Race (ethnicity)

Status

Race was approved as a departmental standard on July 15, 1998 but is no longer in use.

Definition

Race is based primarily upon genetically imparted physiognomical features among which skin colour is a dominant, but not the sole, attribute. Nevertheless, it is possible for a person to be of mixed races, some of which, such as the mestiso of Latin America, have become recognized as evolved races in their own right. Furthermore, terminology may be ambiguous. Scholars may prefer to use the term caucasian rather than white but the former may not be well understood by many respondents. Other terminology evolves over time such as the evolution in America of Afro-Americans from black and earlier from negro. There may also be terminology very much in usage in the common lexicon which is actually offensive to a group in question. For example, the reference to the Inuit as Eskimo.

Classification(s)

• Race

Additional documentation

• Ethnicity