Some answers to the "ethnic" question

Last week I asked the question "Do you consider yourself a member of an ethnic group? Why or why not?" Here are some of the responses they have been edited and are anonymous)

• I am part of a Lebanese ethnic group. My grandfather's family traveled from Lebanon to Sydney in the early 1900's. We are a large, close family who participate in many Lebanese traditions and customs that have been passed down over the years. The Cedar's Club is a Lebanese organization which is used for several functions such as holding Lebanese church services and it is also where my family's Christmas celebrations take place. We eat traditional Lebanese dishes on a regular basis and also have learned traditional Lebanese dance. Through keeping our Lebanese traditions alive, we have remained a close knit group which will be continued throughout future generations.
• To be honest I have never really thought of it before. I guess in part it is because I do come from Cape Breton where in my high school there was little or no diversity of culture. I come from a long line of Scots which make up a big portion of our Island so thinking about being a part of an ethnic group was never on my mind. When I think of it now I would say that I am part of an ethnic group, everyone on this planet is. However, I think living in a small isolated place where ethnic diversity is not as accepted it is hard to really think of myself a part of an ethnic culture even though I know I am.
• When I first read this question I had to try and figure out what an ethnic group really is. I found that being apart of an ethnic group means being apart of a group of people who are the minority in a much larger society, this group of people usually share common language, religion and culture. So to answer the question, from what I can understand, to some extent I think that I may belong to an ethnic group. My background is composed of both Irish and Scottish roots, so with this I would be apart of a group of people in a larger society composed of various other backgrounds. Usually when I think of an ethnic group I would think of Chinese, Italian, Japanese, etc.
• Ethnicity is defined clearly through ancestry with a different nationality. Anyone whom is related to a family member who has a different background from the other family members; for an example of one member maybe being native from their family members background distance wise or perhaps better more the mother or the father could be of a different race, so down the road if the couple were to have a child there if a very good chance of the child being born a color in between the mother and the father. I am not considered to be part of an ethnic group. My mother is a French, white Canadian and my father is a white Anglo-Saxon Canadian. Therefore I am not part of an ethnic group but, I do have a background of both French and English.
• Culturally, firstly, the foodways of the Chinese, the main starch Chinese have in every meal, besides breakfast, is rice, and the utensils used to eat is chopsticks. Secondly, the language difference: my first languages are Cantonese and Mandarin, and then English. Thirdly, Chinese are more like collective people, unlike the North American who is an individualist, we do thing focusing on the group. Even which major we choose in college we will consider in light of if it’s good for our family, for our parents. We have our own traditional festivals which mostly follow the Chinese lunar calendar, like Chinese New Year, Chinese Valentines Day, Chrysanthemum Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, etc. Each traditional festival has some special event to celebrate it. Like the Chrysanthemum Festival, every family will climb up to top of the hill or mountain, which will protect them against the danger. We have extremely different beliefs, religion, and values from Canadian, because we born in different culture. I think is the culture defines the ethnic group.

A variety of responses, most of which hinge on the perception of self in relation to a perceived "normative" ethnic group of the community. It is a marker both of difference from a larger group (either in number or, just as easily, in influence) and of similarity to and thus solidarity with others with whom, save for this shared characteristic made meaningful largely only in the context of co-presence with the larger group, one might otherwise have little common cause.

And the discussions of the week largely built on this category of difference.