Exam 8: Race and Ethnicity As Lived Experience

Casimir Pulaski Day is an important holiday in Chicago, which has more Polish Americans 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?

What is it called when a minority group is absorbed into the dominant group?

The issue associated with race and ethnicity that Chris Rock's "driving while black" selfies represent is

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 Latino. Some people even tell Pablo that he isn't really white. What does this suggest about race?

Race is based on real or perceived biological differences, while ethnicity speaks to a shared ancestry or cultural heritage.

Explain Michael Omi and Howard Winant's concept of racial formation by using the example of white ethnics.

What are displays of ethnic identity that only occur on special occasions?

Which term describes the slights, insults, and misperceptions directed at members of a minority group that play out in everyday interactions?

Advocates of social justice claim that affirmative action gives members of one group unfair preferential treatment.

Plantation owners in early America often argued that enslaved Africans were better off because they did not have the mental capacity to run their own lives. Today, this seems both racist and idiotic. How could such racist beliefs flourish?

Antiracist allies are primarily whites who work toward ending racial injustice.

Sociologists define a minority group as a group

What is the difference between individual discrimination and institutional discrimination?

What racial issue does functionalism help to explain?

Banks often offer customers with low credit scores subprime loans that have higher-than-normal interest rates. What is the bank guilty of if it gives three times as many subprime loans to black Americans than to white Americans even when they have the same credit scores?

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

How is prejudice different from discrimination?

Compare and contrast the approaches to race taken by functionalists and conflict theorists.

The 2000 census was the first time that Americans were allowed to ________ when identifying their race.

How does color-blind racism perpetuate inequality? What role can race consciousness play in addressing this problem?