Ethnic Options

Ethnic options is a phrase popularized by Mary C. Waters and is used to explain the phenomenon of white European Americans who adopt certain ethnicities over others within their family heritage. This concept is associated with the notion of symbolic ethnicity, which alludes to people voluntarily choosing to practice specific ethnic customs and traits without much impact on or cost to their daily lives. Ethnic options and symbolic ethnicity allow people to feel part of a larger ethnic community, but they do not constrict their individual life choices. Other scholars have noted that individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups may also employ ethnic options in how they affirm, reject, or take creative agency in the stereotypes associated with their ethnic group.