Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender

Race has been recognized as being scientifically nonexistent, yet socially real. Some have argued that genetic evidence (e.g., DNA) indicates that most physical variation occurs within so-called groups. Hence, there is more recognized within racial group variation than between racial group variation. Contemporary scholars argue the term race was invented in the 18th century to refer to the populations brought together in colonial America. The term was originally tied to the theorem of the Great Chain of Being (Armelagos & Goodman, 1998). The “scientific” research and the popular culture of the time supported, justified, and expanded fictitious beliefs about the various populations. These ideas became deeply embedded in American thought and eventually spread to other areas of the world. The early emphasis placed on race and the supposed related meanings gave way to racism. It has been said that if race is not a sufficient cause of racism, it is a necessary cause. Consequently, it has also been argued that the concept of race is a prime example of how politics can be embedded in science (Armelagos & Goodman, 1998).

Race enters into psychotherapy in ways that parallel its operation in society. Therefore, biases held by either the client or therapist can affect the assessment and treatment of those seeking psychological counseling. Many concepts of psychological assessment work from a European (or Western)-based system of understanding and treatment of problems. A major departure from what can be called European psychology is Black psychology, which focuses on understanding and treating clients from an African perspective that may also be more helpful to those who commonly employ an African/African American worldview (Wilson, 1993). An ability to relate to individuals who may process information differently can lead to better intervention and counseling by preventing misattribution caused by unfamiliarity with a person's worldview.

In many situations, the term race has been synonymous with ethnicity. Ethnicity can be seen as a subset of race in some instances. For example, throughout the African continent there are numerous ethnic groups (sometimes called tribes) such as the Ashanti, the Igbo (or Ibo), the Zulu, and the Yoruba, just to name a few. All of the ethnic groups would be in the same racial category—Black—but have more or less differing worldviews, customs, rituals, and practices. Thus, ethnicity can be contained within the race categorization and also be synonymous with race as a descriptor (e.g., African American).

One common theme in the ethnic discourse is the notion of culture, or shared history of a given people. It is this shared history, with common rituals, worldviews, philosophies, speech/language, mode of dress, and/or music, that bind individuals to a particular group. It can be said that the more one has in common and identifies in these various areas, the more one is part of this group.

Issues of race and ethnicity have been addressed in the field of education. The growth in multicultural initiatives is evidence of the push for including historical representation of ethnic minorities in the curriculum. Some have argued that academic success among ethnic minority students in the United States has been under-realized because in some instances students [Page 430]have resisted a school culture that attempts to make everyone fit mainstream American values (Fordham, 1988). Others have argued that many of the problems associated with ethnic minorities have come as a result of being inadequately educated, or educated away from one's own self-interest for the benefit of the status quo. As a result of the inadequate education, many problem behaviors have developed in these communities and they persist (Akbar, 1998).

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