Modern definition of "ethnicity"

[Mortimer]

In my opinion, the modern definition of the word "ethnicity" is: The group of people that someone has strong social, cultural and linguistic ties/connections.

It means, if a person is considered as a part of an ethnicity by at least half of the other members of that ethnic group, he or she is also a part of that ethnicity.

Do you agree?

I agree partly, but not fully. I think it is one factor, but i think common ancestry is also a factor one factor doesnt neccessarily exclude the other factor they co-exist.

It reminds me of the white samurai though

[Mortimer]

Sort of. But to paraphrase Germaine Greer: "Whiteness is real and it is race. Englishness, Frenchness, Germanness etc. are unreal and they are ethnicity". While there is definitely a biological/genetic European (and to an extent Caucasoid) race, ethnicity is entirely a social construct.

You could see that now two ways, that whites are all the same is one way, that the difference between them is unreal but you could say that to be english or german you need to be white (doesnt matter what type of white), or you could see it that way that if ethnicity is unreal a black guy can be german or french then he is just a black french instead of a white french, but equally french.

I dont know what she means, but if she is a feminist or liberal probably the latter.

[Tooting Carmen]

You could see that now two ways, that whites are all the same is one way, that the difference between them is unreal but you could say that to be english or german you need to be white (doesnt matter what type of white), or you could see it that way that if ethnicity is unreal a black guy can be german or french then he is just a black french instead of a white french, but equally french.

I dont know what she means, but if she is a feminist or liberal probably the latter.

Greer wasn't discussing race at all at the time. Rather, she was talking about the transgender issue, saying that "female is real and it is sex. Femininity is unreal and it is gender". In other words, while sex is real and biological, transgender activists instead emphasise the social construct of gender - high heel shoes, long nails etc.

[Mortimer]

Greer wasn't discussing race at all at the time. Rather, she was talking about the transgender issue, saying that "female is real and it is sex. Femininity is unreal and it is gender". In other words, while sex is real and biological, transgender activists instead emphasise the social construct of gender - high heel shoes, long nails etc.

I think that biological sex and gender are two different concepts, and such is ideologically made up. You cannot argue against it, because it is a definition, the ideological guys made a definition seperating gender and biological sex, and it is something in itself which you cannot argue against.

[Sarin]

Same mother tongue cutting across local genetics , religion , jāti/biradri etc. except in case they settled elsewhere , adopted their language fully & are socially identified as such at large by themselves & host (which should be a rarity I guess)

Plz guys let us settle this once for all by vote or something & help Reboun move on with life .

[reboun]

Your definition completely omits the concept of common ancestry. If an alien were to interpret the term solely based on this definition, he might conclude that there is no connection between ancestry and ethnicity, but that's not how we use the term.

Doesn’t every person have at least one common ancestor? Maybe close or maybe distant but as far as I know each person is the cousin, nephew, niece, aunt or uncle of the other people. Therefore, having common ancestry does not mean two people are of the same ethnicity because having common ancestry is valid for all humans.

[rothaer]

In my opinion, the modern definition of the word "ethnicity" is: (...)

Do you agree?

No.

There's no reason to re-define an existent term when it's not about refining the current meaning (like when a meter was repeatedly re-defined) but changing the meaning (like saying a meter should be what is now 80 cm) instead of introducing a new term if there is a need for a term with the wished for meaning.

Btw. your aim is not to have a term for what you describe. Your aim is to manipulate people's thinking in a wished for by you direction.

[Aldaris]

Doesn’t every person have at least one common ancestor? Maybe close or maybe distant but as far as I know each person is the cousin, nephew, niece, aunt or uncle of the other people. Therefore, having common ancestry does not mean two people are of the same ethnicity because having common ancestry is valid for all humans.

Sure, we share a common ancestor, but the time frame matters. There is a difference between the last common ancestor living 500 or 30,000 years ago. Despite both having a common ancestor, I can obviously distinguish a Senegalese from a Norwegian for example. In other words, the whole 'we're all related' angle isn’t a magical erase button for biological distinctions, and just because the clusters aren't clear-cut doesn't mean they don't exist at all. Also, who said that people who share common ('recent') ancestry implies they are of the same ethnicity? That's not true either. I never claimed that ancestry is everything that matters and what you've listed is relevant as well. For example, Spaniards are close to the French, but they are of different ethnicity.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

I was listening to two morons debating about something I don't remember but one of them said a religious group was an ethnicity. The other guy didn't challenge that idea.

Morons, obviously.

[Anglo-Celtic]

I was listening to two morons debating about something I don't remember but one of them said a religious group was an ethnicity. The other guy didn't challenge that idea.

Morons, obviously.

Were they discussing Jews? They can be either, but converts aren't ethnic Jews, of course (unless Sammy Davis Jr. is a Black Hebrew Israelite).