# Why is racial grouping of diverse ethnicities with different backgrounds still considered acceptable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 16, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-racial-grouping-of-diverse-ethnicities-with-different-backgrounds-still-considered-acceptable/991662 "2023-10-16T18:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 64
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-racial-grouping-of-diverse-ethnicities-with-different-backgrounds-still-considered-acceptable/991662/64 "2023-11-09T00:57:11Z")
I have no real clue, but a few months ago I asserted that “ethnicity” = genes. And got a lot of pushback from possibly more expert folks who said “No; ethnicity is just culture, not genes”. See here and the few subsequent posts for the back-and-forth. > [@If parliament effectively runs the UK.....what governing body runs England, Scotland etc](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-parliament-effectively-runs-the-uk-what-governing-body-runs-england-scotland-etc/985527/40): > > IANA expert, but that is a radically different way of defining that term from what I’ve ever understood, read, or heard anyone else say. IME = “Ethnicity” is genes, “culture” is what you behave or learned or practice. So in the terminology I’ve familiar with, your exemplar kid would be 100% indelibly ethnically Polish, but could possibly be culturally English if he really assimilated far more than most and affirmatively rejected the culture of his parents. I think the most useful outcome of the dialog was learning that these terms probably mean different things in different countries / cultures. Or at least do in the popular usage; academic usage may be more fully standardized. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-racial-grouping-of-diverse-ethnicities-with-different-backgrounds-still-considered-acceptable/991662)._