Cultural diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cultural diversity - Essay Example The advancement of social justice and push for health equity have changed from traditional measures of health status from death rates to the society experience of unpleasant health and impairment, physical ill health and mental health issues and physical & cognitive challenges that make the daily activities of these individuals challenging (Graham 2). There has been a gradual and consistent evaluation by research and policy focusing on the well being status rather than ill health (Ryff and Singer 28). Racism is prevalent in the British society. According to a national representative survey by the UK policy studies institute, 20-26% of white participants admitted to having prejudice against Asian, Caribbean and Muslim ethnic minorities (Modood et al 40). Racial and ethnic constructs in the current world are increasingly becoming difficult to grasp because of the complexities of their use and definitions and the changing dynamic world (Harris 2). Race is the biological classification of individuals, and it categorizes people based on their physical features, character, and genetic composition, while other people use social classes to categorize people (Spickard 14). These qualities and characteristics of people have traditionally been used by some sections of Europeans to group people into classes with Europeans being superior of all races, followed by Asians and Native Americans, and lastly Blacks being inferior to all other races (Spickard 14). The skin colour determines the raci al identity of a person with individuals having the same colour categorized as being from the same race. Racial classification of people uses blanket generalization and stereotyping of people without any consideration of individual capabilities and differences in tradition, culture, religious or political belief systems. Ethnicity classifies people from the same origin who share the same