Deck 13: Organizational Resistance to Anti-Racism

Question 1

In the chapter dealing with organizational resistance to anti-racism, an 'organization' was defined as a _______ system.

A) Communist
B) Capitalist
C) Democratic
D) Occupational
E) Socio-political

Answer 1

Socio-political

Question 2

A common theme within any organization is

A) A pay-equity system
B) A democratic decision-making process
C) The powerful, but invisible presence of dominant ideology
D) Taking a pro-active response to anti-racism strategies
E) The elimination of unequal or unwanted competition

Answer 2

The powerful, but invisible presence of dominant ideology

Question 3

Dominant ideology and discourse is commonly used to resist anti-racism initiatives. This is evident whenever

A) Politicians refuse to take part in anti-racism training programs required by the federal government in order to be eligible for re-election
B) White supremacist organizations are also invited to attend conferences dealing with racism and anti-racism in Canada
C) Minority groups display racist attitudes and behaviours in order to show they have assimilated into Canadian society
D) Rhetorical strategies are wittingly or unwittingly used to establish, sustain, and reinforce inequalities and oppressive power relations
E) Members of the dominant group begin to critically challenge their own biases

Answer 3

Rhetorical strategies are wittingly or unwittingly used to establish, sustain, and reinforce inequalities and oppressive power relations

Question 4

The need for a clear and concise _______ is critical to the success of any organization seeking to make systemic changes when it comes to promoting fairness and equality.

A) Funding package
B) Political framework
C) Employee handbook
D) Set of regulations
E) Vision statement

Question 5

When an organization consciously omits anti-racism from its vision statement, it clearly wishes to

A) Remain politically correct
B) Put the responsibility for change in the hands of employees committed to anti-racism
C) Retain a reactive stance to anti-racism
D) Begin by challenging the privileging of Whiteness within the institution before moving towards an anti-racist model
E) Entertain more progressive policies and practices for change

Question 6

In 2002, then Chief of the Toronto Police Services, Julian Fantino proclaimed, "We do not do racial profiling" as he flatly denied allegations of disproportionate stop-and-search rates by the police. His resistance to the empirical evidence exposing racism within the organization clearly demonstrated a _______.

A) Lack of commitment
B) Need for cultural sensitivity training
C) Proactive response
D) Failure to adhere to legislative compliances
E) Limited access to goods and services

Question 7

Which of the following is a systematic example of how organizations demonstrate a lack of commitment for anti-racism initiatives?

A) A manager who refuses to attend race-relations training seminars
B) A principal who hires a friend for a recently advertised position within the school rather than adhering to employment equity guidelines
C) When former Ontario Premier, Mike Harris, determined that the term 'racism' would be removed from every government document and policy
D) The owner of a major media corporation in Canada tells his editors to limit the number of stories dealing with issues of racism for a period of one month
E) Hiring only enough employees deemed people of colour to meet enforced quota requirements.

Question 8

In all areas of organizational and institutional life, there is an intrinsic relationship between policy and ______.

A) Funding
B) Government resources
C) Public interests
D) Practice
E) Cultural sensitivity

Question 9

Policing organizations in Canada have developed policies that fail to be explicit about the nature of the problem they are seeking to address. This highlights which strategy to resist anti-racism initiatives?

A) Inadequate policies
B) Legislative compliance
C) Inadequate training
D) Lack of organizational commitment
E) Absence of sanctions

Question 10

An outcome of anti-racism is not only a change in individual attitudes, but also a ________ of individual and collective practices.

A) Formation
B) Consensus
C) Regulation
D) Transformation
E) Preservation

Question 11

Anti-racism training programs have generally been ineffective in bringing about organizational change because they

A) Are over-funded, yet underappreciated
B) Required rather than voluntary for front-line workers
C) Expensive to facilitate
D) Treated like any other subject - something to be learned in a three-hour, one day workshop
E) Are known to create divisive tensions among employees once completed

Question 12

Human-awareness training models are based on three false premises. The first is that when people understand the customs of another group, they will be able to deal with them more effectively. Identify one other false premise?

A) That cultures are not monolithic, but rather diverse
B) Even without this training, people can learn to tolerate other groups if forced to
C) Only those who come into daily contact with racial minorities need to be trained
D) Only those working in service-related industries need to take courses
E) Training facilitators must come from a visible minority group; otherwise, it is not credible

Question 13

The premise of race-awareness training is that

A) Racism will never be eliminated
B) Racism is a White problem
C) Racism is a societal problem
D) Racism is a minority problem
E) Racism is a global problem

Question 14

Whereas legislative compliance stresses the avoidance of unlawful discrimination, managing diversity focuses on

A) Organizational management approaches
B) The lack of representation in management positions
C) Finding ways to assimilate minorities into the organization
D) Drawing upon the experiences of Whites who have travelled to 'Third-World' countries and putting them in decision-making positions
E) Mandatory hiring quotas

Question 15

Which of the following is perhaps the most common institutional response to racism?

A) Training
B) Increased funding for 'cultural-sensitivity' programs
C) Restructuring of management
D) Imposing sanctions on offender(s)
E) Filing a human rights complaint against the offender

Question 16

What is the most important measure of any monitoring and evaluation mechanism?

A) Reliability
B) Accuracy
C) Consistency
D) Accountability
E) Results

Question 17

Currently, there are still a limited number of institutions in which either anti-racism or employment equity policies are still in place, such as some boards of education, universities, and police forces. Which one of the following groups has tended to express the most resistance to these initiatives?

A) Minority women
B) Canadian-born minorities
C) White women
D) White able-bodied males
E) Senior management

Question 18

Rewards and sanctions are important ways of changing behaviour in organizations. However, even in institutions where anti-racism policies exist, adequate sanctions have been ______.

A) Completely absent
B) Lacking
C) Challenged by unions
D) Applied inconsistently
E) Too severe

Question 19

The people in an organization who are responsible for initiating and developing strategies for change have been called _____.

A) Front-line workers
B) Strategic planners
C) Anti-racism agents
D) Change agents
E) Government lackeys

Question 20

In periods of economic restraint, institutions tend to cut many programs due to a lack of funds. Which type of programs are often the most vulnerable and often the first programs to be reduced or eliminated?

A) Mandatory hiring policies
B) Anti-racism initiatives
C) White-only clubs
D) Community outreach
E) Skills training programs

Question 21

In order to continue moving forward in the pursuit of racial equality in Canada, anti-racism practitioners believe that the only way this can be achieved is to ensure that effective ______ are put in place.

A) Leaders
B) Training mechanisms
C) Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms
D) Corporate and government quota systems
E) Codes of conduct

Question 22

Tokenism refers to

A) The practice of appointing or hiring one or two members of designated minority groups for relatively powerless positions in order to demonstrate the organization's tolerance of diversity
B) The general view of senior and middle management who simply attend anti-racism training programming to show they are not resisting anti-racism legislation
C) The credits that a company accumulates annually from the government for meeting mandatory goals and outcomes related to employment equity legislation
D) Sports agents who belief that minority athletes in certain sports are being promoted merely because of the colour of their skin
E) Organizations who tokenize minority employees by asking them to take the lead co-ordinating and organizing multicultural events mandated by the state

Question 23

Organizations that do not recognize racial and cultural diversity generally operate on the assumption of homogeneity among people. Identify the race-conscious theory of organizations that supports this perspective.

A) Homogeneous theory
B) Assimilationism
C) Multiculturalism
D) Anti-racism
E) Tokenism

Question 24

The principle underlying multicultural change strategies is a willingness to make limited modifications in the organization or institution, but not to

A) Enforce the policies on white senior management or the Board of Directors
B) Publically apologize for their racist policies and practices of the past
C) Engage in dialogue with spokespersons from under-represented minority groups
D) Alter its fundamental structure, mission, and culture
E) Accept any monetary sanctions for violating employment equity legislation

Question 25

An anti-racist organization is not one in which racism is totally absent. Rather, it is a strategy that takes a _____ stand against racism in all its forms.

A) Reactionary
B) Revolutionary
C) Covert
D) Proactive
E) Contradictory
True and False Questions:

Question 26

An organization is a social system in which people are always assuming different jobs, responsibilities, and roles.

Question 27

Resistance is a form of both individual and collective human behaviour that either actively or passively attempts to undermine any aspect of the change process.

Question 28

Anti-racism as a guiding organizational framework suggests a commitment to examine not only programs and practices but also the ideology motivating those programs and practices.

Question 29

Of those organizations that do recognize the need to respond to racism, most choose not to use such labels as "managing diversity" or "race relations".

Question 30

Policies are perhaps a useful starting point for change, but they cannot function alone as mechanisms to promote change.

Question 31

Cultural awareness or sensitivity training programs often ignore power relations between dominant and subordinate groups.

Question 32

At present, there are 100 organizations in Canada who are known to impose wage sanctions on staff or management for racist behaviour.

Question 33

A common problem with many organizational responses to racism is that individual members are not held accountable for their actions.

Question 34

A fundamental change to the organizational structure is not required by anti-racism initiatives.

Question 35

Change agents of colour are particularly subject to scrutiny and to challenges of their position.