Amadea T wrote:
I think ANY half breed (pardon me for the probably highly PI term here) are absolutely gorgeous.

What the everloving fuck. Breeds are for dogs and cats. People have races. Some of us are "mixed race." Not "half breed." Please leave that terminology in To Kill a Mockingbird and do not ever use it in public or private ever again.

V Laroche wrote:
People have races.

People invented races to justify the mistreatment of other human beings.

JadeDRed wrote:

People invented races to justify the mistreatment of other human beings.

Well, races do have a genetic basis, but yes, many of our conceptualizations of race are social constructs. That doesn't make race any less of a reality.

V Laroche wrote:

What the everloving fuck. Breeds are for dogs and cats. People have races. Some of us are "mixed race." Not "half breed." Please leave that terminology in To Kill a Mockingbird and do not ever use it in public or private ever again.

Not according to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-breed


I am half Black and half white (swedish/english)

Call Me Caitlin wrote:

Does that include me?

TBH, I can't tell the differences between most Asian people. All I know is that people from Northern Asia have lighter skin, and that the Japanese & Korean are extremely fashion conscious.

Yes, that does include you.

Facial features, the nose in particular vary.  If you are familiar with the differences, you can often pick out someone from Laos as distinct from a Veit Namese, etc.

s c i a t h wrote:
Irish, Lebanese and Sicilian

My husband is half Lebanese. <3

Selina Katzen wrote:
I don't really see the issue some people have with this topic. It's nice to know your heritage, and where your ancestors are from

the "issue" is how people mix up ethnicity (see title of the thread) with heritage, ancestry and/or nationality . But that's okay.

Gallery-MG wrote:
It's just a question.  A person's ethnic background can inform their cultural background and practices.  It's not always nefarious.

EDIT:  OF COURSE ethnicity doesn't always equate to "culture," but it can.  I suppose my contention is your original statement: "It [questions re: ethnicity] exists only for bad reasons."  Obviously that isn't true.  It's a neutral question.

This is a point worth noting. Some people say "ethnicity" and are referring to a cultural identification/influence/upbring. Some say it and they're referring to biological characteristics.

Ironically, most who expound on their ethnicity are culturally 100% American with generally identifiable racial traits.

Anna Adrielle wrote:
the "issue" is how people mix up ethnicity (see title of the thread) with heritage, ancestry and/or nationality . But that's okay.

It's not difficult to mix it up. The term seemed to rise in prominence around the time when nationality became an understood/definable term. It was when nation-states and national borders began to be defined, which may or may not have properly encompassed racially/culturally similar groups. So you'd have a nation with 70% of one group and 30% of another which looked different and may have even spoken a different language altogether. Their nationality would be one thing and their ethnicity would be another.

Then, with further colonial expansion, you'd have people coming to places like the Americas and begin to equate a nation with ethnicity when that's not really the case. Some, for instance, say their ethnicity is Italian but there are a number of ethnic groups within Italy. A friend of mine originally from Russia but lived in the States since being about 10 was pretty candid in the fact that due to how he looked, Russians from Moscow would know he was from Southern Russia with only a glance. In the States, when someone says they're ethnically Russian, we don't ask what type; we tend to look at it as just this one thing.

Sure, people frequently confuse it but it is pretty easy to do so.

Erik Ballew wrote:
Scandinavian - 6.5 feet tall, blonde hair, Blue eyes, Red beard.  UV sensitive, thick curly hair, and I can grow my own sweater in the winter!

According to one theory, the red hair gene comes from the Neanderthal

rp_photo wrote:

According to one theory, the red hair gene comes from the Neanderthal

Makes sense.  Maybe skin cancer lead to their extinction?