Deck 6: Colorism and Skin-Color Stratification

Question 1

When a society in which Blacks, Asians, and Latinos have different social statuses according to their skin color, it is called:

A) Color hierarchy
B) Preferential pigmentation
C) Colorocracy
D) Pigmentocracy

Answer 1

D

Question 2

According to Joni Hersch (2008) what is the pay disparity between the lightest-skinned immigrants and the darkest-skinned immigrants, even accounting for gender, education, English-language skills, visa type, and occupation?

A) 17%
B) 23%
C) 36%
D) 41%

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Most of the enslaved Africans who first arrived where dark-skinned. Soon after, there became a mixture of Black and White people called:

A) mixed-race.
B) blended.
C) mulattos.
D) mestizo.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The idea that having any amount of Black ancestry makes you Black is called:

A) hypodescent.
B) one-drop rule.
C) anti-Blackness.
D) Black from birth.

Question 5

In Brazil, the census classifies people as:

A) blacha, café, moreno, and mestizo.
B) White, pardo, Black, and mulatto.
C) White, café con leche, negro, and mesitzaje.
D) none of the above.

Question 6

In Indian and Indonesian texts, beautiful women are described as having:

A) skin as pure as milk.
B) skin as white as pearls.
C) White faces like the full moon.
D) White faces like a white diamond.

Question 7

Anthropologist Peter Frost (2006) after reviewing evidence found some evidence that a preference for lighter skin:

A) came from colonists.
B) predates colonialism.
C) began in the 5^th century.
D) was different among various tribes.

Question 8

In Latin America, the Spaniards came up with a legal ranking in society based on skin color, which of the following was NOT among the categories?

A) castizos
B) indios
C) mestizo
D) negros

Question 9

Skin-whitening products are prevalent in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the United States. This is evidence of:

A) world-wide colorism.
B) stratified skin preferences.
C) global color hierarchy.
D) global racism.

Question 10

The dispersion of people from their original homeland is called the:

A) displacement.
B) dispersal.
C) dispersion.
D) diaspora.

Question 11

Neha Dixit shares her story about being dark complexioned in India in the 1990s. What did an old woman who walked up to her say she had to do to have a fair-skinned child?

A) Eat lots of white rice at every meal.
B) Bathe in goat's milk once a week.
C) Drink a ½ cup of fresh, non-boiled cow milk every morning.
D) Put flour, milk, and turmeric on her face daily.

Question 12

In Latin America, who is typically at the bottom of the skin hierarchy?

A) Black and Indigenous people
B) Black people
C) Indigenous people
D) Mestizos

Question 13

Researchers have studied colorism among Latinos in America, which of the following is NOT a finding?

A) Darker-skinned Puerto Ricans experience lower job quality.
B) Darker-skinned Latinos are more likely to be stopped and arrested.
C) Lighter-skinned Latinos are seen as beautiful, but uneducated.
D) Lighter-skinned Latinos earn more money.

Question 14

Many African countries are marked by a hierarchy of skin tone, which of the following is true:

A) Lighter-skinned people are paid by the government to be models.
B) Mixed-race people occupy more positions of power.
C) Darker-skinned people are provided skin-bleaching products for free.
D) Darker-skinned people are preferred in positions of leadership.

Question 15

The _________social movement helped alleviate colorism among Black Americans.

A) I'm Black and I'm proud
B) Black is back
C) The darker the berry, the sweeter the juice
D) Black is beautiful

Question 16

What do some researchers use to measure skin tone?

A) The American Medical Association Skin Tone Test
B) The International Survey of Skin Tone Stratification
C) The National Immigrant Survey Skin Color Scale
D) Kodak's Shirley Card Skin Tone Calibration Tool

Question 17

Darker-skinned African Americans are more likely to:

A) get longer prison sentences.
B) receive the death penalty.
C) have a less prestigious occupation.
D) All of the above.

Question 18

To explain how sexism and racism interact to create a scale of women from lightest to darkest, where the lightest get the most resources and the darkest get the least, Margaret Hunter (2005) created the concept of:

A) a beauty quotient.
B) a beauty queue.
C) a color chain of beauty.
D) the skin color sequencing.

Question 19

Siobhan Brooks (2010) uses the concept of _____ ________ to explain how skin color relates to beauty for women of color?

A) skin sexiness
B) sexy stock
C) exotic capital
D) erotic capital

Question 20

The MuslimARC launched a hashtag that trended in London about skin tone and beauty. What was it called?

A) #BritsAreBeautiful
B) #FairandLovingIt
C) #NotFairandLovely
D) #LightIsRight

Question 21

What is the difference between racism and colorism?

Question 22

Scholars who believe that colorism stems from the history of slavery and genocide in the Americas, fundamentally believe that preference for light skin is:

Question 23

In examining Latino immigrants to the U.S., researchers found that darker-skinned Latinos earn, on average, $2,500 less per year than lighter-skinned Latinos. What was their argument as to why?

Question 24

After the arrival of Africans in the U.S., states classified someone is Black based on different laws. What were some of the differences?

Question 25

In India, in what way is the preference for light skin also connected to the caste system?

Question 26

What do people in Latin America often strategically choose romantic partners who are lighter in skin tone than themselves?

Question 27

In Tanzania, a team of scholars interviewed 42 women to ask them why they used skin-bleaching products even though they could cause severe skin damage, skin cancer, and brain disease. They gave six reasons, what were two of them?

Question 28

What does studying skin tone matter in school suspension?

Question 29

What does Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams, who plays Dr. Harper Avery, say about the benefits of being light-skinned and having European features?

Question 30

What did researchers find in a study of the Queen Nigeria pageant and the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant?

Question 31

In the opening story, bell hooks described young rituals for so many young, Black girls. What does she mean by "good hair" and what does she know now that she didn't know then?

Question 32

How did colorism play out during the era of slavery?

Question 33

By the end of the colonial period in Latin America, how many possible categories were memorialized in a series of casta paintings? Please name and describe at least two (2).

Question 34

What did the actress, in a 2016 commercial from Thailand for skin-whitening pills called Snowz, say was the secret to her success?

Question 35

What did Kaitlyn Greenidge share about "the toxic legacy of colorism?"