Identity Uncertainty
The importance of identity can very easily be underrated in contemporary society. Yet issues can be found everywhere. Considering the UK, issues could be anything from national pride the public exhibit to celebrities immigrating. Although there is a difference between terrorism attacks and celebrities reinventing themselves, the issue is identity. It revolves around how large groups of people or individuals are seen (or identified) by either individuals or large groups of people. Since there are two parts at play here, there are two major factors to consider whilst trying to define identity; the personal perspective and the social perspective.
Considering race and ethnicity, although a little hard to define since this is a group identity, collective action results in change. Another issue is that 'racial' and 'ethnic' don't not always share the same identity. A good example of this the changes in the meaning of the term black. First it meant a group that was inferior to the other major group white. Then it became a statement of something to be proud of. Being within this minority (black) gave superiority over the majority (white). The groups have changed also. In the 1970's in the UK, the term black became recognised and used to define black people of African decent. However in the 1980's it came to include people of Asian decent. It then moved back again to the more restrictive meaning by the end of the 1980's. In South Africa, during Apartheid, if you were white yet married to a black, your identity was stated on paper as black. During the 1990's in the UK and USA when more mixed (black and white parents) people came about, a new category was generated: mixed. But this only happened when this percentage of people increased to such proportions that they may not want to be recognised as black. This kind of factor within identity is dynamic, not static, for it is forever changing.
The importance of identity can very easily be underrated in contemporary society. Yet issues can be found everywhere. Considering the UK, issues could be anything from national pride the public exhibit to celebrities immigrating. Although there is a difference between terrorism attacks and celebrities reinventing themselves, the issue is identity. It revolves around how large groups of people or individuals are seen (or identified) by either individuals or large groups of people. Since there are two parts at play here, there are two major factors to consider whilst trying to define identity; the personal perspective and the social perspective.
Considering race and ethnicity, although a little hard to define since this is a group identity, collective action results in change. Another issue is that 'racial' and 'ethnic' don't not always share the same identity. A good example of this the changes in the meaning of the term black. First it meant a group that was inferior to the other major group white. Then it became a statement of something to be proud of. Being within this minority (black) gave superiority over the majority (white). The groups have changed also. In the 1970's in the UK, the term black became recognised and used to define black people of African decent. However in the 1980's it came to include people of Asian decent. It then moved back again to the more restrictive meaning by the end of the 1980's. In South Africa, during Apartheid, if you were white yet married to a black, your identity was stated on paper as black. During the 1990's in the UK and USA when more mixed (black and white parents) people came about, a new category was generated: mixed. But this only happened when this percentage of people increased to such proportions that they may not want to be recognised as black. This kind of factor within identity is dynamic, not static, for it is forever changing.
