example, legally my brother, despite the color of his skin,
is a Landolt and as such, at least on paper, he can be thought of as a member
of a white family. Therefore, legally and arguably culturally, my brother is
ethnically white. If this is true, ethnicity is based upon not only a legal transferal
of name but also upon a changed empirical response due to a changing cultural
environment. Thus, my brother is both racially black while being ethnically
white. Quite honestly, I did not expect this massive diversion in definitions
between these two ideas, and yet, at least to me, this seems to be the only
rational conclusion based upon my existing understanding of these two terms. As
such, my brother seems to exist as a complete contradiction as his race seems
to come into conflict with his ethnicity, or cultural identification. This
leads me to conclude that the empirical experience is integral to our
understanding of ethnicity due to varying ethnic groups being formed as a result
of religion and cultural identification. What are the effects of this
assessment? Can race and ethnicity truly be independent of one another?
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