Deck 2: Assimilation and Pluralism: From Immigrants to White Ethnics

Question 1

______ sees assimilation as benign and egalitarian, a process that emphasizes sharing and inclusion.

A) Anglo-conformity
B) Americanization
C) The melting pot
D) Gordon
E) Park

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following minority group processes must be in place to allow for Gordon's third stage of assimilation to occur?

A) substantial integration into the primary sector
B) increased access to public institutions
C) adoption of dominant group value systems
D) intermarriage with the dominant group
E) creation of systems for economic survival

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following theories argues that status attainment is a direct result of education, personal values, skills, and other individual characteristics and abilities?

A) social exchange theory
B) human capital theory
C) Park's assimilation theory
D) Gordon's assimilation theory
E) segmented assimilation theory

Answer 3

B

Question 4

According to the text, which traditions still have a significant influence on American culture and society?

A) German American traditions
B) Catholic American traditions
C) Anglo-Saxon Protestant traditions
D) Jewish American traditions
E) Eastern European American traditions

Question 5

It was ______ who concluded that U.S. society in the 1960s actually incorporated not three but four melting pots, each of which was internally subdivided by social class.

A) Park
B) Kennedy
C) Herberg
D) Gordon
E) Kallen

Question 6

As late as 1920, 81% of employed ______ in the United States worked as domestics.

A) Italian-born women
B) Eastern European-born Jewish women
C) German-born women
D) Norwegian-born women
E) Irish-born women

Question 7

______ work was the second most prevalent form of employment among Irish-born women as late as 1920.

A) Factory
B) Domestic
C) House
D) Office
E) Farming

Question 8

From what group can a large percentage of immigrants between 1899 and 1924 be considered sojourners?

A) Eastern European Jewish immigrants
B) German immigrants
C) Norwegian immigrants
D) Italian immigrants
E) Irish immigrants

Question 9

The Pennsylvania Dutch, or the ______, a religious community, are a culturally pluralistic group.

A) Hollanders
B) Brits
C) Protestants
D) Amish
E) Quakers

Question 10

Which of the following best illustrates a middleman minority?

A) Korean American grocery stores dispersed throughout an area
B) Chinatown shops concentrated in a neighborhood
C) Native American reservations
D) Jewish Americans working in factory positions
E) German Americans participating in politics

Question 11

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a notable increase in the visibility of and interest in White ethnic heritage, an upsurge often referred to as the ______.

A) White supremacy movement
B) ethnic revival
C) ethclass
D) ethnogenesis
E) emergence of Whiteness

Question 12

Which of the following groups were most likely to be sojourners?

A) Eastern European Jews
B) Germans
C) Norwegians
D) Italians
E) Swedes

Question 13

A politician states in a campaign speech, "It is inevitable that our group differences will disappear as we grow and mature as a society." This statement echoes the thinking of ______.

A) Robert Park
B) Milton Gordon
C) Andrew Greely
D) Robert Blauner
E) Horace Kallen

Question 14

Which of the following categories is considered a part of the primary sector of social structure?

A) businesses
B) schools
C) families
D) bureaucracies
E) labor unions

Question 15

Ethnic succession refers to the process in which ______.

A) groups were pushed to more favorable statuses by those who arrived later
B) ethnic groups arrived to the United States based on their geographical location
C) ethnic groups became more Americanized as generations passed
D) White ethnicity was replaced by a singular European American identity
E) minority ethnic groups began to intermarry with one another

Question 16

In Milton Gordon's theory of assimilation, the most crucial step toward assimilation is from ______.

A) integration to acculturation
B) acculturation to integration
C) assimilation to pluralism
D) structural to cultural assimilation
E) integration to intermarriage

Question 17

Kennedy studied multicultural intermarriage and described a phenomenon she called a triple melting pot, referring to the multicultural intermarriage within three separate groups: ______.

A) African Americans, European Americans, and Jews
B) Native Americans, Hispanics, and African Americans
C) Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists
D) Protestants, Catholics, and Jews
E) Mormons, Jews, and Catholics

Question 18

Which intermarriage best illustrates Kennedy's concept of the triple melting pot?

A) marriage between an Irish Catholic woman and a Russian Jewish man
B) an interracial marriage between an African American man and a European American woman
C) marriage between an Irish Catholic man and an Irish Protestant woman
D) marriage between a Native American woman and a French Protestant man
E) marriage between a Polish Jewish man and a Russian Jewish woman

Question 19

Which of the following is a critique Ngo made of Park and Gordon's assimilation theories?

A) Groups can experience integration without acculturation.
B) Assimilation is an inevitable outcome for group dynamics.
C) Groups may become less assimilated over time.
D) Race, class, and gender may affect possibilities for assimilation.
E) Access to education is a significant factor in whether groups can assimilate.

Question 20

Based on Park's race relations cycle, African Americans will ______.

A) become fully assimilated and experience equal treatment
B) experience acculturation without integration
C) attempt to revolt and establish a new social order
D) experience integration without acculturation
E) be permanently marginalized

Question 21

According to Alba (1990), what ideological function does a combined White identity provide to descendants of White ethnic groups?

A) a shared history of assimilation experiences
B) perception of full access to social and cultural spheres of society
C) equation of difficulties faced by ancestors with those suffered by racial minorities
D) the ability to connect with ethnic ancestry whenever they desire
E) an understanding of barriers to assimilation faced by racial minorities

Question 22

Which of the following best illustrates an enclave minority?

A) Chinatown, located in San Francisco
B) a Native American reservation in South Dakota
C) isolated ethnic stores in a run-down urban area
D) an Amish community in rural Ohio
E) a commune in a college town

Question 23

One of the first to support pluralism, newspaper editor ______ argued in The Nation in 1915 that the existence of separate ethnic groups--even with separate cultures, religions, and languages--could be quite consistent with a democratic political system.

A) Robert Park
B) Milton Gordon
C) Horace Kallen
D) Stephen Steinberg
E) Karl Marx

Question 24

When integration into the primary sector becomes substantial, the basis for Gordon's ______ stage of assimilation is established.

A) first
B) second
C) fourth
D) third
E) fifth

Question 25

______ exists when groups practice a common culture but do so with minimal interaction across group boundaries.

A) Segmented assimilation
B) Cultural pluralism
C) Structural pluralism
D) Multiculturalism
E) Integration without assimilation

Question 26

______ immigrant groups who were ethnically similar to the dominant group generally experienced a lower degree of ethnocentric rejection.

A) Southern European
B) Eastern European
C) Italian
D) Northern and Western European
E) Southern and Eastern European

Question 27

Movement from acculturation to integration was smoother for immigrants from ______ when compared to other groups.

A) Norway, the Netherlands, and England
B) Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine
C) Bulgaria and Hungary
D) Italy
E) Greece

Question 28

Which of the following is the most important factor of success according to the status attainment theory?

A) coming from a wealthy family
B) working hard
C) getting a good education
D) superior intellect
E) religious beliefs that are consistent with American values

Question 29

White ethnic identity has become a symbolic ethnicity, meaning that it ______.

A) is representative of American ideals
B) creates difference in access to resources among White ethnic groups
C) has no significant impact on social life
D) shapes experience based on one's religion and gender
E) is an example of descendants' strong connection to their immigrant ancestors

Question 30

The single largest ancestry group in the United States is ______.

A) Irish American
B) German American
C) Italian American
D) Norwegian American
E) French American

Question 31

Based on data from the 1990 census, about half of all married Whites have spouses whose ______ backgrounds do not match their own.

A) religious
B) ethnic
C) cultural
D) class
E) generational

Question 32

The Black Power, Red Power, Chicanismo, and ethnic revival movements of the 1960s present what challenge to the traditional model of assimilation?

A) Structural assimilation can occur before acculturation.
B) Assimilation is not desirable for all groups.
C) Gender and class have an effect on how assimilation occurs.
D) Assimilation could result in segmented outcomes for different groups.
E) Assimilation processes do not necessarily occur in a linear process.

Question 33

The segmented assimilation perspective argues that ______.

A) it is common for racial minority groups to become acculturated but not integrated
B) the United States should embrace pluralism as more immigrant groups arrive
C) some racial minority groups will achieve integration, while others will be permanently marginalized
D) White ethnicity should remain a significant social category
E) there are multiple melting pots shaped by class and religion

Question 34

A(n) ______ includes networks of social relationships, groups, organizations, stratification systems, communities, and families.

A) social structure
B) pluralistic state
C) acculturation system
D) culture
E) democracy

Question 35

Henry Kissinger, the 56th U.S. Secretary of State, was born Heinz Alfred Kissinger to a family of German Jews. His use of the American name Henry reflects ______.

A) cultural assimilation
B) cultural pluralism
C) structural assimilation
D) cultural rejection
E) marital assimilation

Question 36

Which groups commonly experience what Gordon called acculturation without integration?

A) European immigrants
B) racial minority groups
C) separatist groups
D) enclave minority groups
E) middleman minority groups

Question 37

According to Hansen, second-generation immigrants tended to raise their children in ______ settings.

A) ethnic
B) enclave
C) nonethnic
D) multiethnic
E) diverse

Question 38

Over the past century, American sociologists have been very concerned with assimilation as a result of ______.

A) the aftermath of slavery
B) world developments, including the re-formation of nation-states into smaller cultural units
C) increased racial conflict and discrimination
D) the influx of immigrants from Latin American countries
E) the mass immigration from Europe to the United States between the 1820s and the 1920s

Question 39

According to the human capital theory, the reason(s) for upward mobility and assimilation is/are ______.

A) Americanization
B) our society is equally open and fair to all groups
C) being born into a privileged status
D) more people purchasing new technology
E) education and training

Question 40

The economic success of enclave and middleman minorities is partly due to ______.

A) strong ties of cooperation
B) weak cultural bonds
C) structural assimilation
D) Americanization
E) acculturation

Question 41

Structural pluralism exists when groups have not acculturated, and each maintains its own identity.

Question 42

The experiences of female immigrants have been well documented and reflect those of their male counterparts.

Question 43

Assimilation is the process in which formerly distinct and separate groups come to share a common culture and merge together socially.

Question 44

The United States is the epitome of a melting pot, where people of different cultures come together to create a unique society.

Question 45

Assimilation in the United States has generally been a coercive and one-sided process described as Anglo-conformity.

Question 46

According to human capital theory, people or groups who fail to achieve upward mobility have not made the right kinds of educational investments.

Question 47

Park's race relations cycle erases the various ways different racial groups have sought to resist and relate to the dominant culture of the United States.

Question 48

During acculturation, members of a minority group who immigrate to the United States might adopt the English language, change their eating habits, acquire new value systems, or change their names.

Question 49

The experiences of White ethnic groups in the United States indicate that the United States desires for other racial groups to assimilate in similar pathways.

Question 50

The human capital theory assumes that a person's investment in machinery or new technology is the determining factor of one's status attainment in society.

Question 51

Although European Americans did not completely intermarry, there is evidence of patterns of a triple melting pot, with intermarriage occurring within various groups of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews.

Question 52

Gordon recognized that in addition to intermarriage within religions, social class and race have also intersected, forming what he called ethclass.

Question 53

According to Milton Gordon, marital assimilation is evidence of the completion of assimilation.

Question 54

According to Gordon, integration without acculturation is demonstrated by a group when it has had some material success but has not adopted uniquely American values and norms and/or learned fluent English.

Question 55

The goal of separatism is for the group to sever all ties with the larger society.

Question 56

Assimilation is often couched in the language of multiculturalism, a term for a variety of programs and ideas that stress mutual respect for all groups and for the multiple heritages that have shaped the United States.

Question 57

White ethnicity continues to be a significant social category that shapes access to resources and opportunities.

Question 58

Sojourners are immigrants who are committed to Americanization.

Question 59

Human capital theory is inconsistent with American values.

Question 60

In a typical immigrant chain, European immigrant women would come to America, earn money, and establish themselves. Then, they would send for others from their villages to join them.

Question 61

In general, immigrant women outnumbered men, as women had more opportunities in getting factory, teaching, and domestic jobs.

Question 62

Ethnic succession can be observed in the institution of sports. Sports have been appealing to young men in minority groups who have few other resources or opportunities.

Question 63

It was a coincidence that European immigration, American industrialization, and the rise to global prominence occurred simultaneously.

Question 64

After a century, many descendants of immigrants from Europe migrated far from where their ancestors settled in the United States.

Question 65

The phenomenon known as the triple melting pot refers to a pattern of structural assimilation within three religions.

Question 66

Racial minority groups have been largely excluded from the melting-pot model of assimilation.

Question 67

Assimilation is a one-way process, and group members only become more assimilated over time.

Question 68

Immigrants from Ireland and Southern and Eastern Europe were able to overcome barriers to assimilation due to their class status.

Question 69

The visibility of cultural pluralism among racial minority groups has helped make it more acceptable for European Americans to express their own ethnicity and heritage.

Question 70

Describe the differences between assimilation and pluralism. Explain why interest in pluralism has increased in recent years and how assimilation and pluralism might occur simultaneously.

Question 71

Compare and contrast each of the three types of pluralism cited in the text: cultural, structural, and integration without acculturation. Explain why a minority group might choose one form of pluralism over another.

Question 72

Summarize Gordon's theory of assimilation. Identify each of his first three major stages and explain the relationships among them. Examine the critiques of Gordon presented in the chapter text.

Question 73

Compare and contrast middleman and enclave minority groups and provide examples of each. How do these groups challenge assumptions made by the traditional perspective of assimilation?

Question 74

Describe the social dimensions that create variations in assimilation experiences through comparing the experiences of two European immigrant groups.

Question 75

Explain what the following statement refers to: "For better or worse, the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant tradition was for two centuries-and in crucial respects still is-the dominant influence on American culture and society" (Schlesinger, 1992, p. 28). What are some examples that support this assertion?

Question 76

In what ways are human capital theory and traditional American culture and values consistent? What are some potential limitations of such overlap if human capital theory is used to explain differences in assimilation experiences?

Question 77

Describe how European ethnic groups merged into a singular White American identity. What is the role of "immigrant tales" associated with this process in shaping contemporary racial inequality?

Question 78

Define segmented assimilation and explain how it differs from the traditional perspective of assimilation. Evaluate the effectiveness of each model for explaining contemporary racial inequality.

Question 79

Chapter 1 discusses the two main defining characteristics of a minority group: visible distinguishing traits and experiencing a pattern of inequality. Apply this perspective to analyze the process of European immigrants transitioning from being "minorities" to assimilated into a combined "White" identity.