All humans are essentially part of a species continuum of physical characteristics that developed as part of adaptations to particular environments. We are one species, equally capable. Still, anthropologists, but especially sociologists and political scientists, recognize that people categorize, rightly or wrongly, on these physical characteristics, often attributing positive and negative assessments to them. Ethnicity An ethnic group, as defined by Feagin and Feagin, is a collection of people distinguished, by others or themselves, primarily on the basis of cultural or national characteristics. There s a tendency to use race and ethnicity interchangeably, but most believe the distinction between the two is significant.
Race permeates every institution, every relationship and every individual.
It is part of our individual thought processes. We seemed compelled to think racially, to use racial categories and meaning systems into which we have been socialized. Race and ethnicity are the basis of hierarchical ranking in our society, with dominant groups holding power over subordinate groups, with dominant groups having the best of matters. Prejudice It literally means to pre-judge, based on some set of criteria or characteristics, generally in a negative way. We've noted several about Indians.