Culture.

Culture is one of the greatest subjects to learn and study. Culture is the social behavior and norms found in human societies. Culture has been studied by anthropologists and sociologists for generations. Culture has been found in societies universally. It can deal with art, music, dance, religion, technologies, fashion, etc. Culture can be passed down throughout generations over time. It can be written in literature or passed down orally. So, culture about the way people think, act, and interpret reality. Readily, material objects used to form a people’s way of life. Ideals formed are part of nonmaterial culture. Material culture is the physical things formed by people in a society. The United States of America is a multicultural society where different cultures flourish together and blend. There are almost 400 languages spoken in America. Various museums specifically celebrate African American culture, Native American culture, Irish culture, Greek culture, Latino culture, etc. Culture can include symbols, language, values, beliefs, and various norms. Values readily change over time. In human history, we have agriculture, industrial societies, and post industrialism (which means that the production of information via computer technology that dominates society). Subcultures, countercultures, and other parts of culture exist. Diffusion, invention, and discovery can influence cultural changes. Culture is a human trait. We can shape our cultures positively from cooperation, assistance, and progressive developments.


Identity is part of our lives. We identify ourselves by our location, by the region in where we live, and by the family in which we are born in. Race is a serious topic being discussed in the 2020 election, and in everyday life. My ancestors came from West and Central Africa. My ancestors were also the victims of the Maafa and antebellum slavery in Virginia plus North Carolina. Therefore, I know a great deal on the issue of race. In America, we have only lived almost 60 years since the end of legalized Jim Crow. Jim Crow ended not too long ago. Today, the institutions of redlining, discrimination, excessive gentrification, macroaggressions, and racism harm many black people plus other people of color in 2019. That is why it is important to discuss about race. The reason is that the only way where we can have justice in this world is by talking about it, eliminating systems of oppression, mentoring, stopping injustice, and building institutions where black people and all people can live in a world filled with tranquility plus safety. What is race? Race is a social construct used by individuals to categorize people (usually if these people share similar biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider specific distinctions). Back then, people have classified race in both nationality terms and by physical traits. Modern sociologists and scientists view race as partially based on physical similarities within groups, but they believe that race is not an inherent physical or biological quality. It is a historical fact that people have used the issue of race to promote racism. What is racism? Racism is the belief that one’s skin color or physical appearance denotes superiority or inferiority among the human family (and racism is about hating someone because of his or her color including using the institutions of power to deprive people of rights because of his or her color). In other words, racism is about the lie that one is better than another person by virtue of his or her color or physical phenotypes. Thomas Jefferson is one of the most evil slave owning racists of all time. In his words and literature, Jefferson saw Africans as inferior to whites especially in regards to their intellect, and slandered black other ways, but described Native Americans as equals to whites. Of course, Thomas Jefferson is a liar, because tons of black people have PhDs, are inventors, and have great intellectual power. Racial categories have evolved over time and are not very comprehensive (and they can be ambiguous. Brazil has multiple racial categories). One example is that a Turkish person’s ancestors usually didn’t originate from China or England. Another example is that an Aboriginal living in Australia is not a black African and he or she is not Siberian. Therefore, humankind is complex culturally and live in diverse geographic locations. There is why there is human genetic variation among people in the same cultural group. Humans are diverse because of many reasons. Many physical differences are environmental as humans with darker melanin readily live in warmer climates and those with lighter melanin readily live in colder climates. Europeans and Asians have a higher level of Neanderthal DNA than other humans. What we have learned about race is learned. Today, the United States allows the census to classify people in one racial category or in more than one racial category. Over the course of years, many people want to identify themselves as multiracial. Right now, there are over 41 million black people living in the United States of America. Certainly, we want black populations to flourish worldwide.

There is the concept of ethnicity too. Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. Ethnicity is different than race. An ethnicity is a group of people that share the same language, religion, or social identity. America is multiethnic nation. Ethnicity is culturally constructed too. The difference between race and ethnicity is that race is a social construct from biological traits while ethnicity is socially constructed form cultural traits. For example, a French person refers to ethnicity while Caucasian is in reference to race. Many people do identify themselves in multiple ethnic backgrounds. Soledad O’Brian is a woman with black and white ancestries. Examples of racial or ethnic groups in America are: Native Americans, African Americans, European Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Arabic Americans. Minority groups make up a small percentage of the population in any nation, and many minorities experience prejudice, racism, and other injustices. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2044, America will be a majority minority nation. It is important to fight evil stereotypes and nefarious prejudices. The Golden Rule works. Also, it is important to mention that minority groups are diverse. Many minorities are rich, poor, middle class, young, old, middle aged, etc.

Cultural regions are key involving the subjects of anthropology and geography. A cultural region deals with geography with one relatively homogenous human activity of a complex of activities. Such a region can be dealing with ethnolinguistic groups too. Specific cultures often do not limit their geographic coverage to the borders of a nation state, or to smaller subdivisions of a state. Cultural "spheres of influence" may also overlap or form concentric structures of macro cultures encompassing smaller local cultures. Different boundaries may also be drawn depending on the particular aspect of interest, such as religion and folklore vs. dress and architecture vs. language. Culture region can be defined by religion, language, or a type of livelihood. For example, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern and Western regions. It is important to note that a cultural region can be as small as a neighborhood. Chinatown in New York City is a cultural region that has language, actions, religion, and beliefs unique in its structure.

Religions are truly part of human existence for billions of people. Religion is an institution or a celebration of one entity (or many entities) in relating to human interaction. There are people who use religion to help people, create hope, and build up societies. Others have exploited religion to advance brutality, unjust wars, slavery, economic exploitation, and other evils. Religion deals with the sacred. Ritual, faith, and belief systems are found in numerous religions from Christianity to Islam.  To many followers of spirituality, they want social cohesion, social control, and meaning plus purpose in life. People celebrate holidays like Passover, Easter, Ramadan, etc. Conservatives have used religion to promote fundamentalism in many cases. Liberals have used religion to advance liberation theology or other social justice causes. You have churches, sects like the Amish, and cults (which deals with a strict policy of being outside of cultural traditions). Cults like Heaven’s Gate have been very deadly. Religions have been polytheistic, monotheistic, and animist (or forests, water, mountains, and the wind being seen as spiritual forces). The most common religious belief is the belief in a single divine Creator which existed after pastoral and horticultural societies grew thousands of years ago. Sociologically wise, the most religious nations are in low income nations than in high income nations. Most Americans believe in God, but an increase of Americans is turning to the New Age, no religious affiliation, and alternative belief systems.


By Timothy