Ch 8 SOC
The deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, or national group is called
genocide.
Which of the following factors makes someone MOST likely to drop out of high school?
having a non-English-speaking background
Understanding that racism in the United States created and maintains inequality is characteristic of
race consciousness
What issue associated with race and ethnicity do Chris Rock's selfies represent?
racial profiling
A set of beliefs about the superiority of one racial or ethnic group compared to another is
racism
Which of the following is an example of discrimination?
refusing to sell someone a house because of his or her race
What is the real source of racism according to conflict theory?
the struggle between groups over power and control
Casimir Pulaski Day is always an important holiday in Chicago, a city with more Polish people than anywhere else in the United States. Although not well remembered in the rest of the country, Pulaski was a Polish-born hero of the American Revolution and a cavalry general. What concept helps to explain why this holiday is so much more important to people who trace their ancestry to Poland?
.symbolic ethnicity
What has modern science determined about racial categories?
Biologically there is no such thing as a pure race
How do many people hope that the Internet will have a democratic influence on society?
In online interactions, there is no way to see what other people look like.
How does color blindness contribute to racial inequalities?
It perpetuates racial inequalities by making subtle forms of racism difficult to recognize and therefore difficult to address
What explanation does functionalism have for prejudice and discrimination today?
Prejudice and discrimination help to increase group cohesion
How is prejudice different from discrimination?
Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an action.
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?
Race is a social construct.
Pablo lives in the United States, where most people assume that he is Arab until they learn his name and hear his accent. They are surprised when Pablo tells them that he is from Spain and identifies as white, not Hispanic. Some even tell Pablo that he isn't really white. What does this suggest about race?
Race is socially defined and the criteria used to determine a person's race varies.
For a long time, the fact that immigrants from eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America tended to be shorter than native-born Americans was taken as evidence that there were inherent racial differences between these populations. However, the immigrants had children who grew up to be as tall as anyone else. Geneticists now tell us that, although there can be considerable variation in height within a group due to genetics, height differences between groups are largely caused by diet. What does this demonstrate?
Racial differences are socially constructed and not genetic.
In the 1900s, there was a strong prejudice against Irish immigrants and their descendants. What does this tell you about the history of the Irish in the United States?
The Irish were once considered to be a separate race.
Despite demographic shifts, how can you tell that whites are still the dominant group in California?
They have more power, resources, and representation in social institution
How do we decide when to display situational ethnicity?
We do a cost-benefit analysis.
How do sociologists define a minority group?
a group whose members are denied access to power and resources
How do sociologists define ethnicity?
a group with a shared ancestry or shared cultural heritage
What metaphor best describes cultures that have embraced multiculturalism and pluralism?
a salad bowl
How do sociologists define race?
a social category based on real or perceived biological differences
What kind of sociologist believes racial and ethnic identities bind people and help society run much more efficiently?
a structural functionalist
What is it called when a minority group is absorbed into the dominant group?
assimilation
Which of the following is an example of prejudice?
believing that Asians are better at math
The 2000 Census was the first time that Americans were allowed to ________ when identifying their race.
check more than one box
An action or behavior that results in the unequal treatment of an individual because of his or her membership in a racial or ethnic group is called
discrimination.
Why are there differences in life expectancies for people of different races?
disparities in access to health care
According to William Julius Wilson, racism has created a black underclass, but this underclass is perpetuated by
economic factors.
The "Jim Crow" laws, which mandated separate facilities for whites and blacks, were an example of
institutional discrimination.
The exploitation of a minority group within the dominant group's political borders is called
internal colonialism
What has it been referred to as when minority group members are prejudice against themselves or their own group?
internalized racism
What is a state called when whites are less than half the population?
majority-minority
Societies that encourage racial and ethnic diversity have embraced the value of
pluralism
The belief that all Irish are drunks is an example of
prejudice.
The belief that members of one racial group are genetically predisposed to be more intelligent than members of another racial group is an example of
prejudice.
Displays of ethnic identity that only occur on special occasions are called
symbolic ethnicity.
What racial issue does functionalism help to explain?
the assimilation of European ethnic groups into larger society
What historical event is sometimes referred to as the "forgotten genocide"?
the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turkish government after World War I
In the early 1900s, native-born Americans, usually Protestants, did NOT consider Irish, Italian, or Jewish immigrants to be white. What does this illustrate?
the social construction of race
What is the goal of affirmative action?
to increase diversity
