Chapter 7: Ethnicity Study Guide The geographic distribution of ethnicities is initially considered in this chapter.

Ethnic groups are tied to particular places because members of the group, or their ancestors, were born or raised there. Another important consideration here is ethnic conflict in specific areas of the world. The attempt to retain distinct ethnic identity is one example of the preservation of local diversity. Ethnicity comes from the Greek root ethnos which means national. Ethnicity is identity with a group sharing the cultural traditions of a homeland. Geographers are interested in ethnicity because it represents an element of local diversity. Ethnic diversity is not as threatened by the forces of globalization as is the diversity of language or religion. Geographers are also interested in the social classification of people by race because of the past and present spatial sorting of people according to racial characteristics. Race is identity with a group of people who share a biological ancestor. Biological classification by race is the basis for racism, which is the belief that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. A racist is someone who follows the beliefs of racism. The characteristics of ethnicity derive from the distinctive features of specific geographic locations whereas those of race are not rooted in particular places. Where Are Ethnicities Distributed? Distribution of Ethnicities in the United States. The United States' most numerous ethnic groups display regional concentrations. These groups are Hispanics (15 percent, clustered in the Southwest), African Americans (13 percent, clustered in the Southeast), Asian Americans (1 percent, clustered in the West) and American Indian (1 percent, clustered in the Southwest and Plains). African Americans and Hispanics are clustered in urban areas (more likely to live in cities than rural areas). Cities exhibit ethnic clustering at the neighborhood level. African American Migration Patterns. Three major migration patterns have shaped the present distribution of African-Americans/Blacks in the United States. The first was the forced migration from Africa that was part of the triangular slave trade. After slavery most African-Americans remained in the rural South working as sharecroppers, farming land rented from a landowner and paying rent in the form of crops. Blacks were still separated from whites in the South through laws that followed the Supreme Courts separate but equal treatment of the races. The second major migration pattern was the migration to Northern cities from the beginning of the twentieth century. In these cities, African-American immigrants lived in ghettos, named for the term for neighborhoods where Jews were forced to live medieval Europe. Segregation laws were eliminated during the 1950s and 1960s. The third migration pattern was their movement from ghettos into neighborhoods immediately adjacent during this time. This was made possible by white flight to the suburbs which in turn was encouraged by blockbusting, where real estate agents convinced white homeowners living in and around black areas their home values were going to go down because of racial integration, so they would sell their homes a low prices. Differentiating Ethnicity and Race. Race and ethnicity are often confused. Race is genetically transmitted while Ethnicity is culturally transmitted, so it is incorrect to predict cultural characteristics based on race. The U.S. Census asks people to classify themselves according to fourteen races, some based on skin color, others on national origin.

The United States has a long tradition of spatial segregation of races. As discriminatory laws and practices were outlawed, whites fled to suburbs, resulting in continued racial inequality. In South Africa racial segregation and discrimination was practiced into the 1990s in the system of apartheid the physical separation of different races into separate geographic areas. It was instituted by the white racist Afrikaners government in 1948, and was particularly designed to subjugate the black majority by forcing them to live in impoverished homelands. The apartheid laws were repealed in the 1990s, but although South Africa now has black majority rule, it will take many years to redress their geographic impact. Why Have Ethnicities Been Transformed into Nationalities? Nationality, the identification with a group sharing legal attachment and loyalty to a country, is similar to ethnicity but carries different meaning. Several ethnic groups may share one nationality. More problematically, a country may have ethnic groups with desires for self-rule (self-determination), leading to conflict. The concept of a state composed entirely of one ethnicity is a nation-state. There are no true nation-states since no country has only one ethnicity within its borders. Denmark is an example but it is still not a "perfect" nation-state. Western Europe is generally organized into approximations of nation-states. The formation of loyalty to a particular state, nationalism, can be beneficial to a state's internal governance but can also lead to intolerance of differences. Multinational States. These states contain two or more ethnic groups with traditions of selfdetermination. Examples include the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and present-day Russia. There has been recent conflict over ethnic groups' desire for self-rule in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, all former Soviet republics. Revival of Ethnic Identity. Many ethnic identities which had been subsumed by Communist governments are now expressing pride in their distinct identities. Why do Ethnicities Clash? Nationality, which comes from the Latin word nasci, meaning to have been born, is identity with a group of people who share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a country. The desire for self rule or self-determination has transformed ethnic groups into nationalities. Movements for self-determination are often fueled by Ethnonationlism which is a strong feeling of belonging to a nation that is a minority within a state. A nation-state is a state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity. There are numerous nation-states including Slovenia, Denmark, and Japan. Nationalism refers to the degree of loyalty that one has for a nationality. This could be instilled by promoting symbols of nationalism such as flags and songs. Nationalism is an example of a centripetal force, which is one that tends to unify people behind a state. Centrifugal forces do exactly the opposite and may lead to the breakup of a state. Ethnic Competition to Dominate Nationality. Ethnic competition for control of a state can result in total war, as in the case of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Eritrea rebelled from Ethiopia and eventually became independent. Sudan has experienced several civil wars in different areas. Somalia is still experiencing strife between competing clans. Lebanon has distinct ethnicities organized on the basis of religion. Dividing Ethnicities Among More than One State. When an ethnic group's distribution spans a national boundary, conflict can result as the ethnic group on one side may wish to reunify with the group on the other side. A prime example is the conflict between India and Pakistan over the

states of Jammu and Kashmir. Another example of ethnic conflict in South Asia is that between the Sinhalese and Tamil in Sri Lanka. Global Forces, Local Impacts: Dividing the Kurds. The Kurds are an ethnic group whose homeland straddles the border between Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. Many Kurds would like an independent homeland but the countries in which they are a minority are unwilling to let go of that territory. What is Ethnic Cleansing? Ethnic cleansing is the process by which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create their own nation or nation-state. Ethnic cleansing is a more powerful group's removal of all members of an ethnic group from an area to create more territory for the powerful group. Ethnic cleansing may take the form of large-scale forced migration or genocide, where members of the ethnic group are targeted for extermination. Ethnic Cleansing in Europe. Ethnic cleansing in Europe was infamous in World War II Europe as people were forced to move from changing boundaries as well as the Nazi genocide of Jews and other ethnicities. Former Yugoslavia is a more recent example of ethnic cleansing. After the collapse of the Communist government of Yugoslavia, ethnic Serbs and Croats practiced ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the hopes of unifying their regions with Serbia and Croatia. Serbs also practiced ethnic cleansing in the province of Kosovo, where the Albanian majority population was forced to migrate to Albania. Kosovo became an independent state in 2008. Ethnic Cleansing in Central Africa. Colonial boundaries being drawn in a way that grouped historic enemies together or split others apart has resulted in opportunities for ethnic conflict. Rwanda's major groups of Hutus and Tutsis have practiced genocide against one another and taken part in conflicts in neighboring countries. Ethnonationalism: refers to a particular strain of nationalism that is marked by the desire of an ethnic community to have absolute authority over its own political, economic, and social affairs. Therefore, it denotes the pursuit of statehood on the part of an ethnic nation. Ethnonationalist movements signify the perception among members of a particular ethnic group that the group's interests are not being served under the present political arrangements. Genocide: the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group. Irredentra: A region that is culturally or historically related to one nation but is subject to a foreign government. Irredentism: any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Multicultural: Of, relating to, or constituting several cultural or ethnic groups within a society. Province: The whole of a country outside the capital, esp. when regarded as lacking in sophistication or culture.

Shatterbelt: a region caught between stronger colliding external cultural-political forces, under persistent stress, and often fragmented by aggressive rivals.