Race and Ethnicity:The Elderly

Race and ethnicity have been a crucial aspect of classification in the community. Race is said to belong rather to social classification than biological classification because of various reasons. The biological sense of different races may appear to be the same. This would require experts to recognize the difference. Many people determine the race of any individual based on the color of their skin. Therefore, the biological sense behind the different races may not be applicable. Sociologists believe that the appearance would determine the race and ethnicity of any individual. Biologically, genes of an American and an African may be the same, but when it comes to the appearance, it differs.

Biologically, every human being may appear to be the same. Race appears to be branded by some stereotypes, which may be polite or inappropriate considering the individual race. Races can be judged according to these stereotypes. Pigmentation can be said to be used in the social classification of many people. The black skin appears to be negatively perceived in most continents with immorality qualities. This makes the whites believe that they can be superior to the blacks in all aspects. This illustrates how race can be rather of social construct than biological construct especially with the increase in interracial marriages (Henslin, 2012).

In America, race can be said to be the leading social association factor in that one would only belong to a respectable class if they are qualified to be totally white. In the European countries, their basis of social structure depends on the SES status. In all the discrimination cases, they do not consider the biological differences since they know that they might appear similar. The appearance can be used to discriminate people as the factor to determine the social class of an individual. Race and ethnicity can be significance differences leading to the different social activities so as to act according to the stipulated stereotypes.