#population_diaspora

[gwanth1002]

This photo was taken at the H street festival in Washington D.C., and it shows my friends and I posing for a photo together in the midst of our festivities. I chose this photo because it relates to the concept of a social group, as well as diaspora population. A social group is a cluster of people beyond the household unit who are usually related on a basis other than kinship, although kinship relationships may exist between people in the group (Miller 132). Miller continues to define a social group, stating that there are a variety of social groups, starting with the most face to face, primary groups comprising of two or three people based on friendship. Friendship refers to close social ties between at least two people in which the ties are informal and voluntary and fits into the category of a primary social group (Miller 133). This photo exhibits a social group in the terms of a ‘friendship’ because we are not kin, yet we all voluntarily choose to spend time with one another- such as at this festival- and we all met informally through mutual friends. In addition to ‘social group,’ this photo relates to the concept of a “diaspora population.” A diaspora population is a dispersed group of people living outside their original homeland (Miller 142). As African Americans, our original homeland is Africa yet we are unaware of our origins, and therefore represent a marginal population. Oftentimes diaspora populations have a lower economic, political and social status than those native to the land they reside in (such as African Americans in American), so I would like to explore whether their status could be raised if they returned to their homeland, or if it was permanently severed due to centuries of physical isolation and cultural separation. Miller also states that friendship is an understudied topic, therefore anthropological fieldwork can be done related to the photo by studying friendship in terms of cultural anthropology. Also, I would like to additionally learn how certain cultural backgrounds can inhibit or promote the development of social groups between certain people of similar backgrounds.