Race and Religion

Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous individuals to obtain citizenship of the States in which they live.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 33, section 1

Three of the classes I am taking this semester reflect on racial identity, religious identity, or both, and how this concept of self shapes a person's interactions with the Other, those who define themselves as belonging to a separate racial or religious category. One of the topics that has come up most frequently is the definition or classification of these identity categories, and how these definitions come to be. Interestingly, the mutual conclusion reached is that there is no way to satisfactorily define religion or race inclusively, and that they are invariably defined by the Other. Some of my colleagues have even thrown out the idea that we should get rid of these words altogether, and try to find new ways of describing these personal identities, while one of my professors has already taken this step, prefering to refer to "lifeways" instead of "religions" or "traditions".

An article I read for my class in Race and Religion in American History (REL 705), entitled Race, Nation, and Religion in the Americas by Goldschmidt and McAlister, argues for the conflation of religious/racial identity, citing examples including the widespread prejudice following 9/11 against Arab-looking peoples, who were targeted for hate crimes based on the misconception that they were Muslim terrorists. According to the article, one's identity is composed of multiple aspects, including race, nation, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc., which are not discrete. Nation may include race, race may include religion, and religion may include nation.

While the article did not address the formation of identity, I have extrapolated from my readings that there are two kinds of identity: internally-defined identity, and externally-defined identity. Internally-defined identity is how one defines oneself; externally-defined identity is how one is defined by others, normally through socio-historical processes. In most circumstances, externally-defined identity is the root of tension.

In 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by General Assembly, and in Article 33, it gives indigenous peoples the right to identify themselves as indigenous. To me, this is momentous. Giving the people the right to identify themselves by their own standards, rather than standards laid out for them by a governing authority, may seem like a small step, but it is the first step on the road to relieving racial tension.