Sociology 1010 Chapter 8

Racism

A set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group compared to another is:

Situational ethnicity

A young person from Southern California has four German grandparents. She lived in Los Angeles all her life before accepting a job in Milwaukee. She has never really thought about her German heritage, but in Milwaukee, she discovers many other people with similar ancestries and starts using ethnicity as a way to develop social and professional relationships. What is this an example of?

the struggle groups have for power and control

According to conflict theory, what is the real source of racism?

They are denied access to power and resources.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau since 2004 Texas has had a minority population of at least 11.3 million, comprising 50.2 percent of its population of 22.5 million. The primary minority group is Mexican Americans. However, despite this numerical prominence, Texas has never been higher than 26. Why would a sociologist still call Mexican Americans a minority group?

Discrimination

An action of behavior that results in the unequal treatment of an individual because of his membership in a racial or ethnic group is called:

Passing happens entirely through interaction.

Anatole Broyard, a literary critic and writer for the New York Times, lived a double life. He had a mixed racial heritage, and while African American friends knew him as African American, white friends and professional acquaintances thought that he was white. After his death, Broyard's daughter tried to write his life story and, as part of the process, organized a family reunion. This was made more difficult by the fact that Broyard's extended family included many who thought of themselves as white, others as black. What does this demonstrate about passing?

They remain dominant in terms of power, resources, and representation in social institutions.

Despite demographic shifts, how can you tell that whites are still the dominant group in California?

Though it was written to help all veterans regardless of race, African Americans were typically excluded from home ownership.

How did the G.I. Bill of Rights, which provided funds for home loans, affect African Americans?

Cablinasian

How does Tiger Woods describe his own racial identity?

Institutional discrimination is more systematic and widespread.

How is institutionalized discrimination different from individual discrimination?

Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an action.

How is prejudice different from discrimination?

Other Hispanic tenants were able to find places to rent in the area.

If a landlord was found guilty of discriminatory practices for refusing to rent to Hispanic tenants, what could be seen as evidence that it was a case of individual discrimination?

If the leadership of the Los Angeles Police Department condoned or encouraged this type of behavior on a regular basis, it would be considered institutionalized discrimination.

In 1991 an enormous controversy erupted after five Los Angeles police officers were caught on tape beating a motorist named Rodney King. Although there continues to be much controversy over the event, many people see it as a blatant act of discrimination. Under what circumstances would this beating be considered institutional discrimination?

institutionalized discrimination

In 1993 six African American Secret Service agents filed a complaint with the Justice Department against Denny's for refusal of service because the restaurant took much longer to serve them than other customers. After they filed the complaint, thousands of other African Americans came forward with similar allegations. What are these allegations evidence of?

The Irish were once considered to be a separate race.

In the 1900's there was a strong prejudice against Irish immigrants and their descedants?

the social construction of race

In the early 1900's early born americans (protistans) did not consider Irish, Italian, or Jewish immigrants ti be white. What does this Illustrate?

Such beliefs justify social arrangements between dominant and minority groups that benefit those who accept them.

Plantation owners in America often argue that the African they imported were better off as slaves because they did not have the mental capacity to run their own lives. Today, this seems both racists and crazy. How could such racist beliefs flourish?

institutional discrimination

The "Jim Crow" laws in the American South, which mandated separate facilities for whites and blacks, were an example of:

racist beliefs are often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are biologically based.

The Bell Curve by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray generated an enormous amount of controversy when it first came out, largely because it suggested that racial differences in IQ scores were due to genetically driven differences in intelligence and argued that "both genes and the environment have something to do with racial differences." For those who disagreed, this seemed like a very familiar argument, because:

Race is a social construct.

The Brazilian census has traditionally four racial categories: perto branco, amarelo, and pardo. However, in everyday life, Brazilians have many other racial categories, including moreno, mulato, neguinho, and pretinho. Most of these terms do not have an equivalent in the United States. What does this tell you?

Racism

The belief that Asians are genetically predisposed to be more intelligent than Europeans is an example of:

Prejudice

The belief that all Irish are drunks is an example of:

Genocide

The deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, or national group is called:

to increase diversity

What is the goal if affirmative action?

Asian Americans

Which major U.S. racial group has the LOWEST dropout rate in higher education?

coming from a non-English-speaking background

Which of the following factors makes someone most likely to drop out of high school?

refusing to sell someone a house in a particular neighborhood because of his or her race

Which of the following is an example of discrimination?

believing that Asians are better at math

Which of the following is an example of prejudice?

Whites

Which racial group has the highest median income?

largely unaware of the unequal benefits they possess

White privilege is the idea that one group (whites) in society enjoys certain unearned privileges and that group members are: