ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to clarify the differences between race and ethnicity as two of the most common elements of group identification in the United States. Social groups are distinguishes by a host of characteristics, such as race, national origin, and sexual orientation. Racism—the practice of segregation, discrimination, and dominance of one race by another at any given time—is unfortunately present and continues to take on new forms as the nation becomes increasingly diverse. Place as an empirical concept moves from the general purpose of creating an image of a location and its inhabitants to one of bounded space with attributes that are measurable and imply internal homogeneity. For concepts of minority concentration, it is important to note that both theoretical and practical concerns have led to definitions of minority concentrations. The step toward understanding the complex dimensions of racial/ethnic inequalities involves an operational definition of equity. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
