Deck 8: Race, Ethnicity, and Multiculturalism

Question 1

Which of the following statements about Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman is NOT accurate?

A) Martin was visiting his father's fiancée's family, who lived in Zimmerman's neighborhood, when Zimmerman killed him.
B) Both men were African American.
C) Martin was conducting a drug deal when Zimmerman killed him.
D) Zimmerman invoked the Castle Doctrine, which says that people can use lethal self-defense against an intruder in their home, in his defense.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What term describes the police practice of giving extra scrutiny to people of color?

A) Racial profiling
B) Racial segregation
C) Blockbusting
D) Ethnic cleansing

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What did W.. E. B. Du Bois mean when he said that "the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line"?

A) The long-standing racist thinking and behavior of white Americans would take hard work to overcome.
B) With the passing of white people who had living memories of slavery, racism would fade away.
C) If enough African Americans lived lives that white people would call "successful," then white people would eventually accept them as equal.
D) As Americans became more economically interdependent, especially as more people moved from rural to urban areas and left farming behind, they would prioritize economic solidarity over racial exclusivity.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The Thomas theorem helps us understand that race is socially constructed because it shows us that

A) race is a personal choice, with each person selecting their race as they think best describes them
B) when we act as if race matters, it will come to matter
C) racial categories are consistent over time
D) racial categories are consistent across cultures

Question 5

Which theory analyses modern Western-and especially American-society as structured by a historically developed "racial common sense"?

A) Intersectionality
B) Eugenics
C) Racial formation theory
D) Thomas theorem

Question 6

Which of the following statements about human genetic diversity is accurate?

A) Genes are not real, but they have a social impact because we believe that they are.
B) There is the same amount of genetic diversity within racial groups as between them.
C) There is more genetic diversity between racial groups than within them.
D) There is more genetic diversity within racial groups than between them.

Question 7

Initially during the Age of Exploration, as Europeans began to travel beyond Europe, they argued for the superiority of Europeans over others they met due to

A) culture and religion
B) biology and genetics
C) skin color and hair texture
D) height and weight

Question 8

Why did Europeans come to view race as so important by the 1700s?

A) They were seeking explanations for why so many native people died when Europeans came into contact with them.
B) They were trying to divide Europe into nation-states, not just kingdoms, and wanted to do so along racial lines.
C) Racial hierarchies justified the permanent enslavement of Africans-even over generations.
D) They were seeking to apply Darwin's theory of evolution to human cultures.

Question 9

All of the following were agricultural products produced primarily through the labor of enslaved people that helped Britain establish economic and political dominance in the 18th century EXCEPT

A) cotton
B) sugar
C) tobacco
D) mustard

Question 10

To say that race is socially constructed is to say that

A) it is rooted in biology, including genetics
B) the concept of race is unchanging over time
C) what constitutes a "race" changes from society to society
D) each of us can choose what race we are

Question 11

When Europeans created racial classification systems in the 18th century, they

A) were trying to confront and combat their own racism
B) came to the conclusion that all people groups have the same capacities but developed differently for historical and geographic reasons
C) began to recognize the superiority of non-whites and so quickly stopped their project, fearful of the political repercussions
D) consistently placed Europeans at the top of their racial hierarchies

Question 12

Racial determinism is a theory that says that

A) while not every individual has equal capacities, people groups, in general, have equal capacities for developing culture
B) race is socially constructed
C) white people are more genetically different from each other, as a group, than they are from people of other races
D) the world was divided into biologically distinct races, which are fundamentally different in their abilities

Question 13

In their quest to justify oppressing non-white people, white scientists of the mid-1800s used all of the following pseudo-scientific measures to place white people at the top of a racial hierarchy EXCEPT

A) skull size
B) shape of the skull
C) physical strength and pulmonary capacity
D) trying to measure whether non-white people had souls

Question 14

In the Great Migration,

A) people were stolen from Africa and forced to live in the New World as slaves
B) indigenous Americans were accidentally and purposively killed by colonizing Europeans through disease and warfare
C) rural African Americans, typically the descendants of former slaves, moved from the South to the North to pursue jobs and education
D) native Americans in the east U.S. were forced westward to reservations

Question 15

How did World War II contribute to changing understandings of race in the U.S.?

A) Nazi atrocities, committed in the name of racial purification, shocked the conscience of many Americans, who began to question their own prejudices.
B) American interest in eugenics, the belief that a society should control its population by controlling who could reproduce, increased.
C) Americans began to worry about the financial cost of maintaining "separate but equal" facilities for whites and non-whites because World War II has been so expensive to fight.
D) Americans began to see women as competent employees because of their performance in factories during World War II.

Question 16

One of W.. E. B. Du Bois' many contributions to our sociological understanding of race was to help us understand that

A) it was differences in opportunity and experience, not in heredity, that shaped differences in outcomes between black and white people
B) differences in race are due to differences in melanin levels in skin
C) people of different races developed in different regions of the world
D) it was the job of African Americans to prove themselves worthy of white respect, not the job of white people to recognize the inherent dignity of people of different races than themselves

Question 17

The work of anthropologist Franz Boas provided evidence that language, culture, and behavior were not inherited but learned. This gave further evidence to the sociological insight that

A) any number of biological features, from skin tone to hair texture to eye shape, could be used to define race
B) genetics alone, not other biological factors, determines race
C) culture trumps biology in our understanding of human differences
D) biology trumps culture in our understanding of human differences

Question 18

From a sociological perspective, race is

A) a category of group membership
B) a biological reality
C) an unchanging historical truth
D) a personal decision

Question 19

Ethnic groups are held together by all of the following EXCEPT

A) shared ancestry, whether real or imagined, and a common history
B) shared genes
C) a shared language
D) traditions and rituals

Question 20

The social construction of race is illustrated by the way that

A) the birth rate for different racial groups has changed over time
B) Irish people were once considered to be non-white in U.S. society, but are now considered to be white
C) different racial and ethnic groups have varying average lifespans
D) a person with parents of different races may choose to identify as multiracial or with only one racial or ethnic category

Question 21

Which of following is an example of symbolic ethnicity?

A) Americans with no Irish ancestry celebrating St. Patrick's Day by wearing green.
B) Americans with no Irish ancestry attending a St. Patrick's Day parade to cheer for their friends in the parade who are Irish or Irish American.
C) Americans with Irish ancestry preparing a traditional Irish meal in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
D) Irish-Americans moving to Ireland to re-engage their ancestral culture more directly.

Question 22

According to sociologist Herbert Gans, symbolic ethnicity turns ethnicity into a

A) survival strategy against white supremacy
B) leisure activity
C) protection of an endangered culture
D) form of abuse in order to keep children born in a new culture subservient to parents

Question 23

In most societies, people who have the most power

A) share it equally with those who have been historically disempowered
B) find ways to multiply it so that those with less power can have more, even if they themselves continue to have the most
C) dismantle their own racism and disinvest from racist privileges
D) tend to downplay their racial identities and privileges and emphasize their ethnic identities

Question 24

Which of the following examples does not support the idea that African Americans are an ethnic as well as a racial group?

A) African Americans have distinctive religious practices, even within a variety of religious groups. For example, African American Christianity has traditions that are distinct from expressions of Christianity dominated by white people.
B) African Americans, on average, have shorter lifespans than white Americans.
C) The shared experience of racial oppression has contributed to specific artistic and musical traditions developed by African Americans.
D) African American culinary traditions recognize and honor connections to African American history.

Question 25

The most racially and ethnically diverse nations in the world are located in

A) North America
B) former Soviet Republics
C) sub-Saharan Africa
D) North Africa and the Middle East

Question 26

In which year did the U.S. begin taking a census?

A) 1776
B) 1790
C) 1820
D) 1870

Question 27

In what year did the Census start to allow people to self-identify as Hispanic in addition to identifying with a racial category?

A) 1910
B) 1930
C) 1950
D) 1970

Question 28

Which of the following statements about race and ethnicity in the U.S. is accurate?

A) Latino is a race.
B) Latino people can be of any race.
C) If you speak Spanish, you are Latino.
D) All immigrants from South American speak Spanish.

Question 29

Of the following groups, which is the largest in the U.S.?

A) Black or African American
B) Hispanic or Latino
C) Non-Hispanic white
D) Asian American

Question 30

The second-largest group in the U.S. is

A) black or African American
B) Hispanic or Latino
C) native American or indigenous American
D) Asian American

Question 31

Which of the following represent the smallest racial or ethnic group in the U.S. of those groups tracked by the U.S. Census?

A) Black or African American
B) Hispanic or Latino
C) Native American or indigenous American
D) Asian American

Question 32

According to the US Supreme Court,

A) separate accommodations based on race are legally provided so that they are equal
B) race is not limited to the categories that the Census defines
C) a person cannot self-identify on the Census, but must have their race determined by a Census worker
D) people who are multiracial have no race

Question 33

What was the main cause of the decline of the Native American population after contact with Europeans?

A) Communicable disease (those passed from person to person through viruses and bacteria)
B) b. Warfare
C) Suicide
D) So-called "lifestyle diseases" (such as lung cancer caused by smoking)

Question 34

By the time of the 1900 Census, the Native American population in the U.S. was only about

A) 137,000
B) 237,000
C) 737,000
D) 1,373,000

Question 35

Which racial or ethnic group has the highest rate of drug and alcohol use?

A) Asian Americans
B) Native Americans
C) Hispanics
D) Non-Hispanic whites

Question 36

The Red Power movement promoted land reform for and legal recognition of

A) former slaves who fought for the Union during the Civil War
B) Asian Americans who had been interned in camps during World War II
C) native American tribes
D) Irish-Americans who had been victims of discrimination during the 1800s

Question 37

As of 2010, how many people identified as native American?

A) 200,000
B) 1.2 million
C) 5.2 million
D) 9.2 million

Question 38

The "gaming industry" describes

A) hunting and fishing for both survival and sport
B) state-sponsored lotteries
C) video and computer-based games
D) gambling endeavors such as casinos

Question 39

Today, most white people in the U.S.

A) have an ethnically mixed ancestry
B) can trace their ancestry to a relatively narrow part of the world
C) live in highly integrated neighborhoods
D) earn about as much as people of color with similar job training

Question 40

The 13th Amendment

A) outlawed slavery except in cases of punishment
B) outlawed slavery in all cases
C) awarded former slaves reparations for their enslavement
D) reorganized land in Confederate states to take it away from those who committed treason by fighting against the U.S. government and giving it to poor people who fought for the Union, regardless of race

Question 41

So-called "Jim Crow" laws reinforced racial

A) integration
B) profiling
C) segregation
D) justice

Question 42

Murders by mob are called

A) ethnic cleansing
B) genocide
C) racial profiling
D) lynchings

Question 43

During what period did African Americans migrate in large numbers from the U.S. South to cities in the rest of the nation?

A) The Great Exodus
B) The Great Depression
C) The Great Recession
D) The Great Migration

Question 44

Which one of the following was a leader in the abolitionist movement?

A) Rosa Parks
B) W. E. B. Du Bois
C) Ralph Abernathy
D) Sojourner Truth

Question 45

What inspired many people to participate in the Great Migration?

A) Desire for religious freedom
B) Search for economic and educational opportunity
C) Flight from natural disaster
D) Desire to return to their homeland

Question 46

What strategy did Booker T. Washington suggest for African Americans to achieve their political goals?

A) Patiently focus on education, job skills, and economic self-improvement in order to convince white people that they were responsible and reliable.
B) Broadly educate African Americans in the liberal arts so they were prepared to be citizens and leaders.
C) Invest disproportionately in the most talented African Americans to launch them into the public sphere.
D) Combat racism through high-conflict methods meant to force white people to see their own racism.

Question 47

Today, which nations send the most black immigrants to the United States?

A) Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and Sudan
B) The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and Togo
C) Bermuda, Benin, and Ethiopia
D) Jamaica, Haiti, and Nigeria

Question 48

Black immigrants to the U.S. often consciously hold on to their cultural heritage for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A) to criticize American culture
B) to distinguish themselves from African Americans
C) to protect themselves from the racism that African Americans face
D) to preserve the cultural traditions of their heritage

Question 49

At the end of the Mexican-American War,

A) most Americans living in places that were previously part of the U.S. and were now part of Mexico chose NOT to become Mexican citizens.
B) most Americans living in places that were previously part of the U.S. and were now part of Mexico chose to become Mexican citizens.
C) most Mexicans living in places that were previously part of Mexico and were now part of the U.S. chose NOT to become American citizens.
D) most Mexicans living in places that were previously part of Mexico and were now part of the U.S. chose to become American citizens.

Question 50

Housing covenants

A) restricted who could live in a neighborhood based on race and ethnicity
B) prevented mortgage brokers from denying mortgages to qualified applicants of color
C) were often used against white people
D) are still legal

Question 51

What was the name of the U.S. federal policy that brought Mexican workers to the U.S. to address a labor shortage brought on by World War II?

A) The Bracero Program
B) The Great Migration
C) The Chicano Arts Movement
D) The Niagara Movement

Question 52

Which of the following statements about the Latino population in the U.S. is accurate?

A) The population is disproportionately wealthy because so many immigrants choose to work in high-paying jobs.
B) The population is shrinking as more immigrants choose to go to nations more supportive of diversity than the U.S.
C) The population has become more diverse since the 1980s, when more immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Central and South American nations began to come in larger numbers.
D) The population has become less diverse since the 1980s, when immigration from South and Central American declined but immigration from Mexico grew.

Question 53

In the U.S., the largest number of Latinos trace their heritage to

A) Mexico
B) Puerto Rico
C) Cuba
D) the Philippines

Question 54

Immigrants from ____________ were vital in building the transcontinental railroad.

A) Japan
B) the Philippines
C) China
D) Korea

Question 55

In addition to prohibiting further immigration of Asian people to the U.S., the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and new immigration laws in 1917 and 1924 prohibited Asian people already in the country from

A) speaking any language other than English
B) returning to their nation of origin
C) becoming citizens
D) having children

Question 56

In what year did the U.S. radically reform its immigration laws in order to end the previous system of national, racial, and ethnic quotas?

A) 1945
B) 1955
C) 1965
D) 1975

Question 57

Which three U.S. states have welcomed the most Asian immigrants?

A) California, New York, and Texas
B) Alaska, Illinois, and Virginia
C) Florida, Louisiana, and Washington
D) Michigan, Nevada, and Utah

Question 58

An H-1B visa is for

A) people with special job skills that are deemed to be highly desirable in the U.S.
B) people who do farming and other agricultural work
C) people who were brought without documentation to the U.S. as children, growing up here without any connection to the nation where they are technically citizens
D) people who are seeking higher education and who promise to return to their nation of origin after they complete their degrees

Question 59

Stereotypes of Asian Americans as successful, smart, hard-working, and law-abiding may feel, on the surface, positive, but the _______________ stereotype can still cause harm.

A) "model minority"
B) "incredible immigrant"
C) "amazing Asian"
D) "triumphant tiger"

Question 60

Asian Americans of ______________ and _____________ descent are most likely to be poor.

A) Indian, Pakistani
B) Cambodian, Hmong
C) Laotian, Korean
D) Burmese, Japanese

Question 61

Which factor is most compelling of an explanation-and supported by measurable data-for different racial and ethnic categories of people have higher or lower average incomes?

A) Financial affluence is more important to some groups of people, so they pursue it more energetically.
B) Historic and contemporary patterns of racism have given some groups of people more access to opportunities than others, and even if barriers to financial success continue to fall-such as the end of slavery or the prohibition of segregation-the disparity of the past continues to influence the present.
C) Different racial and ethnic groups have different values, and some of those values are more likely to lead to economic success.
D) Different racial and ethnic groups have different capabilities, which results in different levels of success.

Question 62

Sociologists are confident in their statement that white privilege exists because

A) people feel that it is true
B) they can observe and measure it
C) they can see that it benefits some white people but not others
D) people disagree about its effects

Question 63

According to Noel Ignatiev's How the Irish Became White, Irish Catholic immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants came to be accepted as white because they

A) spoke English
B) participated in white supremacy
C) were Christian
D) were from western Europe

Question 64

In Chicago, almost every neighborhood is either more than 80% or less than 2% African American. This reflects a contemporary pattern of

A) discrimination
B) racial segregation
C) assimilation
D) multiculturalism

Question 65

In 1950, Reggie and Teresa, an African American couple, purchased their first home. Though they had the savings, income, and credit to buy a house in a wealthy white neighborhood, they were prevented from their bank from receiving a mortgage for a home outside of an African American neighborhood. In their neighborhood, property values were lower, schools were poorly funded, public services (such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and street lights) were non-existent or poorly maintained, and police presence was high and hostile. The same year, Clifford and Judy, a white couple, purchased a house in the city's white-only section, where property values were high, schools were well-funded, public services were plentiful, and police officers were a friendly presence. Now that Reggie and Teresa and Clifford and Judy have passed away, their children are inheriting their property. What social phenomenon will make it likely that Reggie and Teresa's children will inherit less valuable property than Clifford and Judy's children?

A) Blockbusting
B) Racial segregation in housing
C) Ethnic enclaves for immigrants
D) Desegregation in housing

Question 66

Leo is Latino and his wife Jessie is white. They are searching for housing in a small town that is predominantly white. Their realtor discourages them from seeking a house in a private, gated community, though they can afford it, saying that they would likely feel "unwelcome" there due to their status as a mixed-race couple. Instead, the realtor encourages them to consider purchasing a house in a more racially integrated section of town, even though property values are lower here. Though the realtor presents herself as concerned about the racism they might face in a predominantly white neighborhood, they suspect that she may actually be attempting to prevent people of color from moving into the gated community by pushing them toward housing in other neighborhoods, a practice called

A) redlining
B) racial steering
C) racial profiling
D) blockbusting

Question 67

Dac Kien owned a successful restaurant in Vietnam before he immigrated to the U.S. years ago. Now an American citizen, he wants to open a restaurant in his neighborhood, which is occupied predominantly by other Vietnamese immigrants, new citizens, and their families. Though he has an ample down payment, impeccable credit, and a steady income, the city's biggest bank refuses to lend him the money for a mortgage to purchase a building for a restaurant in his neighborhood. The mortgage lender claims that the neighborhood presents too much of a financial risk for the bank. However, Dac Kien wonders if their real concern is that they do not want to invest in a neighborhood that is predominantly non-white, a practice called

A) redlining
B) racial steering
C) racial profiling
D) blockbusting

Question 68

Jean is an elderly white woman who lives alone in a house she has owned since she was in her 30s. When she bought it, her neighborhood was composed mostly of other white people, but now about one-third of the residents are African American. One day, Jean discovers a flyer taped to her front door. It is from a realtor, who promises that he will buy her house quickly. She notices that all her white neighbors-but not of her African American ones-have received similar flyers. She calls the realtor who contacted her and asks why he is interested in homes in her neighborhood. He explains that he understands that "people like her" might be noticing "unanticipated changes" in the neighborhood and might be interested in moving elsewhere, if they could find a buyer. Given the "fast pace of change" in her neighborhood, he suggests that she sell for a lower price than the value of her property.
Jean is a wise person who understands how racism hurts people of all races, so she hangs up on him. Then she attends that evening's neighborhood meeting, where she warns her neighbors, both white and African American, that a realtor is attempting to _____________ in their neighborhood. The community members spend the evening brainstorming ways to combat this nefarious attempt to buy white-owned houses for low prices and then inflate the prices for African American buyers.

A) redline
B) racially steer
C) racially profile
D) blockbust

Question 69

Colorblind racism occurs when white people

A) are equally racist to people of all racial and ethnic minority groups
B) ignore (or pretend to ignore race), thus ignoring the reality of racism
C) are racist among their close white friends but not overtly racist in public settings or in situations with people of color
D) commit to eradicating racism from their lives

Question 70

Which of the following is an example of what a person might say if they were expressing what Eduardo Bonilla-Silva describes as "abstract liberalism" in his book Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America?

A) "People prefer to live among others of their own race or ethnicity, so segregation in housing and schools isn't anyone's fault."
B) "Everyone has an equal chance of success in America!"
C) "People of color have different values, and those values, not differences in opportunity or experiences of racism, make them poor."
D) "Since we ended slavery and legal segregation, racism no longer exists-which means that if people of color aren't succeeding, it is their own fault."

Question 71

Which of the following is an example of what a person might say if they were expressing what Eduardo Bonilla-Silva describes as a "naturalization" argument in his book Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America?

A) "People prefer to live among others of their own race or ethnicity, so segregation in housing and schools isn't anyone's fault."
B) "Everyone has an equal chance of success in America!"
C) "People of color have different values, and those values, not differences in opportunity or experiences of racism, make them poor."
D) "Since we ended slavery and legal segregation, racism no longer exists-which means that if people of color aren't succeeding, it is their own fault."

Question 72

Which of the following is an example of what a person might say if they were expressing what Eduardo Bonilla-Silva describes as a "cultural racism" argument in his book Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America?

A) "People prefer to live among others of their own race or ethnicity, so segregation in housing and schools isn't anyone's fault."
B) "Everyone has an equal chance of success in America!"
C) "People of color have different values, and those values, not differences in opportunity or experiences of racism, make them poor."
D) "Since we ended slavery and legal segregation, racism no longer exists-which means that if people of color aren't succeeding, it is their own fault."

Question 73

Which of the following is an example of what a person might say if they were expressing what Eduardo Bonilla-Silva describes as a "minimization" argument in his book Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America?

A) "People prefer to live among others of their own race or ethnicity, so segregation in housing and schools isn't anyone's fault."
B) "Everyone has an equal chance of success in America!"
C) "People of color have different values, and those values, not differences in opportunity or experiences of racism, make them poor."
D) "Since we ended slavery and legal segregation, racism no longer exists-which means that if people of color aren't succeeding, it is their own fault."

Question 74

The systematic killing of people on the basis of their race, ethnicity, or religion is termed

A) ethnic cleansing
B) genocide
C) racial conflict
D) racial profiling

Question 75

The forced removal of a people from a society because of their race, ethnicity, or religion is termed

A) ethnic cleansing
B) genocide
C) racial conflict
D) racial profiling

Question 76

While the killing of Trayvon Martin inspired activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometti to first use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, the BLM movement exploded in response to what event?

A) The February 1999 killing of black immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was attempting to cooperate with police officers when they shot him 31 times, claiming that they believed he was reaching for a gun
B) The August 2014 killing of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri
C) The July 2015 death of African American woman Sandra Bland while in police custody after her arrest following a traffic stop
D) The November 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black child shot by police officers who defended their choice to use lethal force by noting that Rice was carrying a toy gun that looked real

Question 77

The goal of Black Lives Matter is to

A) end violence by black youth against black youth
B) eradicate violence against African Americans, especially police brutality and other forms of state-sanctioned violence
C) promote art and literature by African Americans by studying from the perspectives of African American people
D) promote black-owned businesses for African American customers as an alternative to white-owned businesses

Question 78

Assimilation is most likely for groups that

A) are most economically successful
B) share the same racial characteristics as the dominant group
C) have the longest presence in a country
D) are most recent to immigrate to a country

Question 79

In a culturally pluralistic society,

A) people reject their own cultural traditions in favor of those of the dominant group
B) people share some common core values but also retain aspects of their distinct cultures
C) new cultural traditions emerge that are shared by all members of a society and reflect contributions from each of their original cultures
D) the society recognizes and promotes cultural diversity rather than merely tolerating it

Question 80

In what decades did the academic study of ethnic groups become part of many college and university curricula?

A) 1910s and 1920s
B) 1950s and 1960s
C) 1960s and 1970s
D) 2000s and 2010s