Deck 8: Minority Status Race and Ethnicity

Question 1

The word "minority" refers to a group in society that is dominated by another group because of its superior size.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

For some ethnic minorities, religion has been the primary factor in determining low status.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The problems encountered by minorities stem from their own inadequacies and deviations from the standards of American society.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Minorities are categories of people that possess imperfect access to positions of equal power, prestige, and privilege.

Question 5

The melting pot theory assumed that it would be possible to fuse, biologically and culturally, all the various groups that had come to America.

Question 6

Historically, Anglo conformity had the greatest following in the United States.

Question 7

Racism as an ideology has declined markedly among Americans in recent years.

Question 8

In general, prejudice and discrimination are mutually reinforcing.

Question 9

Prejudice is action taken against minorities based on discrimination.

Question 10

The concept of race has been misunderstood in that people tend to believe that behavior and customs are genetically inherited.

Question 11

Scientists have agreed on the precise number of races in existence in the world.

Question 12

Stereotyping is a process in which common, uniform characteristics are assigned to an entire group of people without allowances for individual differences.

Question 13

Prejudice is inborn behavior and seems to be largely unconscious.

Question 14

Institutional discrimination refers to the system of inequalities existing in a society even apart from personal prejudices.

Question 15

The melting pot ideology is the one preferred by minorities today.

Question 16

The various minorities in the United States live in a situation of perfect cultural pluralism achieved after great conflict.

Question 17

Native Americans have become well assimilated into the mainstream culture and consequently are no longer a minority.

Question 18

The success of Asian Americans is due to their culture's difference from the dominant culture.

Question 19

White ethnics have become almost totally absorbed into mainstream culture.

Question 20

The minority in any society is always numerically inferior to the majority.

Question 21

Human populations are clearly demarcated, distinct groups, according to the American Anthropological Association.

Question 22

Social traits have a definite connection to inherited racial traits.

Question 23

In accommodation, a minority chooses to retain its own norms and values, although accepting and adapting to those of the majority.

Question 24

The process of amalgamation has taken place in the United States.

Question 25

"Ethnic cleansing" is a new idea invented in the Balkans at the end of the twentieth century.

Question 26

Membership in specific racial, ethnic, and religious groupings is:

A) characteristic only of industrial societies
B) a variable of the stratification system
C) a biological rather than a social product
D) the cross every individual must bear

Question 27

The term "minority" may be defined as:

A) a small group of people living within a large nation
B) a group of people who possess the same access to prestige, privilege, and power but who differ in looks
C) any group in society that is socially dominated by another group through discrimination because of race, culture, religion, or sex
D) any small group in society which is disliked and abused

Question 28

The difference between racial minorities and ethnic minorities is:

A) in the size of each group
B) ethnic minorities do not suffer from discrimination, but only from prejudice
C) racial minorities differ biologically, ethnic minorities differ culturally from the dominant group
D) racial minorities have been here longer than ethnic minorities

Question 29

Minorities have reacted to domination by developing goals that may be called:

A) pluralistic
B) assimilationist
C) secessionist
D) all of the above

Question 30

Conflicts between the dominant group and minorities develop because:

A) minorities are perceived as different
B) minorities perceive themselves as different
C) the dominant group has coercive power
D) all of the above

Question 31

Dominant groups tend to use all but which of the following methods in dealing with minorities?

A) forced assimilation
B) cultural relativity
C) population transfers
D) economic exploitation

Question 32

Scientists agree that:

A) there are three races
B) there are fifty two races
C) there are no races
D) all of humankind is descended from the same common stock

Question 33

Members of an ethnic group:

A) share behavioral traits
B) share social and cultural traits
C) share physical traits
D) are heterogeneous

Question 34

The term "prejudice" implies that:

A) one makes a judgment before having all the facts
B) one refuses to change one's mind even when confronted by facts
C) one takes action against minorities
D) one's judgments are BOTH preconceived and unchangeable

Question 35

Which is NOT a reason for the low economic and social status of Mexican Americans?

A) They are concentrated in agricultural and low skill jobs
B) The nearness of Mexico leads to a retention of Spanish as the principal language
C) Parents tend to be ambitious and upwardly mobile which leads to rebelliousness in their children
D) The norms of their subculture are not conducive to upward mobility

Question 36

Which statement is false regarding prejudice?

A) It may be culture conditioned or character-conditioned
B) It may reflect the norms of the community
C) Its source may be the personality of a specific person
D) It is almost never found in persons with an authoritarian personality type

Question 37

Stressing the desirability of retaining each group's cultural distinctiveness is part of the ideology of:

A) Anglo-conformity
B) melting pot
C) ethnicity
D) cultural pluralism

Question 38

Discrimination is:

A) an attitude or feeling of dislike for a certain group
B) an action taken as a result of prejudicial feelings
C) racial hatred
D) belief in the superiority of one's own group

Question 39

Discriminatory behavior prompted by the knowledge that prejudice exists on a society wide level is called:

A) attitudinal discrimination
B) institutional discrimination
C) cultural discrimination
D) personal discrimination

Question 40

Prejudice persists because it:

A) is learned in school
B) is emotionally satisfying
C) is based on rational thought
D) causes guilt feelings and most people need a scapegoat

Question 41

Which statement is FALSE?

A) Blacks still lag behind whites in life chances, particularly in the economic sector
B) The black underclass finds itself in the situation of being a minority within a minority
C) Relations between blacks and whites are 100 percent improved
D) The civil rights movement has raised black consciousness and helped decrease self hatred

Question 42

Native Americans have:

A) experienced the greatest amount of upward mobility of all minority groups
B) been helped in their assimilation into mainstream society by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
C) been divided among themselves by tribalism
D) been rejected by the majority because of their clannishness

Question 43

Cubans who came to the U.S. in the early 1960s:

A) are found chiefly in the Southwest
B) entered the U.S. illegally
C) had a middle-class background and experienced upward mobility in the U.S.
D) have become mostly working class in the U.S.

Question 44

Chinese and Japanese Americans have in common:

A) their language
B) a secretive nature
C) upward mobility through education
D) their appearance

Question 45

In sociological studies of race and ethnic relations:

A) minority refers to the smaller group
B) minority refers to an oppressed group
C) majority represents the group in power because of its large numbers
D) minorities are described on the basis of biology

Question 46

Nation-states stimulated race ethnic conflict because:

A) they were homogeneous
B) they tried to absorb different ethnic and racial groups suppressing their identities and values
C) they were peaceful
D) they were patriotic

Question 47

Ethnic groups are based on:

A) skin color
B) common customs and/or identities
C) genes
D) eye shape

Question 48

Human races reflect:

A) pure stock
B) differences in intelligence
C) primarily differences in language
D) mixtures of several populations

Question 49

Classification of human races is:

A) clearcut
B) vague because of overlap of traits
C) restricted to skin color
D) done according to physical appearance

Question 50

An ascribed status that a person cannot change is:

A) race
B) religion
C) political party
D) last name

Question 51

Second- and third-generation immigrants failed to melt in the melting pot because of:

A) language differences
B) residence stability
C) religion
D) skin color

Question 52

Maintaining a group's distinctive customs and identity is called:

A) cultural decline
B) cultural pluralism
C) cultural complex
D) cultural trait

Question 53

In recent years there was an awakening of ethnic identity among the following groups:

A) African Americans
B) Hispanics
C) Native Americans
D) none of the above
E) all of the above

Question 54

The Cuban community in Miami is an example of:

A) assimilation
B) acculturation
C) accommodation
D) segregation

Question 55

When a minority group accepts the culture of the dominant group, it is called:

A) accommodation
B) acculturation
C) amalgamation
D) assimilation

Question 56

The merging of majority and minority groups, as happened in Brazil, is called:

A) segregation
B) acculturation
C) accommodation
D) amalgamation

Question 57

Racism is based on the belief(s) that:

A) groups inherit certain traits that are inferior
B) the dominant majority is the fittest, from a Darwinian point of view
C) minority groups should not have access to wealth and power
D) none of the above
E) all of the above

Question 58

Which statement is an example of stereotyping?

A) Judge each individual on his own merits
B) All blacks are good basketball players
C) There are good and bad among all ethnic or racial groups
D) Talent is not the exclusive property of any ethnic group

Question 59

The Germans blamed the Jews for Germany's defeat in World War I. The persecution that resulted is an illustration of:

A) scapegoating
B) assimilation
C) historic truth
D) stereotyping

Question 60

Admiration of power and intolerance of differences is linked to a:

A) Democratic personality
B) unprejudiced personality
C) authoritarian personality
D) totalitarian personality

Question 61

The small number of black managers and coaches in professional baseball and football is an example of:

A) individual discrimination
B) institutional discrimination
C) cultural discrimination
D) lack of talent among blacks

Question 62

The decline of unskilled factory jobs has increased black unemployment. The situation is a result of:

A) structural discrimination
B) individual discrimination
C) nature of life
D) personal discrimination

Question 63

Standard English and the music of Mozart are better than black English and rap music. This belief is an example of:

A) structural discrimination
B) attitudinal discrimination
C) individual discrimination
D) elitist discrimination

Question 64

According to Gordon Allport, much prejudice is based on:

A) economic competition among different groups
B) equality of groups
C) lack of human compassion
D) plain ignorance

Question 65

Among the factors that improve a group's status in the United States is (are):

A) concentration in neighborhoods
B) entrance into the middle class
C) economic development
D) none of the above
E) all of the above

Question 66

Native Americans, in comparison to other minority groups:

A) have a low death rate from alcohol
B) enjoy a low unemployment rate
C) live in the best housing available
D) are severely disadvantaged
E) all of the above

Question 67

Asian Americans:

A) lack mobility
B) do not value education
C) tend to have low incomes
D) have been generally successful
E) all of the above

Question 68

The most recent view of black family problems is that they are a result of:

A) biology
B) the heritage of slavery
C) historic events of recent years
D) none of the above

Question 69

The black movement to the urban North from the rural South was similar to:

A) the experience of the American Indians
B) immigration from Europe
C) moves of professionals from New York to Los Angeles
D) the arrival of the Cuban middle class after Castro

Question 70

As of the late 1990s:

A) black unemployment was the same as that of whites
B) blacks and whites had the same average income
C) blacks and whites graduated from college at the same rate
D) at least 40 percent of blacks were squarely in the middle class

Question 71

The median income of African American families is:

A) the same as that of whites
B) much lower than it was before World War II
C) continuing to improve without declines
D) still lagging behind that of whites
E) all of the above

Question 72

For African Americans:

A) things are still as bad as they were fifty years ago
B) college attendance is still out of the question
C) the economic situation has hardly changed
D) there is evidence of increasing entrance into politics and professions

Question 73

The most numerous of Hispanic Americans are the:

A) Mexicans
B) Cubans
C) Puerto Ricans
D) Colombians

Question 74

The most economically successful Hispanic group in the U. S. consists of:

A) Chicanos
B) Cubans
C) Puerto Ricans
D) Spaniards

Question 75

In the United States, Catholics have been:

A) below Protestants in income and education
B) remaining in white ethnic enclaves
C) dominated by Hispanic elements
D) subjected to less prejudice than in the past

Question 76

Jewish Americans in the United States:

A) have average to high incomes
B) exhibit a high rate of intermarriage
C) are poorly represented in corporate elites
D) none of the above
E) all of the above

Question 77

Stratification systems tend to:

A) differentiate among people within societies
B) equalize the status of people in a society
C) oppress children and the old
D) create conflict between old and young

Question 78

Pluralist societies depend upon one of the following for their existence:

A) immigration
B) colonization
C) conquest
D) coexistence

Question 79

The dominant group in a society is the one that is the:

A) most powerful
B) subordinate
C) largest
D) oldest

Question 80

A minority group consists of:

A) fewer people than the majority group
B) people distinguished by their physical or cultural traits
C) the hostile subcultures in the society
D) the most recently settled immigrants