Minority Identity - 1672 Words

David Vitullo Professor Sheen POLS 306 10/22/11 Identity can be based on many different factors including, but not limited to; race, color, political presence and participation, and culture. The way one identifies themselves can be shaped by their political ideology, their group identity, their partisan identification, their voting behavior and their interest in group activities. However the way one person may see themselves may not be the way they are perceived by others. Ascribed identity can be described as the way that society, or other people impose on you. A factor that is heavily involved in shaping ascribed identity is stereotyping. Stereotyping is defined as assign a set of particular attributes to a person based on†¦show more content†¦The effect of minority status has a great deal to do with the political representation of minority groups. The participation in civil rights movements, like the major one in the 1950 s and 1960 s conducted by the blacks, is a way for a minority, or â€Å"dominated,† group to empower themselves socially and politically. Minority status is still prevalent in our current political system and will continue to have a large, mostly negative, effect on the representation of these minority groups until a change is made. I think that with time will come a balance of power between groups and it will no longer be a minority versus majority situation, but a more level playing field that has an even say it what shapes our political lives. Race can be defined as groupings among people that are understood as having a physical and hereditary bias. Examples of these groupings are generalizing someone as black, white, yellow or brown. That being said, race is a social, not biological, construction that makes it easier for one group to assume â€Å"domination† over another. These groups can be classified by physical differences which can cause cultural differences. There is a historical legacy of policies, laws and social conventions that have sought to exclude certain groups and benefit another. The black versus white dynamic is probably the most recognized and most ingrained social construction in the United States. Beginning with the British coming to North America and bringing theirShow MoreRelatedThe Uncertainty Of Minority Identity In Claude Mckays America1652 Words   |  7 PagesThe Uncertainty of Minority Identity in Claude McKay s America Claude McKay was simultaneously a central and a peripheral figure in the Harlem Renaissance. McKay s name is inextricably linked with this poetic movement; his work was included in Alain Locke s seminal anthology The New Negro: An Interpretation (1925), cementing not only his success as a contemporary poet but also his significance as a black poet in America. However, McKay is an unusual case in that, unlike other notable Harlem poetsRead MoreRacial Identity And Development Of Minority Groups Essay1805 Words   |  8 PagesRace — as a social construct, a pseudo-biological concept, and an identifying demographic — has undeniably been ubiquitous in the history of human otherness. In particular, the ascribing of racial identities to a group, or â€Å"racialization†, has played a vital role in the conception and development of minority groups. This phenomenon continues to shape ideas about race and ethnicity, albeit in less dramatic ways than in the antebellum South . Nevertheless, people blinded by privilege claim that they areRead More Ethnic Identity and African Americans Essay871 Words   |  4 Pages Ethnic Identity and African Americans Ethnic Identity Ethnic identity is the sum total of group member feelings about those values, symbols, and common histories that identify them as a distinct group (Smith 1991). 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