Can you help me understand this Psychology question?

Main Discussion: United States Census

Defining your racial and ethnic identities has to do with how you classify race and identity and how others categorize them as well. Race refers to the conception that people can be categorized into groups based on skin color, hair texture, and facial features. Japanese is an example of a racial group. Ethnicity refers to a group of people who share a sense of connectedness based on national origin, language, or religion. Irish-Catholic is an example of an ethnic group. The term culture also appears in discussions about race and ethnicity. Culture refers to shared attitudes and behaviors, such as customs. People of the same race and ethnicity often share culture as well, and you may notice some overlap between culture, race, and ethnicity.

There are different approaches used to define racial and ethnic identities. Your text emphasizes an approach called constructionism. Constructionists argue that definitions of race and ethnicity cannot be separated from social processes, such as political, legal, economic, and other outside influences. They believe that these outside influences “construct” definitions of race and ethnicity, and definitions change as social processes change. For example, black children in the 1950s may have felt they were not as valued, not as competent, and not as “good” as white children because social processes at the time supported these ideas. Political and economic influences favored white children over black children. Social processes in the current era reject favoring white children over black children. Constructionism has both benefits and limitations when you consider your own racial and ethnic identities.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the “Framework Essay” as well as the assigned pages in Readings 1, 4, and 7 from Section I of the course text, The Meaning of Difference. Pay particular attention to the concept of constructionism as it relates to race and ethnicity.
• Think about how you define your own racial and ethnic identities.
• Consider how the constructionist approach has influenced your racial and ethnic identities.
• Reflect on the benefits and limitations of the constructionist approach as it relates to your racial and ethnic identities.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 3

Post a brief description of your racial and ethnic identities; that is, how do you define your race and ethnicity? After reading about the constructionist model, explain how it influences your racial and ethnic identities. In your explanation, include specific references that are personal to your racial and ethnic identity. Finally, briefly explain what you see are the benefits and limitations of a constructionist approach to one’s identity.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

By Day 5

Respond to at least one of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question and provide insight into how you would answer your question and why.
• Ask a probing question and provide the foundation, or rationale, for the question.
• Expand on your colleague’s posting by offering a new perspective or insight.
• Agree with a colleague and offer additional (new) supporting information for consideration.
• Disagree with a colleague by respectfully discussing and supporting a different perspective.
  
  

  Learning Resources

  Required Readings

  Review the Course Preview and read the Course Introduction

  Rosenblum, K. E., & Travis T. C. (2016). The meaning of difference: American constructions of race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class, sexuality, and disability (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

  • Section I, “Framework Essay”
  • Section I, Reading 1, “‘Race’ and the Construction of Human Identity”
  • Section I, Reading 4, “Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America”
  • Section I, Reading 7, “Whiteness as an ‘Unmarked’ Cultural Category”
  • Section I, Reading 3, “The Evolution of Identity”

  Select one of the following articles to review for your Application this week. (You do not need to read them all.)

  Adeleke, O. A., Bamidele, R., & Omokeji, R. (2014). Indigenous capitalist class, social stratification, and life chances in contemporary Nigeria society. Public Policy and Administration Research, 4(7), 11–15. Retrieved from http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/PPAR/artic…

  Birkelund, G. E., & Lemel, Y. (2013). Lifestyles and social stratification: An explorative study of France and Norway. Retrieved from https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-0087045…

  BBC. (2016). What is India’s caste system? Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616

  Mukherjee, R. (2000). Caste in itself, caste and class, or caste in class. Journal of World-Systems Research, 6(2). doi:10.5195/jwsr.2000.229. Retrieved from http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/vi…

  Rankin, B., Ergin, M., & Göksen, F. (2014). A cultural map of Turkey. Cultural Sociology, 8(2), 159–179. doi:10.1177/1749975513494878