Deck 4: The Theory of Racial Formation

Question 1

Omi and Winant argue that race…

A) Is a clear biological distinction between human groups.
B) Is largely a proxy for class and ethnicity issues in the U.S.
C) Is a socially constructed illusion with no real meaning.
D) Is a concept that signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies .
E) Is a human instinct to prefer "one's own kind."

Answer 1

D

Question 2

When European settlers suggested that indigenous people were "savage" and "ungodly" to separate and classify them as a different race from them, they were using what form of racialization in American history?

A) Religious racialization .
B) Scientific racism
C) Imperialist racialization
D) Ethnicity-based racialization
E) None of the above.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In recent years, scientists like Geneticist Neil Risch have legitimated the use of race as a category of human variation in genomic and biomedical research. Omi and Winant suggest that this is an example of what type of racialization in American history?

A) Religious racialization
B) Scientific racialization .
C) Imperialist racialization
D) Political racialization
E) Class-based racialization

Answer 3

B

Question 4

DNA testing has increasingly been used by individuals and groups to claim Native American tribal membership. This is an example of…

A) Racialization through natural selection.
B) Racialization through nativity.
C) Racialization through science .
D) Racialization through religion.
E) Racialization through economic division.

Question 5

The imposition of restrictive state voting rights laws, organizing for worker's rights for immigrant labor, or organizing campaigns challenging the mass incarceration of non-whites in the U.S., are all examples of…

A) Collective action.
B) White dominance.
C) Racial projects .
D) Racialization.
E) Racial reactions.

Question 6

The following are examples of macro-level racial projects except for…

A) State legislators passing immigration laws.
B) A hospital worker assuming that a Latino patient can't speak English .
C) Blacks demonstrating against the verdicts passed down on the Rodney King, George Zimmerman, or the Jenna Six cases.
D) White labor unions picketing meatpacking plants for hiring cheap immigrant labor.
E) "Stop and frisk" laws passed to encourage stopping non-white who might be suspicious of holding drugs.

Question 7

Joe, a white business executive, sits in on a teleconference in which Marcus, a black business executive, gives a presentation about computer technology in shipping. Afterwards, Marcus mentions that he is an African American and Joe says, "Funny, you didn't sound black." Based on Omi and Winant's racial formation theory, we can interpret Joe's comment as…

A) Ignorance about Marcus's education.
B) How racial projects can shape everyday interactions .
C) An individually racist and stereotypical act.
D) Disrespectful and Joe should be fired for racial prejudice.
E) How racialization does not apply in everyday life.

Question 8

Racial projects

A) Link the meanings of race to the structural uses and individual experiences of race .
B) Are only macro-level events that solidify racial meaning in the U.S.
C) Are always racist in their intent.
D) Do not include resisting racial definitions and uses of racial terms.
E) Mainly consist of physical art and music expressing racial uniqueness, like the Harlem Renaissance.

Question 9

For decades, the U.S. Census has defined and redefined the categories of race for each decennial census. Omi and Winant suggest that each change by the Census and every challenge to the categorizations by various racial groups is an example of

A) The importance of ethnicity in America.
B) The efficiency of the government to better define race with new mixed-race identities.
C) The problems with bureaucracy in America.
D) The issue of using race to explain class-based issues.
E) The political dimensions of state assignment of racial identity .

Question 10

Much of racial politics in the United States can be historically characterized as representing a form of

A) Racial democracy
B) Racial fascism
C) Racial despotism .
D) Race war
E) Racial socialism

Question 11

The current racial ideology of "colorblindness" can be understood as a form of…

A) Racial democracy
B) Racial fascism
C) Racial hegemony .
D) Racial harmony
E) Racial socialism

Question 12

In recent years, some new state immigration laws have encouraged enforcement officers to be suspicious of Latinos or Hispanics as illegal immigrants and have required them to ask for proof of citizenship when doing return traffic stops. This example of what is often called "racial profiling" would be explained by racial formation theory as

A) Class discrimination
B) Xenophobia
C) State-based racialization .
D) Good law enforcement
E) Neoconservatism

Question 13

How is racial formation theory different from ethnicity-, class- and nation-based paradigms in explaining race relations?

A) Racial formation theory argues that the economy is key to understanding race relations in the U.S.
B) Racial formation theory suggests that ethnicity is the key form of race in the U.S.
C) Racial formation theory suggests that white nationalism is central to understanding class and gender issues in the U.S.
D) Racial formation theory suggests that race is a master category that shapes the history, politics, economics, and culture of the U.S. .
E) Racial formation theory suggests that cultural inclusion/exclusion, combined with the unequal distribution of resources, shapes race in the U.S.

Question 14

What racial ideology and practice provided justification for subordination and elimination of various non-white races in the early 1900s?

A) Scientific racism .
B) Ethnicity-based paradigm
C) Racial formation theory
D) Religious racialization
E) Colorblind ideology

Question 15

Omi and Winant identify the first racial project in the U.S. as which of the following events?

A) Civil Rights Movement
B) World War II
C) Industrial Revolution
D) American Civil War
E) Conquest and colonization of America .

Question 16

Which of the following racial categories used in the U.S. Census continues to be defined using an explicit racial designator?

A) White
B) Hispanic/Latino
C) Black .
D) Native American
E) Asian

Question 17

Based on the U.S. Census in 2000 and 2010, there is only one ethnicity. Which of the following groups is it?

A) White
B) Hispanic/Latino .
C) Black
D) Native American
E) Asian

Question 18

Racial categories in the U.S. Census defined and adopted by Statistical Directive 15 in 1977 intended to serve which objective?

A) Provide a clear indicator of population assimilation and homogeneity.
B) Foster the creation of standard racial and ethnic data for use by federal agencies .
C) Provide statistical evidence for increasing affirmative action programs in private businesses.
D) Provide administrative evidence to who will vote for whom in the next elections.
E) Assess the growth in mixed-race groups in the U.S. since the 1960s.

Question 19

Laws that define who is "free" and "unfree," who can be a naturalized citizen, and who one can marry based on race are all examples of…

A) Ethnocentricism
B) Racial resentment
C) Racial politics .
D) Racial resistance
E) Racial democracy