In 1900 many Americans considered Italians to be members of a distinct race. Today many Italian Americans celebrate their ethnicity. Using Italian Americans as an example, what does it mean to say that race is socially constructed? Then, explain how ethnicity differs from race in terms of (a) who defines it and (b) what it is based on.

Which best explains why the supreme court’s decision in plessy v. ferguson was unconstitutional? the supreme court’s ruling allowed states to deny equal protection to any person within its jurisdiction. since the 14th amendment did not make concessions for people born outside the us, the supreme court’s decision could not be applied. the supreme court’s decision gave individual states the freedom to make their own laws in relation to non-whites. since segregation laws did not provide equal protections or liberties to non-whites, the ruling was not consistent with the 14th amendment.