Race and Ethnicity

  

                                                                                     

      Race and ethnicity are two concepts related to human ancestry.(Stanmeyer, 2019) Race is usually seen as biological, referring to the physical characteristics of a person such as skin or hair texture, while ethnicity on the other hand is viewed as a social science construct that describes an individual cultural identity.  It includes their language, nationality, heritage, religion, dress, and customs.  Ethnicity can be displayed or hidden, depending on individual preferences, whereas racial identities are always on display, to a larger or lesser degree. Ethnicity has subcategories, while races no longer do and both have been used to subjugate or persecute people. 

     Since the dawning of racism, human beings have passed judgment on each other based on race and ethnicity. The views of people based on their skin color, place of origin, or their cultural background have caused a stratification of men and women. This is a common mentality of people of different race/ ethnicity in Belize.(Bartleby.com, 2019) There are still some people that has a problem to interact with others because of their color, hair, cultures, tradition, beliefs and texture of hair. I had a bad experience for being a mixed Maya and Garifuna cultural person. I recalled, several years ago, I attended the primary school in Crique Sarco Village and I was among Maya students, I was the only dark skin girl, along with my two brothers. The students bullied me, teased me and said I was black, they made me realized that I was different. Even though the embracing of diversity is taught in schools, there are still some remote villages that don’t embrace diversity.  There are majority and minority groups, ethnic enclaves, hate groups, segregation, income differences and have even experienced mass genocide in our world (Carl, 2011). All of these are direct effects of a person’s race or ethnicity. These types of situation provides the people in our society with a struggle between each other for various resources, A perfect example of conflict theory is Race and Ethnic stratification because there is a competition for resources between individuals of different race and ethnicity.

      In Belize many people have mixed cultural backgrounds and can share in more than one ethnicity. According to sociologist they believe that racial division are based more on sociological concepts than biological principles. They believe that race is due to genetic differences and biological morphologies gave way to racism, the idea of superiority and inferiority based on race, they change.  According to sociology, professor Dalton Conley said that, “Race: The Power of an Illusion”: “The fundamental difference is that race is socially imposed and hierarchical. There is an inequality built into the system. Furthermore, you have no control over your race; it’s how you’re perceived by others.” The basis of social prejudice and discrimination has nothing to do with genetics but instead with social phenomenon which is related to outward appearances. (Nittle, 2019) Racism then, is prejudice based on socially significant features. A racist believes that certain people are inferior or superior to others in the light of racial differences. Racists approve of segregation or physical and social separation of classes of people. Racial and ethnic prejudices affect the distribution of wealth, power, and opportunity, and create enduring social stratification and this can be seen in Belize when some people are able to get scholarships, job opportunities etc based on their race, ethnicity and it is not fair. Race and ethnicity impact us because they affect the ways in which other people perceive us. This can be solved by making people be aware of these prejudices, it is important to understand that we should not feel more superior to one another just because of the color of someone skin. Racism is in many parts of the world and although it appears for many reasons, it should be addressed so not to damage a particular culture. 

   

   While prejudice refers to biased thinking, discrimination on the other hand consists of actions against a group of individuals. According to sociologist Emile Durkheim racism is a social fact meaning that it does not require the action of people to continue. Prejudice has to do with the irrational and inflexible attitudes and opinions held by individuals of one group about another, while discrimination refers to behaviors directed against another group. Being prejudiced usually means having preconceived beliefs about Sociological Theories of Prejudice and Racism. Functionalist theory argues that for race and ethnic relations to be functional and thus contribute to the harmonious conduct and stability of society, racial and ethnic minorities must assimilate into that society.

     Belize is rich with diverse culture, ethnic diversity and majority embrace diversity which is being taught and practice in schools. Embracing diversity and different cultures/ ethnic, prejudice and discrimination are topics that are addressed in class lessons and are implemented in the primary school curriculum. There are some theories that center on affirmative forecasts or likely positive outcomes of racial/ethnic diversity. This comes from a “value in diversity” viewpoint (Cox, 1993; Cox, Lobel & McLeod, 1991) which argues that diversity creates value and help for group outcomes. This is how the different ethnic groups, race in Belize are able to work together and achieve positive outcomes such as: improved information, better problem solving facility, practical argument and dispute, increased creativity, higher feature decisions, and increased understanding of diverse ethnicity/cultures.

Discrimination in the workplace in Belize can be based on race, color, national extraction or social origin, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation, Age, Physical, intellectual, mental or psychiatric disability, Pregnancy or potential pregnancy. Marital status, relationship status and family responsibilities and Religion. Some of the well-known types of prejudice are Racism, sexism, Classicism, Homophobia, Nationalism, Religious prejudice, Ageism, and Xenophobia.

In Belize Ethnic discrimination has preponderantly been a Creole orchestrated affair. The Port Town Creoles, who are known as the individuals who run the country of Belize, have always look down on Caribs, Chinese, East Indians, Maya and Mestizos who are known to be at the bottom of the heap. The only set of individuals who don’t get discriminated against by the port town Creoles are the white skinned, or relatively pure Spanish and North American immigrants. Discrimination are found everywhere. Services the Creoles take for granted paid for out of national tax revenues. That is discrimination. Discrimination are seen every day in schools. For example take a look at any port town Creole School, any of them, from the richest to the poorest and see the material gadgets they have to do the job of teaching students to read. Then go to visit any remote rural Mayan community and see the difference. There is nothing, sometimes not even chalk, or a broom. When it comes time to apportion school supplies, the Creole schools get everything, a few others in easy to reach places, like the Mestizos of Orange Walk and Corozal Town also get better school supplies. But you go to the majority of the rural schools across the nation serving other ethnic groups and look at the lack of school supplies. You can surely see the difference in discrimination of dispersement of school supplies. Discrimination in social services. When did you ever see medical treatment in a rural Mayan village equal to the massive amounts of money spent on medical treatment for the Belize City Creole town?

     On June 24^th, 2015 an incident had occurred on the Maya land in southern Belize which had sparked a national debate in Belize over the role of race, ethnicity, and democracy in Belizean society.  13 Maya individuals and leaders were arrested on charges of unlawful imprisonment of Mr. Rupert Myles. Mr. Miles was married to a Maya woman from the village of Santa Cruz, In October of last year, he decided to move his family to his wife's village, and that's when he and the Mayans of Santa Cruz started having a dispute. He claims that he tried to follow their customary laws to become a member of the village through the respected means. This included formally applying to the Village Council Chairman and the Alcalde, paying his fee, and getting that permission. He claims that he immediately encountered what he calls racism which played a big role in how the chairman handled his application. He claims that the chairman completely rejected his application, not on its merits or lack thereof, but simply because he didn't want any black men living in his community. On the other side, the Mayans allege that he destroyed the sacred Uxbenka Maya site when he bulldozed a hill that forms a part of it, just so that he could get road access to his house. They claimed that he illegally built on the land and burnt vegetation, and built other structures without their permission, and so they tried to get him out peacefully. Whatever the truth is, on Saturday, a group of villagers armed themselves with machetes formed a mob and went to round up Miles, who they subdued and handcuffed. Varying accounts say that the mob further demeaned him by dragging him around by a rope tied to the handcuffs. The Mayans dispute that and say that he was the one who was hostile to them, saying that if they confronted him, he would pull out his licensed weapon and open fire on them. They then took him through the village to his "illegally built" house, but they chose to hold off on destroying it themselves. Here's Miles's version of the events. (7newsBelize, 2015) 

 In this Article it is clearly shown that racism and discrimination between different race and ethnicity is still occurring in our Belizean society today, because Mr. Miles was a dark skin man, the villagers did not wanted him to part take in their different events and village council. They gave him a hard time and treated him differently because he had a different race, it is so unfair to treat people harsh just because of their color.

From another article I have read it stated that Gеоrgе Саdlе Рrісе knеw that we hаd а nаtіоn tо trу tо fоrgе оut оf mаnу еthnісіtіеѕ. Не wаѕ саrеful, іn hіѕ сhоісе оf lеаdеrѕ tо еnѕurе thаt hе hаd “Ѕраnіѕh” Веlіzеаnѕ, “Сrеоlе” Веlіzеаnѕ аnd dіd іѕ bеѕt tо еnѕurе іnсluѕіvіtу fоr Gаrіfunа аnd Мауа Веlіzеаn lеаdеrѕ. Не nееdеd uѕ tо mоvе раѕt thе nаmе саllіng аnd thе dіvіѕіvеnеѕѕ аnd ѕее еасh оthеr ѕіmрlу аѕ Веlіzеаnѕ. Тhеrе аrе thоѕе whо rеfеrrеd tо Рrісе, thе ѕоn оf bоth “Раnуа” аnd “Сrеоlе” Веlіzеаnѕ аѕ “Gеоrgе Рrісе Еѕсаlаntе” tо trу tо іnfluеnсе ѕоmе tо ѕее hіm аѕ “Ѕраnіѕh” аnd nоt а Вlасk Маn. То rеfеr tо Dеаn Ваrrоw аѕ thе fіrѕt “Вlасk” РМ іѕ tо nеgаtе Рrісе’ѕ undoubted Аfrо-Веlіzеаn blооd. Тhеrе аrе thоѕе whо ассuѕеd Рrісе оf bеіng muсh tоо “Раn-Мауа” аnd оf glоrіfуіng thе lеgасу оf thе Мауа іn оrdеr tо ѕоmеhоw nеgаtе “thе glоrу оf thе Вауmеn” thаt ѕhоuld nеvеr fаdе. Оur еthnіс роlіtісѕ hаvе аlwауѕ bееn аt thе ѕеrvісе оf thе раrtіѕаn роlіtісѕ gоіng аll thе wау bасk tо thоѕе ѕаmе ѕаіd Вауmеn, аnd lаtеr thе соlоnіzіng Вrіtіѕh аuthоrіtіеѕ, whо ѕеt uр rеѕеrvеѕ ѕо thаt thе іndіgеnоuѕ Мауа wеrе реrmіttеd tо wоrk lаnd іn “rеѕеrvеѕ” аѕ long аѕ the Land Соmmіѕѕіоnеr соuld vouch that the Іndіаn іn quеѕtіоn wаѕ а “gооd Іndіаn”. (Shoman, 2017) From this article it clearly states that Honorable George Cadle Price was trying to let everyone put their differences behind them and cope with each other as a family and as a society because even though we have different race and different Ethnicity we are all the same and we share and breathe the same air. 

References
Bartleby.com. (2019). Race and Ethnic Stratification Essay - 1910 Words | Bartleby. Retrieved at: https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Race-and-Ethnic-Stratification-PKPRH4YTC

7newsbelize.com.(2015, June 22). 7 News Belize. Retrieved From http://7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=32828 

Nittle, N. K. (2019, January 27). Understanding the Real Differences Between Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/difference-between-race-and-ethnicity-2834950

Shoman, L. (2017, May 17). A Miscegenated View - of race and ethnicity in Belize. Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://www.breakingbelizenews.com/2017/05/17/miscegenated-view-race-ethnicity-belize/

Stanmeyer, J. (2019, February 28). Race and ethnicity: How are they different? Retrieved November 29, 2019, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/race-ethnicity/