Influences on Ancestry Choices: Mary Waters' Article Analysis

Influences On Ancestry Choices

1. This article is about ethnic option whereby, the descendants and children of the immigrants in America have the option of choosing to identify or not to identify with the ethnicity of the ancestors.

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2. The second point is that there are four main specific aspects that normally influence their choices which include; looks, information on their ancestors, surname and the relative positions of the group.

3. The ancestry choice is only available to the white descendants since the African-Americans have limited choices because of their ascribed race that trumps any ethnic status.

Social Psychological And Character Traits

1. This second article by Mary Waters states that ethnicity does not necessarily matter much on the choices of job, place to live and choosing a marriage partner.

2. An individual has a strong idea of what ethnicity entails such as identity without a precise knowledge that ethnicity has a great connection with social psychological traits of an individual

3. The other main point is that people measure their own experiences as well as beliefs against the prevailing stereotypes whereby they accept or reject the images which they are presented with on basis of their own knowledge which leads to the development of their social psychological traits.

My Thoughts On Mary Waters Arguments

I believe that Mary Waters is right to state that non-whites especially the blacks in America cannot ignore or forget their race whereas the descendants of the white immigrants to the United States of America have the option of going unmasked since they can ignore their race or identify with it. According to my understanding of these two articles by Mary Waters, the choice of whites to identify with their ethnicity have few consequences as compared to the non-whites. When non-whites identify with their ethnicity there are many disadvantages but when the white descendants claim their white ethnic identity makes the whites feel special as well as interesting. I think that although the whites are able to have the choice of identity or not identifying with their ancestry, their social psychological traits are dynamic hence can be stigmatized since they may be regarded as cultureless.

The General Questions That I have Based On The Two Articles By Mary Waters

1. One of the main questions that one has after reading the two articles by Mary Waters' is "what are the factors that allow ethnicity to be optional to the descendants of immigrants from Europe? Are these factors historical, social psychological traits or both?"

2. The second question is "what are the steps that need to be taken and what issues should be addressed to ensure that both the whites and blacks have equal rights in deciding whether or not to identify with their ethnicity?"

3. The other question is "According to Mary Waters is ethnicity based on the social belief in sharing of a common ancestry, the question is should we consider ethnicity to be a social or a biological factor?"