Deck 7: Racial and Ethnic Inequality

Question 1

Which of the following is a true statement regarding race?

A) Race has a fixed, unvarying definition based on biological differences.
B) Historically, as the social, economic, and cultural positions of groups changed, so did their racial classifications.
C) There are clear scientific classifications of the different races.
D) A group's race determines their class position, not the other way around.

Answer 1

Historically, as the social, economic, and cultural positions of groups changed, so did their racial classifications.

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a true statement regarding race?

A) Currently, about 2.5 percent of individuals in the United States identify themselves as multiracial.
B) Most White people tend not to think of themselves in racial terms.
C) Jewish, Irish, and Italian immigrants were once defined as "non-White".
D) Hispanic is a race.

Answer 2

Hispanic is a race.

Question 3

In the early colonist-American Indian contacts:

A) cooperative relationships weren't formed until the 20th century
B) colonists brought civilization to the Americans Indians through agriculture and crop cultivation
C) arguments about the savage and heathen American Indian culture were soon used as devices to justify taking their land
D) none of the above

Answer 3

arguments about the savage and heathen American Indian culture were soon used as devices to justify taking their land

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT true?

A) By the last decade of the 19th century, most American Indians were on reservations.
B) In the 1920s, the death rate of American Indians was actually higher than their birth rate.
C) American Indians were always citizens because they were the first U.S. inhabitants.
D) Between 1880 and 1930, a majority of the land held by American Indians became owned by Whites.

Question 5

Which of the following is a true statement regarding American Indians:

A) Currently, American Indians have household incomes that are well above the U.S. median
B) Their unemployment rates tend to be roughly twice those of the general population
C) The American Indian population has grown dramatically since their initial contact with colonists
D) None of the above

Question 6

In early American, the importation of African slave labor was attractive because:

A) American Indians were difficult to subdue and were a potential major threat because they were familiar with the countryside and could put up fierce resistance
B) large-scale, prolonged use of indentured White servants was unrealistic because they were freed after a period of servitude
C) The enslavement of Africans created a large labor pool of workers who did not know the land, and it helped to elevate all Whites to a higher status
D) All of the above

Question 7

Up to the Civil War, the law specified that Blacks could:

A) marry whites if they were free
B) not testify against whites in court
C) be taught to read and write by a Black teacher
D) only obtain property through inheritance

Question 8

Which of the following was NOT a legal, intellectual, economic, or population change after the Civil War, Emancipation, and Reconstruction that helped to keep Blacks in a lower socioeconomic position?

A) labor competition between Blacks and the rising number of European immigrants
B) the Jim Crow laws in the South
C) the beliefs about Blacks superiority
D) all of the above

Question 9

The following serves as evidence that minority groups other than Blacks and American Indians have been treated unequally during the late 19^th and 20^th centuries:

A) Mexican Americans frequently took land away from Anglos
B) Japanese and Chinese were seen as part of the "yellow peril," the fear that yellow races would overtake the White race
C) under Executive Order 9066 in the U.S. during WWII, Germans were rounded up and moved into internment camps.
D) none of the above

Question 10

When it comes to contemporary wealth differences, evidence suggests that

A) differences in the wealth of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics appear to have decreased since 2000
B) the median financial wealth of Blacks and Hispanics suggests a significant increase since 2000
C) Whites are about five times as likely to inherit wealth from their parents, and the amounts are significantly larger than those received by Black children.
D) the building of Black wealth for the next generation has been assisted by the mortgage industry

Question 11

When it comes to contemporary income differences, evidence suggests that:

A) income differences between groups are more extensive than those in wealth
B) incomes for minority households and families has declined since 2000
C) the gap between the median incomes for Hispanic and White households decreased between 1980 and 2007
D) by the late 1990s, lower- and middle-income White families were working roughly between 100 and 500 more hours per year than either comparable Hispanic or Black families

Question 12

The exacerbation of wealth inequality between Blacks and Whites has been perpetuated since early in U.S. through governmental policies which denied blacks the opportunity to take advantage of wealth accumulation benefits such as:

A) higher capital gains taxes
B) higher home mortgage rates
C) Social Security benefits
D) all of the above

Question 13

The current broad occupational distribution for Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites does NOT suggest that:

A) the greatest concentration of White males but not White females, is in the managerial/professional
Category
B) Black males are most often in production/transportation occupations
C) the highest percentage of Hispanic men are found in the natural resources/construction group
D) a plurality of Black and Hispanic women are found in office/sales/support positions

Question 14

Changes in the occupational distribution among Blacks has been attributed to:

A) the rise in power of unions since the 1970s
B) the movement of industry into the central cities
C) the movement toward a service-oriented economy
D) a rise in the importance of unskilled work in our economy

Question 15

Which of the following is a true statement regarding the continued stereotyping of racial and ethnic minorities?

A) The image of Asian Americans as a "model minority" glosses over educational and economic distinctions within the Asian American community.
B) Stereotypes of Blacks as lazy, slow thinking, and subservient, and the American Indian as savage hostile, and drunk are psychological and cultural explanations used by Whites to account for the continued poverty and related problems.
C) A study of Atlanta employers found that many have a negative stereotype of Black women as single mothers who are more concerned about their children than work, and therefore are generally late to work, lack education, and are not good role models for their children.
D) All of the above.

Question 16

According to Peggy McIntosh, among the subtle, taken-for-granted privileges of being White in U.S. society is:

A) seeing Blacks portrayed negatively in the media
B) worrying about how race will impact life chances
C) freely choosing a place that they wants and can afford to live in
D) being seen as a representative of the White race in most situations

Question 17

William Julius Wilson argued that:

A) Whites have been particularly affected by political and economic shifts
B) there is a growing class division among Blacks
C) race is more important than class in determining the life chances of Blacks today
D) all of the above

Question 18

In her study of a Black middle-class neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Mary Pattillo-McCoy (1999) found that residents:

A) residents often distinguish area individuals on the basis of race instead of class
B) the economic middle class consists of both law-abiding and criminal elements
C) adolescence seems to require a greater balancing act than adolescence
D) none of the above

Question 19

Annette Lareau (2003) also discovered lifestyle differences where working-class and poor parents, both Black and White, engaged in a "natural growth" form of child rearing in which:

A) child-rearing was more rigid
B) the worlds of adults and children overlapped
C) children were treated as equals
D) parents did not intentionally develop argumentation skills among their children

Question 20

In their widely-criticized work, Herrnstein and Murray argue that:

A) racial groups are basically equal in intelligence
B) most of those in the lower reaches of the class structure also have low IQs
C) there has been a significant increase in intelligence in the general population
D) the gap between highly intelligent people and the rest of the population has narrowed

Question 21

The caste model of U.S. race relations has come under severe attack based on the inappropriateness of comparing U.S. race relations with the Indian caste system because:

A) in contrast to the Indian situation, Black-White relations are stable
B) whereas each caste in India is not tied to a particular occupation, in the United States, Blacks are relegated to relatively similar occupations
C) while the Indian caste system is legitimized through religion, racial inequality in the U.S. has been justified on the basis of biological or subcultural differences
D) the caste model has been used more as a historical explanation rather than as a description of racial inequality

Question 22

In Noel's theory of ethnic stratification, whether contact between groups results in stratification depends on:

A) relatively new contact between groups
B) ethnocentrism
C) group cohesion
D) both groups should be equally powerful

Question 23

In Noel's theory of ethnic stratification, competition is most likely if:

A) the goal is easily attainable
B) the racial groups have the same goal
C) the goal being sought is in abundant supply
D) there is only one relatively unimportant goal being sought by each group

Question 24

The theory of Internal Colonialism applies:

A) the relationship between Whites in Britain and their counterparts in colonial nations to the relationship between Blacks in Africa and Blacks in the United States
B) the relationship between different colonizing nations to the relationship of between different colonized peoples throughout the world
C) the colonial relationship between First and Third World countries to the domination of Whites over Blacks in the United States
D) none of the above

Question 25

The theory of Internal Colonialism posits that colonial status operates:

A) socially, blacks are seen as having potential
B) politically, whites hold the most influential positions in society
C) economically, black are given equal opportunity for success
D) all of the above

Question 26

To say that Blacks form an internal colony within the U.S. is to most specifically state that:

A) race relations are caste relations
B) personal prejudice is the major cause of racial problems
C) White institutions dominate Blacks politically, socially, and economically
D) all of the above are true

Question 27

Blauner has argued that the colonization complex is characterized by:

A) intergroup contact founded on force and violence
B) a sharing of power in legal and governmental institutions
C) a relationship that begins with a voluntary meeting of the groups
D) an indigenous culture that continues to be nourished and promoted

Question 28

Class-based theorists of race relations argue that:

A) Whites do not benefit from racism
B) racism is connected with the expansion of capitalism
C) a surplus army of workers is generally drawn from the White population
D) the relationships between the races really constitutes a caste system

Question 29

During South African apartheid:

A) Whites heavily outnumbered Blacks
B) Blacks dominated the country politically and socially, but not economically
C) Blacks and Whites were allowed to lived in the same neighborhood, but they had to use separate facilities
D) Blacks were closely monitored by authorities

Question 30

Which of the following was NOT part of the formal caste system in India:

A) Brahmans
B) Vaishyas
C) Untouchables (Harijans)
D) Sudras

Question 31

Burakumin in Japan are:

A) sometimes considered an "invisible race"
B) physically distinguishable from other Japanese
C) looked down upon, but not discriminated against in employment
D) spatially integrated into the population, thus making it difficult for them to organize

Question 32

Most evidence indicates that:

A) very few Americans are against continued immigration
B) immigration helps to decrease wealth inequality
C) most recent immigrants have assimilated fairly easily
D) the presence of immigrant workers in a community has little impact on the wages of native-born workers

Question 33

Ronen Shamir (2005) sees globalization as a conservative, limiting, exclusionary process characterized by:

A) nations wanting to open up their borders and incorporate a more global identity
B) attempts at blocking access since some immigrants are seen as potential threats, even terrorists
C) social control of the American-born population through profiling, quarantining, imprisonment, and other forms of containment
D) all of the above

Question 34

In contrast to gender, race is a biological fact rather than a social construction.

Question 35

Being "whitened" is the experience of being racially reclassified to White through assimilation.

Question 36

Individuals with lighter skin generally are accorded higher status than those with darker skin.

Question 37

Classifications and definitions of race have been fairly clear and consistent throughout history.

Question 38

At the end of the nineteenth century, the U.S. Census Bureau added the categories of "Octoroon" (one-eighth Black) and "Quadroon" (one-fourth Black) because of the growing concern with White racial purity.

Question 39

In sixteenth and seventeenth century America, rather than color or racial distinction, religious and ethnocentric criteria were initially used to separate groups into superior and inferior categories.

Question 40

In the 19^th century, American Indians on reservations were able to practice their religions and their children could go to American Indian schools that taught them about their heritage.

Question 41

Thomas Jefferson believed that "all men are created equal," including Blacks.

Question 42

By 1790, only the wealthiest 5 percent of families owned slaves.

Question 43

During World War II, Mexican workers were imported, only to be sent back during the 1950s under "Operation Wetback" as expendable and undesirable.

Question 44

Regardless of credit history and income, Blacks tend to be given less information about loans, be denied loans more often, and be charged higher interest rates.

Question 45

The richest 25 percent of Blacks possess more than 90 percent of all Black wealth.

Question 46

An analysis of data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicates that racial integration
among occupations decreased in the 1960s and 1970s, but increased after 1980.

Question 47

A greater percentage of Blacks moved into white-collar and blue-collar/manufacturing positions following World War II.

Question 48

Since shifts in the economy have been behind changes in occupational distribution, race has become insignificant in accounting for occupational differences.

Question 49

Racial minorities who are in the upper and middle class have mostly been able to avoid micro-inequalities such as derogatory terms that reinforce negative stereotypes and are part of everyday life and often used without intentional thought.

Question 50

Oliver Cox viewed racism as a device used by capitalists to control, exploit, and keep workers down.

Question 51

Data suggests that race operates as a divisive force in the Black community, while class still has a cohesive effect.

Question 52

Analyses of national surveys data from 1972 to 1996 revealed that Blacks scored almost the same as Whites on measures of happiness, life satisfaction, and health.

Question 53

Wilson has argued that contemporary discrimination has a more significant effect on the lives of Blacks than does historical discrimination.

Question 54

Bonilla-Silva's category labeled "Collective Black" includes African Americans as well as newer, generally poorer East Asian immigrants, "dark-skinned and poor Latinos," and "reservation-bound Native Americans".

Question 55

Colorism operates both intraracially and interracially.

Question 56

Evelyn Nakano Glenn (2008) found rising demand for skin lighteners in all parts of the world, including Southeast and East Asia, India, and many countries in Latin America and Africa.

Question 57

Diana Kendall (2002) found that within Black "high society" organizations, the brown-bag test was used to screen potential members, only admitting those whose skin was as dark, or darker than, a brown grocery bag.

Question 58

The Black middle-class' position is more precarious than that of the White middle class. (166)

Question 59

Most African American women identify with the feminist movement because they feel that it addresses their challenges as Black women.

Question 60

Van de Berghe asserts that a competitive system of race relations is more likely to be found in agricultural as opposed to industrial societies.

Question 61

Internal Colonialism theorists believe that it is possible for Blacks to gradually assimilate.

Question 62

Historically, among the most well-known of the systems of racial/ethnic inequality was that found in Japan.

Question 63

During South African apartheid, or the social, economic, and legal separation between Blacks and Whites beginning in the late 1940s and lasting until the early 1990s, Whites heavily outnumbered Blacks.

Question 64

A legal caste system exists in India.

Question 65

How has race been socially constructed and how is this directly tied to the history of U.S. racial and ethnic relations?

Question 66

According to Noel, what factors cause the development of ethnic stratification? How are these factors evident in the history of
Black-White relations?

Question 67

What arguments can be made for and against the proposition that Black Americans have progressed since the 1970s?

Question 68

Discuss the relative importance of economic factors (including class) and race (including racism) in understanding contemporary Black-White relations. Make a case arguing whether you think race or class is more important in relation to social inequality.

Question 69

What is the evidence that racial and ethnic inequality exist in contemporary U.S. society?

Question 70

How have changes in the occupational structure resulted from the broader societal changes in the economy and polity?

Question 71

How do race, class, and gender intersect in contributing to social inequality?

Question 72

What are the various micro-inequalities that impact the lived experiences of racial and ethnic minorities?

Question 73

Compare and contrast the caste analysis and domination theories of race relations. Which more accurately explains contemporary race relations and why?

Question 74

What is the impact of globalization on race and ethnic relations within the U.S.?