How One Identifies as a Member of an Ethnicity, Race or Sexual Orientation

Identity of an individual is dependent on their beliefs and their practices. Different people belong to various cultures hence a different ethnicity, race and sexual orientation. These are used to determine the identity, which is shared with several people. People of a particular race or ethnicity uniquely portray their beliefs and values, which they share in their style. Individuals identify with a particular group of gender or sexual orientation because they have a shared interest.

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Race

People identify with a certain race when they belong to either the blacks or the whites. These are the two main categories that researchers base their data during collection. Other races include Asian, black American and Native Hawaiian. One could be living in America while their ancestry is Asian. It becomes a common response when people are tested. Some white people may have always thought of themselves as being 100% European only to find out that they have some substantial African ancestry (Blair, McWhorter, Brenth, 269). Similarly, some people regard themselves as being black and later discover that the African ancestry only makes a minority option of their DNA.

Identifying with a certain original race needs testing. People who may regard themselves as belonging to a particular race may find out that they actually belong to another. More testing on the family members will help to clarify the issue. These categories tend to draw hard and sharp distinctions among groups (Blair et al., 304). There are specific features for the whites such as the skin color that is different from that of the blacks.

Ethnicity

Individuals identify with a particular social group having a common national or cultural tradition. These people identify with a particular heritage that they uphold. However, a person's traits and parameters can change dependent on the prevailing political and social context. The main ethnic groups in the United States are such as one can identify themselves as being Hispanic or Latino.

Ethnicity is related to race because it is based on social traits while race depends on the beliefs of a certain group of people that share biological characteristics (Blair et al., 306). The blacks and whites could be in the same ethnic group because of their social characters. The ethnic groups such as Russian Jewish, Irish and Italian American may be a group of members that are in the racial category of being whites. The ethnic group known as British may be inclusive of citizens from a wide range of racial backgrounds such as whites, blacks and Asians.

Sexual Orientation

Identifying with a particular social orientation is enduring a pattern of sexual attraction. It could be to individuals of opposite sex or gender, same-sex or gender or both sexes. These people are grouped into three categories which are, bisexuality, homosexuality and heterosexuality. Sexual orientation determines who one is drawn to emotionally, sexually and romantically. Some individuals are not sure about their sexual orientation and are known as curious. Similarly, others do not experience sexual attraction for any group, hence the name asexual. These different sexual orientations group people into their particular areas that they can identify with and interact.

Work cited

Blair, B., McWhorter H. John, Brenth Staples "why race isn't as black and white as we think" "why i'm black, not African American" Culture and identity - chapter 8, 262-309.