Race and Ethnicity. The History of Anthropology

SOCIAL SCIENCES
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Social Sciences
PART # 1
Race and Ethnicity
Ethnicity refers to a population of humans whose members identify one another based on actual or presumed common genealogy. On the other hand, race is a system of grouping people based on their various sets of physical characteristics. Anthropologists have analyzed ethnicity as a historical system of grouping people based on their ancestral backgrounds. All human beings have their roots, and ethnicity identifies communities with common ancestral origin. Race is the main and most common system of grouping humanity. It classifies people based on their physical appearances, especially skin color. Anthropologists have classified human beings into a number of races including whites, red Indians, Hispanics, and Africans or blacks.
The History of Anthropology
Anthropology refers to the study of humanity. It involves the art and science, which focuses on the study of origins, cultural and physical developments, beliefs, biological characteristics, and social customs of humankind. The beginning of Anthropology dates back in 1860, where scientists developed an interest in prehistoric archeology, biology, and philology. Some of the earliest anthropologists in the history of the world include Charles Darwin, who describes the origin of Species in 1859. For example, Darwin confirms that all forms of life share a common ancestry.[Luke, Lassiter. Invitation to Anthropology. Plymouth: AltaMira Press, 2008.]
The Ways That Anthropologists Define Culture
Anthropologists define human culture in a number of ways. Some of the main branches of anthropology with which to define human culture include the linguistic, biological, and social-cultural anthropology. Linguistic anthropology focuses on the study of languages. Anthropologists believe that all communities of the world had a way of communicating. Hence, people who speak common languages belong to common cultural groups. Biological anthropology involves the study of human physicality. This includes the study of skin color and other physical characteristics. People with similar skin color and physical characteristics have been identified as those of a common culture such as the African culture, Indian culture, Hispanic culture, and white or European culture.[Ibid 1]
Language and Communication
Different communities, which live in different parts of the world, communicate in different languages. Language is an important part of humanity. It is the main channel through which persons with a common ethnicity communicate. Therefore, the study of languages has been pivotal for the classification of humanity based on their ancestral ...