Chapter 9 Race

Which ancient sources explain the physical differences of different population groups as being due to differences in geography?

ancient Egyptian records, writings of Hippocrates, Chinese creation myth

Robert K. Merton's prejudice typology: classification of people—in this case, employers—by prejudice and discrimination.

theory on prejudice and discrimination argues on whether on not an individual in society can be prejudiced without being discriminatory and whether or not an individual can be discriminatory without being prejudiced. There are four modes in Merton's prejudice/discriminatory theory.

Which statements about race are correct, and which are incorrect?

Race is a social construct. Race is about bloodlines.

Symbolic ethnicity today is a matter of choice for white middle-class Americans, but not for black middle-class Americans. What factors are behind this difference?

-For a white person, in the eyes of society, skin color is not a defining characteristic. -For a black person, in the eyes of society, skin color is a defining characteristic. -A white person can choose to be considered (for instance) Irish or German. -A black person cannot choose to be considered (for instance) Kenyan or Nigerian. -A black person cannot choose to be considered either white or black.

Why is residential segregation such a serious social problem?

-It fosters a culture of segregation. -It leads to other forms of segregation. -It is hard to change or prevent.

What are some of the consequences of making everyone (whites and others) more aware of whiteness as a racial category?

-It removes the assumption that whiteness is normal and non-whiteness is deviant. -It encourages some whites to embrace white consciousness in racist fashion.

Institutional racism occurs when a seemingly race-neutral policy or social dynamic disadvantages minority groups. Which items are examples of institutional racism?

-The phenomenon of "white flight," which holds down home values in predominantly black neighborhoods. -Tax laws that ease the tax burden on the very wealthy. -Higher penalties associated with crack cocaine than with the powdered form.

Which items correctly describe the past and present state of the American penal system?

-Today, the majority of the prison population consists of blacks and Latinos. -One in four black men aged 20 to 29 is either incarcerated or else on probation or parole.

In American law, a once widely-used rule declared that "one drop" of black blood makes one black. Which items are among the effects of the one-drop rule?

It put all blacks on the same level. It was used to enforce anti-miscegenation laws.

An 1851 article in Harper's Weekly described a certain racial group as having a "small and somewhat upturned nose" and skin with a "black tint." Which racial group was the article referring to?

Irish immigrants

Which of the following actions by the federal government could in the long run lead to needed changes in U.S. immigration patterns?

Negotiating with other nations to relax their immigration laws.

What was the racial atmosphere in the housing project where Dalton Conley grew up in the 1970s?

Whites were a marginalized group.

Which factors contributed to the decline and near-disintegration of Native American cultures in North America, following the arrival of European explorers in the late fifteenth century?

disease, forced assimilation, military technology, forced relocation