Ethnicity as tradition, not identification

I believe that ethnicity is still very important in the 21st century to white ethnic races, however, it is important to the continued practices of each ethnic group's heritage and tradition, not for identifying them racially.  As Jacobson points out throughout Whiteness of a Different Color, the early 20th century was filled with discrimination based on "race," but in reality it was based on ethnic background.  The "white race" was made up of Anglo-Saxons who instead of seeing Euro-ethinic groups as one white race, saw them individually as several different races.  Fast forward to the 21st century and the euro-ethnic groups that were discriminated against, now fall under the same general category of "caucasian." This is important because as Jacobson points out in chapter 4 "One set of racial perceptions does not clearly give way to the next"(142).  This also goes along with the "race as a conceptual category" vs "race as a perceptual category" argument.  In today's society, we can look at anyone and get a pretty good understanding of what race they are.  However, we can not tell a person's ethnic background based on observation alone.  Understanding a person's ethnic background can help us get a better understanding of their beliefs and behavior. So, to reanswer the original question, yes ethnicity is still important in the 21st century because it can explain a person's interests, actions, and character better than "race" can, and it is those factors that the early settlers should have used as a basis for a person's "fitness for self-government"(42).

Below is a picture of soccer star Mario Balotelli, an Italian citizen of African descent.  Clearly, he would fall under the "black" racial category, but he was raised as an Italian by his Italian adoptive parents.  I feel that he is a perfect example of how ethnicity is still important in today's society because even though he can only be perceived as "black," his ethnicity is reflected through his soccer playing career, being that soccer is a huge tradition in Italy.