Race and ethnicity are socially constructed categories that lead to inequality and stratification of people in the society. These distinctions often result in negative social processes such as prejudice, segregation, and discrimination. In contrast, categories created along race and ethnicity create a sense of identity to members that trigger feelings of unity and solidarity. During festivals and social gatherings, the sense of identity is deepened as an individual of an ethnic group is able to connect to a group that is larger than him or her. The connection of ethnic groups contributes to diversity.
Ethnic diversity is founded on symbolic interactions where members of different ethnic communities display their ethnic heritage in their interactions with other communities and society. This study, which is conducted through a thorough investigation of a series of workshops, aims to reveal the nature of the socially constructed interactions that take place in social gatherings such as festivals between races and ethnicities. The paper will explore interactions among different ethnicities such as relationships between the whites, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian American groups and discuss the observations and interpretations that can be drawn from them. It will further expound on the nature of the relationships by analyzing the basis of interactions such as art, music, foodstuffs, and languages or activities that men, women, and children engage in as dictated by their races or ethnicities.
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Displaying ethnicity is often an unconscious effort by members of a race or ethnic community that is usually interpreted by other communities depending on the situation or the symbols at play. In many cases, we act towards people based on the meaning we interpret from them. In my study, during a festival I observed an interaction between a white man and an Asian woman. After they exchanged pleasantries the man’s first question was ‘where are you from?’ this caught the woman by surprise after which she answered San Diego. Instead of being satisfied, the man was further astonished and responded by openly stating his beliefs regarding her country of origin. The observation was a common occurrence that presented awkward conversations where the whites usually presumed Asians or any other Americans of color are immigrants from foreign countries.
This interpretation is drawn first from the physical appearance of face, hair and skin color that communicates the difference and infers the meaning. The interpretation is a product of social interactions where in most cases the whites interact within their own social circles in their segregated neighborhoods that are without of people of color. The other races are also misinterpreted due to lack of information on their history and position in the American education system and have also been misrepresented in films and media. Another major contribution is the social economic status that makes them visible in their lower working positions such as cleaners, or service providers in restaurants limiting their interactions to these circumstances.
The interpretation process to derive a meaning and understanding is also a continuous process. The meaning derived from the initial interaction can remain the same, slightly improve or change completely depending on the nature of interactions that take place. In the process, the man can realize that the meaning attached to appearance is wrong and learn from the process to be more open and receptive and view people of different races and ethnicities as are here under different circumstances. In this and other different scenarios that took place, interactions displayed ethnicity through dressing where African Americans were more casual and dressed seemingly in bright colors to suit their skin color. The choice of music also presented a display of ethnicity with a differing preference for soft and smooth music for the whites as opposed to rough and fast for the Hispanics and a mixture of genre for the native Americans, Asian Americans, and African American though others had adopted the white preference in an effort to assimilate and fit in the new culture.
The experience in the festivals provided a point of reflection to my ethnicity and how it influences my choices and decisions. It was an evaluation of how ethnicity shapes self-perspective, behaviors, and the interactions I am involved in. It is clear that ethnicity plays a role in shaping my attitudes and believes about others and myself. It heightened my understanding on the values and beliefs I have continuously picked from an early age on valuing and categorizing people based on the observable traits such as skin color, eye color, or nose size and shapes which influences my thoughts and actions. This is further deepened by stereotyping where I expect specified behaviors from specific categories and races such as my expectations of African Americans to be more athletic and entertainers in comedies as opposed to them holding intellectual positions of authority. Or the idea of having Asian Americans as service provides in farms, restaurants, and business as opposed to them being scientists and engineers.
The workshops conducted as the above discussion reveals how social interactions of different ethnicities vary depending on the symbols present during the interactions, the meanings they infer and the interactions that we accord them. It is true that ethnic diversity is displayed through symbolic interactions and attachment of value to symbols and meanings we observe from other communities. Stereotyping, racism, prejudice, and discrimination are products of opinions that are socially constructed such that each situation of interactions is judged and evaluated differently depending on the participants present. However, interactions also serve as learning situations that transforms our perceptions from selfish and individualistic to diverse more accommodating situations through understanding and guided interpretations.
