Race and ethnicity are analytically distinct categories, not interchangeable terms

Evidence

Other contenders are “ratio,” “natio,” and “radix” to Spanish and Castilian raza, Italian razza, and Old French haraz. See, for example, Smith (1982). Ronald Takaki (1993:10) argued more subtly that race “has been a social construction that has historically set apart racial minorities from European immigrant groups. Contrary to the notions of scholars like Nathan Glazer and Thomas Sowell, race in America has not been the same as ethnicity.” Yet he does not draw the conclusion from this assessment that “race” and “ethnicity” should not be compared. Most page references to what is indexed as “ethnicity” in Takaki’s book actually refer to discussions of Jewish immigration. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 725

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes race as a social construction separating minorities from European immigrant groups, from ethnicity as a comparable analytical category.
• XREF: Connects to Omi and Winant’s racial formation theory and the broader race-vs-ethnicity distinction debates in US ethnic studies. — connects to: Heterogeneity does not disqualify a group from holding racial identity. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 61; Ethnicity as a sociological concept includes but exceeds race — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 698