While certain progressions have been made in the latest years, race and ethnicity still play a strong role in developing who we are as people, as well as how we are treated and how others look at us. And while many of these terms are similar, they are all different, too. They all reflect different aspects of our makeup, creating our individuality as well as our commonality and the associated pride with that. These are many outset physical properties that set us apart, or within groups. As such, they are easy to reflect upon. Importantly, these things all have genuine reflections within our day to day conversations, actions, activities, and more. Race and ethnicity still matter very much; because this is the case, we all must learn about each other to promote such equality amongst one another. Sadly, many cases of such inequality, or stratification, exist, although there has been progress made. This begs the question: Why do such divisions still exist and how can we overcome these divisions and stratifications together?
To me, race and ethnicity play a very important role in life. While I am Caucasian, I grew up in a diverse town with a blended mix of friends and neighbors. However, as I grew older, my family moved away and this diversity disappeared. In this, I saw much more discrimination and differing attitudes towards people of different race and ethnicity, which was--not to say completely unknown--different. As such, I believe that promotion of awareness about equality amongst race, ethnicity, gender, background, and all else is important. We can no longer believe in such inlaid superiority and castigate others because of fear, or hatred. Simply put, racism and its ilk have no place in our world.
