The Enigma of Ethnicity: Another American Dilemma

1. Coming to Terms

What exactly is ethnicity? And just what do we mean when we talk about ethnic groups? Basic questions? Obviously. But we find the answers are far from obvious when we give these questions the hard look they deserve. The most productive strategy is to begin with the notion of the ethnic group. Before setting forth on our definitional expedition, it might be helpful to acknowledge the unspoken assumptions that operate when we think, write, or utter the word “ethnic.” It is something that seldom comes to the lips of the modal American gazing into a mirror, even though, as I hope to demonstrate, the term does apply, whatever his/her ancestry might be. Taken for granted is the chasm between Us and Them when we scrutinize ethnic groups and their members, rather like zoological specimens on a laboratory table. Condescension and distancing are implicit in the discreetly pejorative term ethnic, and, depending upon the temper of the times, ethnics strike us as either quaint and amusing or vaguely threatening. Ethnic is a word to be handled with care. defining the ethnic group An awkward problem in dealing with ethnic group is the term itself . Of relatively recent origin or usage, it is a cumbersome academic expression and certainly forms no part of the ordinary citizen’s everyday vocabulary. “There is as yet no acceptable single word in English for the phrase ‘ethnic group,’ no word equivalent to ‘class,’ ‘caste,’ or ‘family,’ to describe a group self-consciously united around particular cultural traditions” (De Vos 1975:9). This gap in our vernacular lexicon leads one to suspect, correctly as it turns out, the modernity of the concept. For lack of a suitable alternative, we are stuck with the term. 1 coming to terms None of the possible synonyms in English or other languages— people, tribe, clan, Volk, society, minority, nation, nationality, brotherhood , community, cultural unit, or ethnie— comes close to conveying whatever meaning we apprehend, however fuzzily, upon encountering ethnic group. A number of scholars have tried defining ethnic groups or have critically reviewed previous attempts (e.g., Isajiw 1974, 1975; Nash 1989:1–20; Petersen 1997:31– 49; Royce 1982:17–33), so that it is hardly necessary here to replicate the efforts of the cited authors. What might be more rewarding is a close examination of the central assumptions, spoken and unspoken, that seem to undergird all the definitions. Suffice it to say that the following three randomly selected quotations represent a safe consensus, the core attributes of the ethnic group as commonly accepted by the scholarly community. An ethnic group is a self-perceived group of people who hold in common a set of traditions not shared by others with whom they are in contact. Such traditions typically include “folk” religious beliefs and practices, language, a sense of historical continuity, and common ancestry or place of origin. (De Vos 1975:9) In brief, the ethnic identity of a group of people consists of their subjective symbolic or emblematic use of any aspect of culture, in order to differentiate themselves from other groups. These emblems can be imposed from outside or embraced from within. (De Vos 1975:16) An ethnic group has been operationally defined by Abner Cohen as a collectivity of people who share some patterns of normative behavior and form part of a larger population, interacting with people from other collectivities within the framework of a social system. (Saran 1985:5) Reasonable though such statements may seem at first, we find, after careful reflection, that some of their assertions, along with some omissions or unspoken implications, are subject to debate. Left unstated , for example, is the issue of magnitude. Is there some numerical threshold to be crossed before a given social entity can qualify as 2 Coming to Terms an ethnic group? How many hundreds or thousands of persons? And, turning to the other extreme, how many millions of heads are to be counted before a social community ceases to be an ethnic group and turns into something else? Anticipating my later, more detailed discussion , I claim that size does matter. The definitions given above and all other similar attempts of which I am aware are silent on the often salient, sometimes urgent topics of territory and location. A glance around the contemporary world reveals many instances in which duly recognized ethnic groups identify their existence or soul...