Deck 11: Racial Inequality

Question 1

________ is associated with the fact that society is continually creating and transforming racial categories.

A) Social formation
B) Racial identification
C) Racial formation
D) Ethnic identification

Answer 1

C

Question 2

________ in the United States tends to be based on a black/white dichotomy, which means that it that is the construction of two opposing categories into which all people fit.

A) Racial equality
B) Racial identity
C) Racial consciousness
D) Racial classification

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Size is not crucial in determining whether a group is the most powerful; thus, the most important characteristic of a subordinate minority group is that it is ________ by a more powerful group.

A) labeled
B) dominated
C) supported
D) elevated

Answer 3

B

Question 4

________ groups are distinctive on the basis of national origin, language, religion, and culture.

A) Social
B) Cultural
C) Ethnic
D) Racial

Question 5

The American racial ________ has positive consequences for the status quo.

A) segmentation
B) laws
C) ideal
D) hierarchy

Question 6

Scientific evidence shows that race is not a biological category; what does exist is the ________ that it is.

A) idea
B) cultural experience
C) fact
D) religious evidence

Question 7

Because majority-minority relations operate basically as a ________ relationship, conflict (or the potential for conflict) is always present.

A) equalizing
B) legal
C) power
D) even

Question 8

The terms dominant group and minority group describe differences in ________.

A) prestige
B) status
C) power
D) numbers

Question 9

The reality is that the ________ shapes the lives of all people, even whites who are advantaged by the system.

A) racial equality
B) racial order
C) racial laws
D) racial opportunities

Question 10

An example of how groups become ________ is the fact that certain groups that were previously defined by their ethnic backgrounds are now racially identified, such as "Hispanics" or "Asian Americans."

A) racialized
B) self-identified
C) equalized
D) marginalized

Question 11

Overt conflict is most likely when the subordinate group attempts to alter the distribution of ________.

A) power
B) opportunity
C) wealth
D) education

Question 12

________ of race change over time and in different locations.

A) Ethnic identities
B) Class identities
C) Status definitions
D) Social definitions

Question 13

________ in the United States are not defined as having a racial status.

A) Citizens
B) Whites
C) Minorities
D) Children

Question 14

White is viewed as the ________ condition in American society.

A) normal
B) weaker
C) inferior
D) superior

Question 15

The ________ group is the group holding superior power in a society.

A) minority
B) majority
C) superior
D) none of the above

Question 16

__________ is derived from superior numbers, technology, weapons, property, or economic resources.

A) Policy
B) Economy
C) Power
D) Race

Question 17

The dominant group in society is, in contrast to minorities, seen as ________.

A) racially identified
B) raceless
C) racially distinct
D) racially separate

Question 18

Where ________ is used for socially marking groups based on presumed physical differences, ________ allows for a broader range of affiliations based on a variety of cultural differences.

A) ethnicity / race
B) majority / minority
C) minority / ethnicity
D) race / ethnicity

Question 19

Races are defined, compared, and judged ________.

A) based on their abilities
B) independent of other groups
C) in relation to other races
D) by their self-expression

Question 20

There is no such thing as a biological race; races are real only insofar as they are ________ defined.

A) culturally
B) socially
C) individually
D) legally

Question 21

________ groups share a common culture, heritage, and identity within a larger society that subordinates it.

A) Racial
B) Ethnic
C) Racial-ethnic
D) Cultural-ethnic

Question 22

Although many Asians arrive as well-educated middle-class professionals with highly valued skills and some mastery of English, the ________ are likely to be uneducated, impoverished, and with poor English skills.

A) Indo-Chinese
B) Koreans
C) Chinese
D) Japanese

Question 23

Sociologist ________ argues that it is not just the prejudiced beliefs of the majority that cause racism because even unprejudiced Whites defend the traditional arrangements that negatively affect minorities.

A) David Wellman
B) Charles Murray
C) Richard Herrnstein
D) J. Patrick Moynihan

Question 24

________ explanations hold that minorities are disadvantaged by their heritage, customs, and way of life.

A) Biological deficiency
B) Bias
C) Conflict
D) Cultural deficiency

Question 25

________ is an overt act by individuals that harms other individuals or their property, is usually publicly criticized, and may be on the decline in the United States.

A) Institutional racism
B) Individual racism
C) Cultural racism
D) Intergenerational racism

Question 26

________ theories blame the members of the majority--in particular, their prejudiced attitudes--for inequality.

A) Structural
B) Cultural deficiency
C) Bias
D) None of the above

Question 27

________ is a major published work that claims that Blacks are mentally inferior to Whites and that genetic inferiority cannot be altered by environmental intervention.

A) The Bell Curve
B) The Truly Disadvantaged
C) The Wages of Whiteness
D) The White Man's Burden

Question 28

Race was the ________ that set people of color apart from European immigrant groups.

A) biological identifier
B) cultural construction
C) social construction
D) structural category

Question 29

Because some ethnics came to the United States with sufficient resources to provide a foundation for ________, they differed from racial groups in terms of the nature of their subordinate status.

A) self-sufficiency
B) upward mobility
C) economic progress
D) independence

Question 30

Much of the public discussion about race and poverty rests on false assumptions about the defective nature of minorities that characterize ________ theories.

A) structural
B) cultural deficiency
C) bias
D) none of the above

Question 31

Once thought to be destined for extinction, the ________ population is today larger than it has been for centuries and comprises 2 percent of the U.S. population.

A) Japanese American
B) Eskimo American
C) Italian American
D) Native American

Question 32

Identify which of the below is associated with explaining inequality on the basis of biological deficiency.

A) Arthur Jensen
B) Richard Herrnstein
C) Charles Murray
D) All of the above

Question 33

By the middle of the twenty-first century, today's minorities will comprise nearly ___________ of the U. S. population.

A) one-fourth
B) one-half
C) three-fourths
D) four-fifths

Question 34

In the United States, both ________ and ________ serve to mark groups as different from the dominant group.

A) class / race
B) class / political preference
C) race / ethnicity
D) race / political preference

Question 35

Both race and ethnicity are historical bases for ________.

A) cultural distinction
B) inequality
C) affirmative action
D) legal advantage

Question 36

________ explanations state that racial inferiority is the result of flawed genetic or hereditary traits.

A) Order
B) Biological deficiency
C) Cultural bias
D) Social deficiency

Question 37

Currently the largest groups of Asian Americans are ________.

A) Filipinos
B) Japanese
C) Koreans
D) Chinese

Question 38

________ groups are bound together by distinctive cultural and ethnic characteristics as well as racial distinctions common to the group.

A) Racial-ethnic
B) Racial
C) Ethnic
D) Cultural-ethnic

Question 39

Identify which of the following is not one of the causes William J. Wilson points to in explaining the social problems in the inner city.

A) Transformations of the larger economy.
B) The class structure of ghetto neighborhoods.
C) The culture of poverty in the inner city.
D) Both A and B

Question 40

Moynihan (1967) claimed that the deterioration of the family was to blame for what he called the ________ that existed within black ghettos.

A) web of deficiency
B) tangle of pathology
C) culture of violence
D) feminization of poverty

Question 41

The idea of institutional discrimination

A) is a very conscious choice.
B) is an opportunity for bigots to vent their hatred.
C) is an abnormal outcome of the system.
D) is an unconscious and unintentional action.

Question 42

Racial-formation theory suggests that

A) the mass media create prejudicial attitudes in children.
B) the U.S. is organized along racial lines from top to bottom.
C) groups are created in response to the emergence of new racial categories.
D) discrimination is an unavoidable by-product of a heterogeneous society.

Question 43

Although the racial income gap is ________, the racial wealth gap is ________.

A) narrow, wider
B) wide, narrower
C) wide, wider
D) none of the above

Question 44

According to conflict theories,

A) racial-ethnics will experience the melting pot phenomenon.
B) the history of European immigrants is a model for racial minorities.
C) racial-ethnics were never meant to assimilate.
D) cultural pluralism is a goal for which to strive.

Question 45

Compared with 1990, Blacks are more likely to have ______ neighbors, but no more likely to have ______ neighbors.

A) White, Latino
B) Asian, Latino
C) Hispanic, White
D) White, Asian

Question 46

Conflict theories are ________ assimilation theories.

A) the creators of
B) critical of
C) sympathetic to
D) impressed with

Question 47

The term racial-ethnic group

A) refers to socially subordinated people.
B) includes people with culturally distinct customs.
C) recognizes people who have systematically been victims of discrimination.
D) all of the above

Question 48

The Native American tribes in North America are heterogeneous with major differences in

A) physical characteristics.
B) language.
C) social organization.
D) all of the above

Question 49

When minority members are presented as inferior through legitimate avenues, such as the mass media, then the practice of ________ has occurred.

A) bigotry
B) discrimination
C) institutional derogation
D) prejudice

Question 50

According to Wellman, the determining feature of majority-minority relations is

A) differential systems of privilege and disadvantage.
B) prejudice.
C) stereotypes.
D) the presence of bigotry.

Question 51

David Wellman argues that the major cause of racism is

A) prejudiced attitudes.
B) hostility of white Americans.
C) institutional arrangements such as the seniority system in occupations.
D) economic exploitation.

Question 52

The "renaissance" described in many American Indian communities refers to

A) the decline in the mobilization of these groups.
B) the emergence of a college-educated Indian middle class.
C) a loss of business ownership.
D) the eradication of good jobs for their people.

Question 53

Racial-ethnic groups are illustrated by

A) African Americans.
B) Latinos.
C) Native Americans.
D) all of the above

Question 54

Racial oppression________.

A) has structural foundations
B) has been replaced by a color-blind climate
C) is challenged by multiculturalism
D) no longer results in different opportunities based on group membership

Question 55

The term Pan-Asian refers to

A) immigrants from Asian countries.
B) immigrants from Pacific Island countries.
C) native-born citizens who are descendants of Asian people.
D) all of the above

Question 56

While the pre-World War II Asian immigrants were ________, the recent immigrants are ________.

A) peasants, varied by education
B) Chinese, Japanese
C) Vietnamese, Cambodian
D) Laotian, Vietnamese

Question 57

The categories most used to define a majority and minority population in U.S. society are ________ and ________.

A) age, gender
B) sexual orientation, gender
C) religious preference, gender
D) race, ethnicity

Question 58

In the year 2010, Asian Americans accounted for ________ percent of the U.S. population.

A) 1
B) 5
C) 8
D) 10

Question 59

The size of the U.S. Latino population

A) has surpassed the African Americans in population.
B) is the nation's smallest minority.
C) is not the driving force of this society's racial and ethnic transformation.
D) is very homogeneous.

Question 60

The 2000 Census allowed people to record themselves in two or more racial categories. This new policy illustrates

A) growing multiculturalism.
B) an awareness of the biological basis of race.
C) how social definitions of race change over time.
D) how the meaning of race has maintained a consistent definition.

Question 61

Despite media attention, there is no definite evidence that racial groups differ in intelligence from the dominant race.

Question 62

The current political and economic status of American Indians is the result of the process by which they have been incorporated into U.S. society.

Question 63

Half of all hate crimes in the United States are committed by ________ .

A) minority group members
B) older people (35+)
C) young people aged 15 to 24
D) Southerners

Question 64

Which of the following is TRUE about Latino groups?

A) Hispanic immigrants are relatively evenly spread throughout the United States.
B) Hispanic immigrants came over in one wave of migration.
C) They are a relatively homogeneous group.
D) Segregation rates of Hispanic Americans have increased in recent years.

Question 65

The job crisis in minority communities is linked to

A) globalization.
B) the telecommunications revolution.
C) Third World consumer demands.
D) privatization.

Question 66

The government rates of unemployment

A) are substantially accurate.
B) exaggerate the extent of the problem.
C) reveal insignificant differences based on race.
D) are misleading because they count as employed part-time workers who are unable to find full-time employment.

Question 67

Looking at racial inequalities by age reveals

A) the degree of inequality decreases with age.
B) racial disparities bottom out in peak earning years.
C) the degree of inequality increases after the teenage years.
D) no persistent pattern.

Question 68

A college-educated American Indian middle class has failed to emerge, American Indian business ownership has decreased, and few tribes have created good jobs for their members.

Question 69

Biological deficiency explanations state that inferiority is the result of flawed genetic or hereditary traits.

Question 70

In The Bell Curve, Herrnstein and Murray claim that blacks are culturally inferior to whites but that inferiority can be altered by environmental intervention.

Question 71

As racial minorities, each group encounters different forms of exclusion, but they generally remain at the lowest rungs of society.

Question 72

Arthur Jensen, Richard Herrnstein, and Charles Murray are associated with cultural bias theory.

Question 73

North American Indian tribes are very homogeneous with few differences in physical characteristics, language, and social organization.

Question 74

In the past two decades, the Black population has changed due to immigration from

A) Africa and the Caribbean.
B) South America and Portugal.
C) Zimbabwe and Uganda.
D) the Virgin Islands.

Question 75

Racial-ethnics are concentrated in the

A) Snow Belt.
B) Northeast.
C) Midwest.
D) South and Southwest.

Question 76

The disproportionate exposure of some racial groups to toxic substances is called

A) genocide.
B) environmental racism.
C) occupational risks.
D) racial aggression.

Question 77

The racial group with a poverty rate that is twice the White poverty rate is ________ American.

A) African
B) Native
C) Asian
D) Hispanic

Question 78

Which of the following groups has the

Question 79

Cultural deficiency explanations hold that minorities are disadvantaged because of heritage, customs, and way of life.

Question 80

By the middle of the twenty-first century, it is expected that racial minorities will comprise less than 10 percent of the American population.