Research Paper on:
Ethnic and Race Relations, Assimilation and Integration

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
in its application. Ethnicity is based more on ancestral groups who often have the same religion, culture, language and in most instances the same racial background. Ethnicity however, can be  seen as optional depending on circumstance like for example the European Americans who may chose or not chose to use their ethnicity. Race, on the other hand, has often been  confused with culture which is also incorrect. Race is more fundamental in its physical aspects whereas culture is more similar to the concept of ethnicity but has been traditionally linked  with geographic location. Multiculturalism is a concept which maintains the distinctions between the groups while giving all groups equal opportunities and is seen as a mosaic society. Integration is a  recent term used in race relations policies in the United States which promotes the desegregation of organizations. This is different from assimilation which promotes minority groups to conform and assimilate  with the majority in regards to organizations and social structures therefore giving up their unique group. In regards to positive race relation policies, the most accepted are the multicultural and  integrative approaches which provide equal opportunities but still respect the definition and uniqueness of each group and individual. In recent socio-ethnographic studies in  the United States the variability of ethnic groups has become more and more prevalent. As members of ethnic groups began to move out of the cities and into the suburbs  ethnicity, class and lifestyle were not longer correlated as they had been in previously years. Recently in the United States, new patterns of "optional ethnicity" have become apparent as many  European-Americans have decided that adherence to their ethnicity is more a matter of personal choice as they sort through their multi-generations of combinations of groups in their ancestry (Waters, 1996;