Deck 11: Race and Ethnicity

Question 1

Acts of racial or ethnic discrimination can be classified as __________.

A) individual or intentional
B) individual or institutional
C) institutional or intentional
D) institutional or structural

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of institutional discrimination?

A) a landlord's refusal to rent apartments to nonwhites
B) a manager's refusal to hire gays and lesbians
C) damage to a Jewish synagogue by a group of teenage vandals
D) a corporation's systematic denial to women of access to managerial positions

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Sociologist Devah Pager (2003), who tested the influence of criminal records on the job applications of blacks and whites, found that __________.

A) applicants with criminal records, regardless of race, were not considered for jobs
B) applicants with criminal records, regardless of race, were equally considered for jobs that did not involve money handling
C) white applicants with criminal records were more likely to be considered for jobs than black applicants without criminal records
D) black applicants with criminal records were more likely to be considered for jobs than white applicants without criminal records

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Sociologists define ethnicity as a system for classifying people who share __________.

A) common genetic profiles
B) common descent, based on perceived cultural similarities
C) similar racial profiles
D) common descent, based on perceived physical similarities

Question 5

A pessimistic interpretation of recent survey results used to measure prejudice might be that __________.

A) whites are reluctant to admit to harboring racial prejudices
B) surveys, as a tool of analysis, do not accurately reflect attitudes and motivations
C) blacks are less likely than whites to participate in surveys
D) blacks have a lower return rate than whites, with respect to survey completion

Question 6

__________ is a system for classifying people based on perceived innate physical characteristics, whereas __________ is a system for classifying people who are perceived to share cultural similarities.

A) Race; ethnicity
B) Ethnicity; race
C) Race; essentialism
D) Ethnicity; essentialism

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of unintentional institutional discrimination?

A) Jim Crow laws that segregated whites and blacks in terms of housing, transportation, and education in the American South
B) federal sentencing guidelines that penalize individuals who possess crack cocaine more heavily than those who possess powder cocaine
C) a company that systematically excludes women from upper-level managerial positions
D) South Africa's system of apartheid

Question 8

__________ can be described as negative, simplified generalizations about a group, whereas __________ involves actions that harm individuals.

A) Stereotyping; prejudice
B) Prejudice; stereotyping
C) Stereotyping; discrimination
D) Discrimination; prejudice

Question 9

Which of the following statements is true according to the analogy of the red-, blue-, and yellow-colored blocks cited in the text?

A) Races can be divided first into primary colors and then into secondary colors, like the colors on the color wheel.
B) We share most, but not all, of the same mental rules of who belongs to what race.
C) We grow up learning to look for certain pieces of information about a person's body to decide which race they belong to, while disregarding others.
D) The race we think people belong to is generally not the race with which they usually identify.

Question 10

What research method do sociologists use to study patterns and representations of minorities in magazines, television shows, and movies?

A) experimental analysis
B) participant analysis
C) content analysis
D) meta-analysis

Question 11

Sociologists describe race as a social construct. What does this statement mean?

A) Race is a natural phenomenon based on unchangeable traits found in individuals.
B) Race is a system that is invented, created by human beings.
C) Race is believed to be a part of a person's "essence," or their very being.
D) Race is based on an objective measure of physical resemblances.

Question 12

In the United States, __________ has historically mattered more than __________.

A) race; ethnicity
B) ethnicity; race
C) race; social class
D) ethnicity; social class

Question 13

Max Weber felt that races stemmed from "common inherited and inheritable traits that actually derive from common descent." This view is known as __________.

A) essentialism
B) constructivism
C) biological destiny
D) physiology

Question 14

In South Africa, __________segregated nonwhites from whites and made legal many forms of discrimination that benefited the white ruling minority.

A) Jim Crow
B) colonialism
C) apartheid
D) penal codes

Question 15

Nazi policies culminated in the __________ of millions of men, women, and children in a network of extermination camps during World War II.

A) genocide
B) segregation
C) expulsion
D) assimilation

Question 16

Rosa is a Guatemalan immigrant. She has learned to speak English and has taken to celebrating traditionally American holidays, such as Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Rosa is experiencing __________.

A) discrimination
B) prejudice
C) assimilation
D) segregation

Question 17

Some of the earliest research on prejudice and discrimination was conducted by __________, who saw racism as__________.

A) sociologists; a result of social hierarchy
B) demographers; a result of population expansion
C) ethnographers; an expression of cultural beliefs
D) psychologists; an expression of particular personality disorders

Question 18

Which of the following statements regarding how Brazilians think about race is true?

A) Brazilians assign people to racial groups based on whether they are believed to have noble ancestry.
B) Brazilians classify people based on specific combinations of skin color, hair color, facial features, and hair texture.
C) Brazilians think racial differences reside in the blood and soul.
D) Brazilians attribute racial differences to genetics.

Question 19

In the United States, __________kept blacks from voting, from attending quality schools, and from participating equally in a wide variety of social institutions in the American South.

A) Jim Crow laws
B) colonialism
C) apartheid
D) penal codes

Question 20

European explorers created a(n) __________ to dominate people across the globe through exploitation and enslavement.

A) color-coded hierarchy
B) religious organizational system
C) one-drop system
D) class-based hierarchy

Question 21

Over the last three decades, from 1980 to 2010, the rates at which Latinos completed college __________.

A) doubled
B) more than tripled
C) shrunk by nearly a quarter
D) shrunk by nearly half

Question 22

In a study involving fictitious résumés of applicants with stereotypical "white names" (Emily and Greg) and "black names" (Lakisha and Jamal), researchers found that __________.

A) names on résumés did not influence the number of follow-up calls that applicants received
B) résumés with "white names" received 50 percent more follow-up calls than résumés with "black names"
C) black-owned businesses were more likely to call back "white" applicants than "black" applicants
D) black-owned businesses were more likely to call back "black" applicants than "white" applicants

Question 23

Current data indicate that Asian Americans have the highest median household incomes in the United States. Researchers caution, however, that the data about Asian incomes can be misinterpreted because __________.

A) some Asians, such as Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans, are at the top of the income hierarchy
B) some Asians, such as Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans, are at the bottom of the income hierarchy
C) some Asians, such as Chinese and Filipino Americans, are at the bottom of the income hierarchy
D) the data are separated by country of origin

Question 24

The term racial stratification refers to __________.

A) clearly significant gaps between racial groups along social and economic dimensions
B) clearly significant overlaps among racial groups along social and economic dimensions
C) minimum requirements needed for racial groups to exhibit social and economic parity
D) the size and complexity of social networks among racial groups

Question 25

Which of the following statements regarding the racial gap in household wealth between white and black Americans is false?

A) Black Americans have been unable to build a base of assets to pass from one generation to the next.
B) Black Americans are more likely to purchase a home in a segregated neighborhood than any other racial group.
C) Black Americans are more likely to receive unfavorable terms on their home mortgages.
D) Black Americans have made no gains in income since the civil rights movement.

Question 26

__________ are the most residentially segregated of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

A) African Americans
B) Mexican Americans
C) Asian Americans
D) Native Americans

Question 27

__________ have the highest rates of educational attainment in the United States.

A) African Americans
B) White Americans
C) Asian Americans
D) Native Americans

Question 28

In an ethnographic study of black and white working-class men, Deirdre Royster (2003) found that the job market was __________.

A) structurally weak
B) seasonally strong
C) fair and meritocratic
D) not fair and not meritocratic

Question 29

What is the goal of affirmative action?

A) to end reverse discrimination
B) to increase the representation of minorities and women in fields from which they have historically been excluded
C) to reignite historical effects of discrimination and exclusion
D) to increase rates of assimilation

Question 30

___________ are more likely to rely on emergency clinics as their usual source of healthcare.

A) African Americans
B) Asian Americans
C) Native Americans
D) White Americans

Question 31

Over the last three decades, from 1980 and 2010, the rates at which Latinos dropped out of high school __________.

A) increased by nearly a quarter
B) increased by nearly half
C) shrunk by nearly a quarter
D) shrunk by nearly half

Question 32

According to current statistics, over __________ adults are serving time behind bars on any given day in America.

A) 1 million
B) 2 million
C) 3 million
D) 4 million

Question 33

The percentage of black men who have been incarcerated is __________ to their percentage representation in the population at large.

A) proportionate
B) disproportionate
C) equal
D) very nearly equal

Question 34

Sociologists have observed that upper-middle-class blacks earn __________ percent of what their white counterparts earn.

A) 60
B) 72
C) 85
D) 98

Question 35

Why are a disproportionate number of African Americans unable to vote?

A) Many African Americans fail to register to vote.
B) Many African Americans face disproportionately long distances to voting centers.
C) Many African Americans have lost their right to vote following felony convictions.
D) Many African Americans do not have a driver's license.

Question 36

__________ refer(s) to the accumulated sum of assets (savings accounts, homes, cars) minus the sum of debts (mortgages, loans, credit card debts).

A) Wealth
B) Household income
C) Financial obligations
D) Asset allocation

Question 37

Sociologists estimate that __________ of adult black men who finish high school but do not attend college will serve time in prison.

A) one-half
B) one-third
C) one-quarter
D) one-tenth

Question 38

American adults account for __________ percent of all prison and jail inmates worldwide.

A) 5
B) 15
C) 25
D) 35

Question 39

According to the U.S. census data, black and Latino families are __________ white families regarding one's probability to fall below the poverty line.

A) more likely than
B) less likely than
C) equally likely as
D) not comparable to

Question 40

In 2012, the unemployment rate for black Americans was __________.

A) nearly equal to that of white Americans
B) nearly twice the rate as that of white Americans
C) nearly three times the rate as that of white Americans
D) slightly less than that of Asian Americans

Question 41

Alicia is part African, Hispanic, and Native American. How is she most likely to identify herself?

A) Alicia is most likely to identify herself as biracial.
B) Alicia is most likely to identify herself as Latino.
C) Alicia is most likely to identify herself as multiracial.
D) Alicia is most likely to identify herself as black.

Question 42

When Europeans settled in the New World, they wanted to open up territories for settlements. This meant that Native Americans were not only forcibly removed from their land but sometimes killed. This deliberate and systematic destruction of Native Americans was __________.

A) genocide
B) segregation
C) expulsion
D) assimilation

Question 43

Discuss how psychologists have explained racism and the shortcomings of these explanations. How do sociologists explain racism?

Question 44

Individuals of mixed-race ancestry are more likely to identify themselves as __________ if they have Asian ancestry, but individuals with __________ ancestry are more likely to be assigned to a single race by others, regardless how they self-identify.

A) multiracial; European
B) multiracial; African
C) nonracial; European
D) nonracial; African

Question 45

In 1965, ___________ made the following statement: "You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair. "

A) Eleanor Roosevelt
B) Rosa Parks
C) Lyndon B. Johnson
D) Martin Luther King, Jr.

Question 46

John was recently sentenced for 10 years in prison for possession of crack cocaine. His lawyer discovered that others have served less time for the possession of powder cocaine, a drug often associated with a different category of people. John's lawyer has concluded that this discrepant sentencing is the result of __________.

A) individual discrimination
B) institutional discrimination
C) prejudice
D) stereotyping

Question 47

Discuss the differences between individual and institutional discrimination and provide an example of each one.

Question 48

Explain what is meant by affirmative action. What necessitated the need for affirmative action? How have people responded to affirmative action?

Question 49

Lucy is learning about social constructs in her sociology class. Based on the lectures that she has been exposed to throughout the semester, Lucy has concluded that race is a social construct. Why would Lucy make this conclusion?

A) Definitions of race take different forms in different places in the world and at different times.
B) Race has a biological basis that has been proven by social scientists.
C) Differences among racial groups are obvious.
D) How humans identify and define race has remained consistent throughout human history.

Question 50

Discuss the difference between prejudice and discrimination. Could a person be prejudiced without discriminating? Could a person discriminate without being prejudiced?

Question 51

During a lecture about race in his sociology class, Tomas becomes confused. He recently discovered, on his birth certificate, that he was labeled as white, yet his much younger brother, Carlos, is classified as Hispanic on his birth certificate. What could best explain this discrepancy in labels?

A) How social institutions choose to label and identify racial and ethnic groups changes over time.
B) Tomas's parents did not want Tomas to experience discrimination so he was labeled white.
C) Tomas's parents felt that the Hispanic label would open doors for Carlos in education and employment.
D) By the time Carlos was born, the U.S. was more accepting of diversity and welcoming of Hispanics.

Question 52

Sophia is a third-generation Italian. She heard stories about how her grandparents experienced discrimination when they arrived in the United States. Her grandparents also maintained their culture and traditions by continuing to speak Italian in addition to leaning English. Sophia knows very little about Italian culture and does not speak Italian. What accounts for this lack of cultural knowledge?

A) Sophia's parents did not expose her to Italian culture for fear that Sophia would experience prejudice and discrimination.
B) Sophia's grandparents and parents gradually assimilated, taking on the traditions of their new country.
C) Sophia was ashamed of her Italian background and did not bother to learn about her Italian ancestry.
D) It was not deemed necessary for Sophia to learn about her cultural background since it would not impact her employment opportunities.

Question 53

Mawenzi has sent out hundreds of résumés but has gotten very few replies, even though he graduated with honors from a top-tier school and has experience and excellent references. If Mawenzi suspected intentional discrimination, what statement would support his suspicion?

A) Mawenzi is not qualified for the jobs that he is interested in.
B) Mawenzi is experiencing the disadvantage of having a stereotypical "black name."
C) Businesses with posted job listings may not actually be hiring.
D) Businesses are not willing to meet his salary requirements.