SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa

South Africa

Introduction

"Great cities have always been the melting-pots of races and of cultures." Robert Ezra Park describes this statement as early as 1925, the essential characteristics of "Great Cities" (Young, 2010). In other words, a city in the truest sense of the word lives only by its inhabitants. She acts like a magnet, by people of different "races" and "cultures" and attracts close ties to him. A logical result of a combination of many people is that the limited housing and living space is available, which allows it to be inevitable that many individuals encounter each other (Semansky & Altschul, 2009).

This is the time for a unit go out the park is usually designated a "melting pot". However, it is crucial to understand whether many people living side by side merge with each other and form a mosaic of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Individuals are always related to a group, on whose values and standards of behavior patterns they focus and align their own actions and thinking of this group. How much a common ancestry of solidarity and loyalty does to the individual's own group exists? A feeling must occur, but often only over years and generations, and often is the result of conflicts between many smaller groups; the cohesion of such groups characterized by poor social and physical distance.

Thesis Statement

Ethnic phenomena continued to play a major role in building social relations.

Discussion

In humans, there is a big difference, physical and cultural. In fact, a way to differentiate individuals is precisely to distinguish based on physical and cultural characteristics. In general we can say that when individuals share some particular physical traits they called a race, and when they share certain cultural traits defined ethnic groups.

The term race refers to physical traits genetically transmitted, while the term refers to ethnic differences acquired by means of culture. Specifically, however, the somatic differences are the product of adaptation to the environment of human groups, so you can not consider the existence of a pure breed. Sociologists interested in assuming this important topic for individuals who attribute many meanings to somatic differences. For the sociologist, then, consists of a race makes a significant number of people who coupled to each other for a long time, with the result of having developed the same facial features (Steinberg, 2009).

Many African countries consider that the 'problem' of minorities arises mainly in Europe and difficult to admit that Africa is also affected by the problems related to ethnicity. 1 In Meanwhile, many indigenous minorities, group's ethnic communities, peoples, and ethnic minorities in Africa suffer from lack of attention some states grant their rights.

In many parts of Africa, some ethnic groups feel marginalized because they are victim's policy of assimilation. The State attempts to blend in other groups or cultures dominant not only the effect these ethnic groups have the feeling of being disadvantaged by the lack of recognition of their identity, but they are excluded from political power and administration of public ...