According to Mary Waters in "Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?," White ethnics fail to recognize ______.
A) the difference between individualistic symbolic ethnic identity and a socially enforced and imposed racial identity
B) the similarity between individualistic symbolic ethnic identity and a socially enforced and imposed racial identity
C) that some ethnicities are more important than others
D) that all ethnicities are merely symbolic in today's worlds

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mary Waters, in "Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?," argues that White ethnics often fail to recognize the difference between an individualistic symbolic ethnic identity, which they can choose to embrace or ignore, and a socially enforced and imposed racial identity, which is often the experience of non-White individuals. This distinction highlights how ethnicity can be an optional identity for White individuals, whereas racial identity can be an inescapable part of daily life for people of color.

According to Mary Waters in "Optional Ethnicities: for Whites Only