Quiz 4
Of all Asian American show many live in California? (I am looking for a percentage.)
Almost one-third of Asian Americans live in California.
Why did most WASPs join together in the 1800s?
But in the nineteenth century, most WASPs joined together to oppose the arrival of "undesirables" such as Germans in the 1840s and Italians in the 1880s.
What was done in 1988 in terms of compensation for the victims of Executive Order 9066?
In 1988, Congress awarded $20,000 to each of the victims as token compensation for the hardships they endured.
In the section of the textbook on Recent Asian Immigrants Macionis notes that "the entrepreneurial spirit is strong among Asian immigrants." What does this reflect?
In part this reflects cultural patterns that stress achievement and self-reliance.
What did the Fourteenth Amendment do in 1868?
The Fourteenth Amendment reversed the Dred Scott ruling, giving citizenship to all people born in the United States.
What was the American Dilemma and how did whites resolve it?
"American dilemma": a democratic society's denial of basic rights and freedoms to one category of people. People would speak of equality, in other words, but do little to make all categories of people equal. Many white people resolved this dilemma by defining black people as naturally inferior and undeserving of equality.
Macionis notes on page 322 that "like Asian Americans Hispanics are really a cluster of distinct populations, each of which identifies with a particular ancestral nation." What are the three largest groups of Hispanics in the U.S.? In what area of the country do most Hispanic Americans live?
1) Mexican Americans or Chicanos 2) Puerto Ricans 3) Cuban Americans Most Hispanic Americans still live in the Southwest. Almost 40 percent of Californians are Latino (and in Los Angeles, Latinos represent half the people).
As Macionis points out on page 317 "the twentieth century brought dramatic changes for African Americans." What happened after WWI? What happened in the 1950s and 1960s?
After World War I, tens of thousands of men, women, and children left the rural South for jobs in northern factories. Although most did find economic opportunities, few escaped racial prejudice and discrimination, which placed them lower in the social hierarchy than white immigrants arriving from Europe. In the 1950s and 1960s, a national civil rights movement led to landmark judicial decisions outlawing segregated schools and overt discrimination in employment and public accommodations. The Black Power movement gave African Americans a renewed sense of pride and purpose.
What was Executive Order 9066? How many Japanese people in the U.S. were subject to it? (I am looking for a percentage.) For what three reasons was Japanese internment "sharply criticized"?
An unprecedented action designed to ensure national security by detaining people of Japanese ancestry in military camps. Authorities soon relocated 120,000 people of Japanese descent (90 percent of all U.S. Japanese) to remote inland reservations (Sun, 1998; Ewers, 2008). First, it targeted an entire category of people, not a single one of whom was known to have committed a disloyal act. Second, most of those imprisoned were Nisei, U.S. citizens by birth. Third, the United States was also at war with Germany and Italy, but no comparable action was taken against people of German or Italian ancestry.
Why do some Arab Americans "choose to downplay their ethnicity"?
Arab Americans may choose to downplay their ethnicity as a way to avoid prejudice and discrimination.
What do Arab cultures share? Know all of the following: Arab and Muslim are NOT synonymous terms. "Arab" is an ethnic category. "Muslim" is a religious category like "Christian" or "Hindu" or "Jewish". As Macionis explains on page 324, "A majority of the people living in most Arab countries are Muslims, but some Arabs are Christians or followers of other religions. In addition, most of the world's Muslims do not live in Africa or the Middle East and are not Arabs."
Arab cultures differ from society to society, but they share widespread use of the Arabic alphabet and language and have Islam as their dominant religion.
Macionis notes on page 318 that "the political clout of African Americans has greatly increased." What does he identify as a "historic and hugely important event"?
At the national level, the election of Barack Obama as this country's forty-fourth president—the first African American to hold this office—is a historic and hugely important event.
In 1882 the U.S. government passed the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Know that this act (which was extended several times) barred the immigration of Chinese laborers to the U.S. How did this act create "domestic hardship"? What effect did the legislation have on Chinese women who were already in the U.S.?
Because Chinese men in effect were then living in a "bachelor society" where they outnumbered Chinese women by twenty to one. This sex imbalance drove the Chinese population down to only 60,000 by 1920. Because Chinese women already in the United States were in high demand, they soon lost much of their traditional submissiveness to men.
Why did WASPs avoid the prejudice and discrimination experienced by other immigrant groups?
Because of their high social standing, WASPs were not subject to the prejudice and discrimination experienced by other categories of immigrants. In fact, the historical dominance of WASPs has led others to want to become more like them.
Macionis notes ton page 321 hat "median income data suggest that many Asian Americans have prospered." What do these numbers reflect?
But these numbers reflect the fact that many Asian Americans live in Hawaii, California, or New York, where incomes are high but so are living costs.
Why did Columbus call the Native Americans Indians?
Columbus first referred to Native Americans that he encountered as "Indians" because he mistakenly thought he had reached the coast of India.
More than 100000 Chinese immigrants came to the U.S. between 1849 and 1882. What led to prejudice and discrimination against them?
Economic hard times led to prejudice and discrimination (Ling, 1971; Boswell, 1986). Soon laws were passed barring Chinese people from many occupations, and public opinion turned strongly against the "Yellow Peril."
Macionis notes on page 316 that although the power and wealth of the WASPs had peaked by around 1950 "the WASP cultural legacy remains." What examples were given of this?
English is this country's dominant language and Protestantism its majority religion. Our legal system also reflects our English origins. But the historical dominance of WASPs is most evident in the widespread assumption that the terms "race" and "ethnicity" apply to everyone but them.
As Macionis notes the numbers of African American families that are in the middle class has risen considerably in the last 30 years. Are most African Americans now in the middle class?
Even so, a majority of African Americans are still working class or poor.
Macionis notes that the immigrants from China and Japan differed in three ways. Understand these three ways.
First, there were fewer Japanese immigrants, so they escaped some of the hostility directed toward the more numerous Chinese. Second, the Japanese knew more about the United States than the Chinese did, which helped them assimilate (Sowell, 1981). Third, Japanese immigrants preferred rural farming to clustering in cities, which made them less visible.
Look at Table 11-5. You don't need to know actual numbers or statistics here but you do need to know how Hispanics in general - listed as All Hispanics in the table -- compare to the entire U.S. population with regard to median family income, percentage in poverty, and college graduation rates. Just know which of the two groups mentioned has the highest of these things and which has the lowest.)
Highest Median Income All Hispanics @ $42,269 US. population @ $63,815 Percentage in poverty All Hispanics @ 23.5% US. population @ 14.5% Completion of four or more years of college (age 25 and ^) All Hispanics @ 15.2% US. population @ 32%
Look at Table 11-6 which shows statistics on the social standing of Arab Americans compared to the entire U.S. population. (You don't need to know actual numbers or statistics here, but you do need to know how the two groups compare with regard to median family income, percentage in poverty, and college graduation rates. Just know which of the two groups mentioned has the highest of these things and which has the lowest.)
Highest Median Income Arab Americans @ $61,548 US. population @ $63,815 Percentage in poverty Arab Americans @ 24.7% US. population @ 14.5% Completion of four or more years of college (age 25 and ^) Arab Americans @ 46.9% US. population @ 32%
Look at Table 11-4 which shows statistics on the social standing of Asian Americans compared to the entire U.S. population and various subgroups of Asian Americans. (You don't need to know actual numbers or statistics here, but you do need to know how Asian Americans in general - listed as All Asian Americans in the table -- compare to the entire U.S. population with regard to median family income, percentage in poverty, and college graduation rates. Just know which of the two groups mentioned has the highest of these things and which has the lowest.)
Highest Median Income Asian Indian American @ $110,484 US. population @ $63,815 Percentage in poverty Chinese Americans @ 15.9% US. population @ 14.5% Completion of four or more years of college (age 25 and ^) Asian Indian Americans @ 72.9% US. population @ 32%
In general terms what are the causes of the severe disadvantages experienced by many Puerto Ricans in New York City? (I am not looking for any statistical data here.)
However, about one-third of this community is severely disadvantaged, with 36 percent of families with children living below the poverty line. Adjusting to cultural patterns on the mainland—including, for many, learning English—is one major challenge; also, Puerto Ricans with dark skin encounter prejudice and discrimination.
Why do Cuban Americans experience hostility from some people?
However, cultural distinctiveness and highly visible communities, such as Miami's Little Havana, provoke hostility from some people.
What amendment outlawed slavery in 1865?
In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed slavery.
What happened in 1871 with regard to the Native Americans and the U.S. government? What was reservation life like during this time period and who was in control of reservations? What did those in control do with reservation land?
In 1871, the United States declared Native Americans wards of the government and adopted a strategy of forced assimilation. Relocated to specific territories designated as "reservations," Native Americans continued to lose their land and were well on their way to losing their culture as well. Reservation life encouraged dependency, replacing ancestral languages with English and traditional religion with Christianity. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs took children from their parents and put them in boarding schools, where they were resocialized as "Americans." Authorities gave local control of reservation life to the few Native Americans who supported government policies, and they distributed reservation land, traditionally held collectively, as private property to individual families
From the section on Puerto Ricans: What did the Jones Act of 1917 do?
In 1917, Congress passed the Jones Act, which made Puerto Ricans (but not Filipinos) U.S. citizens and made Puerto Rico a territory of the United States.
Moving ahead to the section on Japanese Americans what happened in the 1920s with regard to state laws in California (and dozens of other states), and what effect did these laws have on Japanese immigration? When were Japanese Americans who were born in Japan allowed to become citizens of the U.S.?
In the 1920s, state laws in California and elsewhere segregated the Japanese and banned interracial marriage, just about ending further Japanese immigration. Not until 1952 did the United States extend citizenship to foreign-born Japanese.
What was the decision of the Dred Scot case of 1857?
In the Dred Scott case of 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the question "Are slaves citizens?" by writing, "We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures for citizens of the United States"
Macionis notes on page 323 that "Arab Americans are another U.S. minority that is increasing in size." How many nations are included in "the Arab world"?
Includes "Twenty-Two Nations" and stretches across northern Africa, from Mauritania and Morocco on Africa's west coast to Egypt and Sudan on Africa's east coast, and extends into the Middle East (western Asia), including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Macionis, John J (2016-03-04). Society: The Basics, (Page 323). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.
What did the Jim Crow laws do?
Jim Crow laws—classic cases of institutional discrimination—segregated U.S. society into two racial castes. Especially in the South, white people beat and lynched black people (and some white people) who challenged the racial hierarchy.
Macionis notes on page 320 that "a renewed need for labor during World War II prompted President Franklin Roosevelt to end the ban on Chinese immigration in 1943 and to extend the rights of citizenship to Chinese Americans born abroad." How did many Chinese Americans respond to his actions?
Many responded by moving out of Chinatowns and pursuing cultural assimilation. In Honolulu in 1900, for example, 70 percent of Chinese people lived in Chinatown; today, the figure is below 20 percent.
Look at Table 11-3 which shows statistics on the social standing of African Americans compared to the entire U.S. population. (You don't need to know actual numbers or statistics here, but you do need to know how the two groups compare with regard to median family income, percentage in poverty, and college graduation rates. Just know which of the two groups mentioned has the highest of these things and which has the lowest.)
Median family income African American US $41,588 $63,815 Percentage in poverty African American US 27.2% 14.5% Completion of four or more years of college (age 25 and over) African American US 22.2% 32.0%
Look at Table 11-2 which shows statistics on the social standing of Native Americans compared to the entire U.S. population. (You don't need to know actual numbers or statistics here, but you do need to know how the groups compare with regard to median family income, percentage in poverty, and college graduation rates. Just know which of the two groups mentioned has the highest of these things and which has the lowest.)
Median family income Native Americans US $42,421 $63,815 Percentage in poverty Native Americans US 28.9% 14.5% Completion of four or more years of college (age 25 and over) Native Americans US 13.9% 32.0%
Who is included in the category WASPs? How many people in the U.S. population claim WASP background? (I am looking for a percentage.)
Most WASPs are of English ancestry, but the category also includes people from Scotland and Wales. With some 31.5 million people claiming English, Scottish, or Welsh ancestry. 9.9 percent of our society has some WASP background, and WASPs are found at all class levels
When did Native Americans become eligible for U.S. citizenship? What happened after that?
Not until 1924 were Native Americans entitled to U.S. citizenship. After that, many migrated from reservations, adopting mainstream cultural patterns and marrying non-Native Americans. Today, more than half of Native Americans consider themselves biracial or multiracial (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014), and many large cities now contain sizable Native American populations.
Of all of the Hispanic subgroups which one is most likely to speak Spanish at home?
Of all Hispanics, Cubans are the most likely to speak Spanish in their homes:
Approximately 10 million Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas as slaves. Approximately what percentage of slaves died coming on the ships to the New World? What was the life of slaves like in the U.S.?
Overall, perhaps half died en route (Franklin, 1967; Sowell, 1981). The reward for surviving the miserable journey was a lifetime of servitude. The law allowed owners to use whatever disciplinary measures they deemed necessary to ensure that slaves were obedient and hardworking. Even killing a slave rarely prompted legal action. Owners also divided slave families at public auctions, where human beings were bought and sold as property. Unschooled and dependent on their owners for all their basic needs, slaves had little control over their lives
Since 1980 has the percentage of African Americans completing high school been increasing or decreasing? What about the percentage with a college degree?
Since 1980, African Americans have made remarkable educational progress. The share of adults completing high school rose from half to 86 percent in 2013, nearly closing the gap between whites and blacks. Between 1980 and 2013, the share of African American adults with at least a college degree rose from 8 to 22 percent.
What did the Fifteenth Amendment do?
The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, stated that neither race nor previous condition of servitude could deprive anyone of the right to vote.
Why is the model minority stereotype misleading?
The achievement of some Asian Americans has given rise to a "model minority" stereotype that is misleading because it hides the sharp differences in class standing found among their ranks.
What does the higher-than-average income of all Asian Americans reflect?
The entrepreneurial spirit is strong among Asian immigrants. In part this reflects cultural patterns that stress achievement and self-reliance. Another factor that raises the family income of Asian Americans is a high level of schooling.
Macionis points out that "although Asian Americans share some racial traits enormous cultural diversity marks this category of people." What is the largest category of people within this group?
The largest category of Asian Americans is people of Chinese ancestry.
What does the term Native Americans refer to? How does the number of Native Americans in the late 1400s compare to the number in the year 1900?
The term "Native Americans" refers to the hundreds of societies—including the Aztec, Inca, Aleuts, Cherokee, Zuni, Sioux, and Mohawk—that first settled the Western Hemisphere. Some 15,000 years before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, migrating peoples crossed a land bridge from Asia to North America where the Bering Strait (off the coast of Alaska) lies today. Gradually, they spread throughout North and South America. When the first Europeans arrived late in the fifteenth century, Native Americans numbered in the millions. But by 1900, after centuries of conflict and even acts of genocide, the "vanishing Americans" numbered just 250,000 (Dobyns, 1966; Tyler, 1973). The land they controlled also shrank dramatically,
What are white ethnics? How many Americans are white ethnics? (I am looking for a percentage.)
The term "white ethnics" recognizes the ethnic heritage and social disadvantages of many white people. White ethnics are non-WASPs whose ancestors lived in Ireland, Poland, Germany, Italy, or other European countries. More than half (53 percent in 2013) of the U.S. population falls into one or more white ethnic categories.
As Macionis points out on page 315 "the legal right of Native Americans to govern their reservations has enabled some tribes to build profitable gambling casinos." Who is getting most of the profits from these casinos?
The wealth produced from gambling has enriched relatively few Native peoples, and most profits go to non-Indian investors.
What were the positive and negative effects of people moving into urban Chinatowns in response to the racial hostility they experienced in the U.S.?
There Chinese traditions flourished, and kinship networks, called clans, provided financial assistance to individuals and represented the interests of all. At the same time, however, living in an all-Chinese community discouraged residents from learning English, which limited their job opportunities.
In the past most immigrants to the U.S. came from Europe. From which two continents do most immigrants to the U.S. come from today?
Today's immigrants come not from Europe but from Latin America and Asia, with Mexicans, Chinese, Indians, and Filipinos arriving in the largest numbers. South America Asia
Know that the black unemployment is "twice as high as white unemployment."
True
Macionis notes the "some Mexican Americans are descendants of people who lived in a part of Mexico annexed by the United States after the Mexican American War (1846-48) " but he adds that most are "more recent immigrants." Know that "more immigrants come to the United States from Mexico ... than from any other country."
True
Please know that as Macionis points out, "after World War II, Japanese Americans staged a dramatic recovery. Having lost their traditional businesses, many entered new occupations, and driven by cultural values stressing the importance of education and hard work, Japanese Americans have enjoyed remarkable success."
True
What kinds of prejudice and discrimination did white ethnics experience? What did many of them do in response to the prejudice and discrimination they faced?
White ethnics also endured their share of prejudice and discrimination. Many employers shut their doors to immigrants, posting signs that warned, "None need apply but Americans" (Handlin, 1941:67). In 1921, Congress enacted a quota system that greatly limited immigration, especially by southern and eastern Europeans, who were likely to have darker skin and different cultural backgrounds than the dominant WASPs. This quota system continued until 1968. In response to prejudice and discrimination, many white ethnics formed supportive residential enclaves. Some also established footholds in certain businesses and trades: Italian
Why do young Asian Americans "command attention and respect"?
Young Asian Americans command attention and respect as high achievers and are disproportionately represented at our country's best colleges and universities.
Macionis points out on page 321 that "upward social mobility [among Japanese Americans] has encouraged cultural assimilation and intermarriage." What examples were given?
Younger generations of Japanese Americans rarely live in residential enclaves, as many Chinese Americans do, and most marry nonJapanese partners.