Sociology Midterm : Race and Ethnicity

What percentage of the Native population was eradicated as a result of two centuries of European colonization?

95 percent

Which of the following is an example of an asset-based social policy?

A city government invests money in a working-class black neighborhood by building a transportation hub

Why do scholars sometimes refer to African Americans in urban areas as hypersegregated?

Compared to other racial and ethnic minorities, African Americans experience notably high levels of segregation

"Current depictions of nonwhites in film, television, and other media show no trace of the stereotypes that existed in the early twentieth century. "

False

Although nuanced stereotypical depictions of non-whites still exist in modern media, they are not harmful

False

In general, racial categories in the United States have not changed across history.

False

In the 1600s, people in the Americas would have distinguished themselves according to their race, including white, black, or Indian.

False

The idea of race as a classification system has been around since ancient times.

False

The prevalence of slavery in ancient societies, such as ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, is proof that racism existed in antiquity.

False

___________ have largely been absent from meaningful roles on prime-time television

Native Americans

What distinguishes race from ethnicity?

Race implies a set of hierarchical distinctions based on physical and cultural differences and is often a category imposed by others; ethnicity refers to a shared identity based on group culture and history and is more often self-selected.

What was the motivation behind real estate practices that prevented the sale of property within certain areas to nonwhites?

Real estate investors believed that racially stable, all-white neighborhoods were the most likely to increase in value over time.

_____ were most likely to receive a subprime loan during the 1990s

blacks and latinos

The housing crisis hit blacks and Latinos harder than whites because Blacks and Latinos

derive more of their wealth from their homes than whites

The idea that the United States is a land of opportunity and that African Americans could do better if they only tried harder is known as ___________ racism.

enlightened

"Compared with other racial groups, Latinos and whites have the highest segregation index"

false

"In the early 1900s, U.S. cities were already hypersegregated"

false

"Prime-time television shows starring Latinos, such as Ugly Betty, have become common. "

false

"Television shows starring successful African Americans, such as the Cosby Show, helped to reduce stereotypes about other African Americans. "

false

"The only group that, on average, lives in a primarily white neighborhood is Asians"

false

"When people of color are the creators of popular media, non-whites are always depicted in less stereotypical ways. "

false

Athletics represent one arena where blacks and whites are represented relatively equally in the media.

false

Subprime loans are

high-interest loans given to people at high risk of defaulting

Not only are whites able to significantly build their wealth though housing, but also that wealth can help perpetuate wealth inequality because

it will then be passed on to future generations through inheritances

Pawn shops and high-fee check cashing services are examples of

predatory lenders

"Racial violence, racially biased real estate practices, and federal housing programs that favored whites are all forces that resulted in"

racial segregation

Policies, such as the National Association of Real Estate Boards guidelines, which prevented realtors from selling homes to nonwhites in white areas, are an example of

racially restrictive covenants

James lives in low-income housing in a neighborhood that is 90 percent nonwhite. James's neighborhood can be described as

racially segregated

When the Fair Housing Act made racially restrictive covenants illegal, real estate agents used _____ as a tactic to maintain residential segregation

steering

Mary is an African American woman who wanted to buy a home but did not qualify for a traditional mortgage. She had no choice but to take a high-interest rate loan, which initially she was able to afford but then the interest rates doubled, and she was forced to foreclose. Mary likely had a(n) _____ loan

subprime

Two tools that help us quantify residential segregation are

the dissimilarity index and the isolation index.

Whites disproportionately benefited from U.S. housing policies because it was easier for white people to purchase homes and

the homes that whites bought increased in value more rapidly because of the perceived desirability of all-white neighborhoods

wealth is

the sum total of a person's assets minus debt

"African Americans, on average, are paid less than whites. "

true

"In recent years, television portrayals of African Americans have improved considerably thanks to shows like Insecure and Black-ish

true

Affluent blacks and Latinos live in neighborhoods with fewer resources than poor whites.

true

Asian men tend to be presented in U.S. media as asexual or effeminate while Asian women are often portrayed as hypersexual

true

Blacks are 2.7 times more likely than whites to be denied mortgages.

true

One percent of Americans own nearly half of the wealth in the United States

true

Racial violence against blacks who tried to move into white neighborhoods continued well after the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

true

The status of enslaved people varied across societies, with some enslaved people being adopted into the family, allowed to marry, or even owning property.

true

The top 20 percent of the U.S. population controls over 80 percent of the wealth

true

Until the eighteenth century, no society categorically denied the humanity of enslaved people.

true

Whites are overrepresented on television shows.

true

Race is a social and historical construction with no biological basis.

True

Bacon's Rebellion was a key indicator that hostility existed between white servants and enslaved black people.

false

Blacks and Latinos are more likely to be incarcerated than whites because they commit more crimes.

false

Blacks and Latinos derived much less proportions of their wealth from their homes than whites.

false

Native American homeowners were much more likely than blacks to receive loans with unfavorable conditions such as prepayment penalties and high interest rates.

false

One of the primary factors responsible for inequality in the wealth portfolios of black and white families in the United States is disparities in healthcare costs.

false

Race is based on biological distinctions

false

Racial disparities in lending practices are almost entirely due to lower credit scores among black and Latino applicants.

false

Steering is a practice in which real estate agents show homes in white neighborhoods to blacks and homes in black neighborhoods to whites in an effort to integrate communities

false

The Federal Housing Administration was established primarily to protect the rights of black homeowners.

false

The only people forced into slavery in the Americas were from Africa.

false

"Colonialism, slavery, and genocide are all examples of"

historical forces shaping race.

_____ is one of the primary driving forces behind racial disparities in wealth

home ownership

Which of the following is one of the primary driving forces behind racial disparities in wealth?

homeownership

"Most Arabs on television are portrayed as foreign, instead of Arab American. "

true

Elites strategically extended more privileges to white servants as opposed to enslaved black people to prevent the two groups from joining forces in rebellion.

true

Ian, who was born in the United States, identifies strongly with Irish culture because of his family history there and his interest in traditional Celtic music. For Ian, an Irish identity is best classified as an ethnicity.

true

Media portrayals of nonwhites may partly explain why so little is being done about racial disparities in a nation that values equality and democracy.

true

One of the most longstanding consequences of segregation is that black families in black neighborhoods are unable to build up home equity and therefore lag far behind white families in wealth accumulation.

true

What is the relationship between race and class in terms of neighborhood segregation

Black and Latino families of all economic statuses, including the affluent, are more likely than white families to live in under resourced neighborhoods.

Which best describes how racial inequities manifest in mortgages for homeownership

Blacks are much more likely than whites to be denied mortgages, and when they do qualify, they are more likely to pay higher interest rates than whites

According to a study by Krysan and Farley, which of the following statements is true about neighborhood segregation and preferences among racial groups

Most white individuals prefer to live in predominantly white neighborhoods

Which factor accounts for wealth gaps between black and white families with the same levels of educational attainment?

all of the above: Black homeowners are less likely to build up equity over the years because of residential segregation, White families are more likely to receive financial assistance in purchasing a home from their family members, and African American families tend to purchase homes later in life because they face more obstacles in home buying than white

Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro make a case for _____ as a proactive means of narrowing the wealth gap

asset-based social policy

Thomas Shapiro, Tatjana Meschede, and Sam Osoro published a study that attributed the wealth gap to five factors, including years of homeownership, household income, years of unemployment, inheritances, and

college education

Racial segregation is often associated with _____, which in turn leads to underresourced neighborhoods with poor public schools, high levels of crime, and high unemployment rate

concentrated poverty

The mass murder of the ethnic Tutsi people in Rwanda by the Hutu majority government is an example of

genocide