Race, Ethnicity, Nationality and Jellybeans

See how jellybeans can help us understand the difference between “race,” ethnicity” and “nationality.” Watch this bite-size video that’s less than 3 minutes.

Race: A mode of categorization that is based on physical appearance and to some degree ascribed - meaning that people are assigned the racial category based on what other people see. These categories are fluid and our ideas of regional groupings change all the time.

Ethnicity: The ethnic group or groups that a person belongs to. It is a part of a person's heritage and ancestry. Two people of the same racial group can still have very different ethnicity. Some groups are unable to trace their specific ethnic heritage because of things like slavery, assimilation, and genocide.

Nationality: A person's national origin, the country where they hold citizenship. People of the same race or ethnicity can come from all different nations. It is flexible; if a person immigrates, their nationality can change, and people can have dual citizenship or sometimes no citizenship.

Learn more in the D&I Digest.