The terms race and ethnicity have been used interchangeably for years but actually define two very different things.
Race
- Classification based on genetic characteristics
- Anthropologists have classically defined three races in the human species, based primarily on physical characteristics: Negroid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid.
- Today, however, anthropologists stress the heterogeneity of the world’s population and many reject the concept of race outright.
Ethnicity
- A designation ascribed to a specific population or group of people having a common heritage distinguished by customs, characteristics, language, common history and national origin.
- There are many ethnic groups within each race.
- Used for identification rather than differentiation