Culture Versus Race?

is culture/race automatically synonymous with one another? or is it something that is always presumed? Which would you say has had the greatest influence on your own personality. this is kinda a spinoff of the "which nationality of black men do you prefer" thread ,but overall i just want a general opinon.

 

I think each race is divided into cultures. I know my culture influences me more than anything else. If someone asks what I am I don't say white I say Italian. I actually don't know many people who call themselves white...they will say their ethnic origin. Culture and race are different. If you look at different African ethnic groups the culture varies greatly and African Americans are different from Africans and people from the Caribbean, just like with European and North Americans are different. There are always exceptions to this of course because some families hold on to culture more than others.

 

Culture and race are two different things.
We associate race with culture which is at the root of stereotypes and bigotry.

My culture [which is to say my environment] has the most influence on me and who I've become.

When people see me they see an average black man and depending on how closely they link race with culture will determine how much of me they see. Or maybe I should say how much of me I'm willing to show.

 

Culture is best described as a way of life. Race, on the other hand, is commonly associated with color, despite the fact that we are all a part of the exact same 'race.' Ethnicity is NOT the same as race or color, and can be best described as a person's national (or cultural) lineage, so comparing the 2 (culture and race) to one other is incorrect, and overall uneducated.

Just like it was already mentioned, there are varying nations throughout the world with people of different cultures, who happened to have the same shade (or color) of skin, (even if they all live within the same continent, but nonetheless, different countries within that particular continent) so defining one's identity by what is known as 'race' along with using that to define culture is... well, I already said what it is.

 

To answer the OP's questions... No culture and race are not synonymous at all! There are caucasian people from a whole bunch of different cultures and the same goes for blacks.

This topic did make me think about one thing though... when ppl ask me about my background, my answer will vary according to who is asking! Generally speaking, if I'm talking with someone from outside of Canada, I will simply identify as Canadian. When I am speaking to a Canadian, I will specify that I am Franco-Ontarian (French-speaking resident of the province of Ontario.... yes, there are a lot of us outside of Quebec! Over 1 million actually...)

Like alessandra, it never enters my mind to identify myself as "white"... probably because I'm part of the majority. I do wonder however if that would change if I lived somewhere where I was a minority, like Asia or Africa.

Just my thoughts on the topic.

 

For example in America isn't it already presumed that if you are black or look black that your African-American culturally. Two latinos can be of two different races and be considered the same Ethnicity. It's not like an asian person could go around saying Iam Ethnically African-American cause I was raised in the "hood" :lol: or put done African-American on a application. an Afro-Asian if you will lol maybe Iam overthinking but that is what is on my mind.

 

Yes, the American society we live in, loves to label us based on preconceived notions of race being tied to culture, so you don't want to overthink it, and if you do, then you'll only confuse yourself even more.



Just because you and some other person has the same color of skin, does NOT guarantee that you both are the same ethnicity.

 

Pretty much says it all here.

 

Taye You made a good point, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

 

I was thinking of it as if one African-American is half black/half chinese and another African-American is half black/half Italian, depending on their physical features, then their are not of the same race technically.

 

Culture is race when oppression gets involved