Racial and Ethnic Relations Test

Part 1 – Reviewing Sociological Facts (1 point each)

Matching. Write the letter of the item in the second column that matches the description in the first column. Not all answers will be used.

  1. Belief that one’s race or ethnic group is naturally superior to other races or ethnic groups.
  2. Blending of culturally distinct groups into a single group with a common culture and identity.
  3. Collective reference to immigrants from Ireland, Italy, France, Poland, and Greece
  4. Discrimination that is an outgrowth of society
  5. Discrimination that is upheld by law
  6. Extermination aimed at intentionally eliminating an entire targeted population.
  7. Individuals who share inherited characteristics and who are perceived by others as being a distinct group
  8. Largest minority group in the USA
  9. Maintaining control over a group by force
  10. Oversimplified, exaggerated, or unfavorable generalization about a category of people.
  11. Ownership of one group of people by another
  12. Physical separation of a minority group from the dominant group.
  13. Minority groups adopt the cultural identity of the dominant group
  14. Policy that allows each group within society to keep its unique cultural identity.
  15. Set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group.
  1. African Americans
  2. All-weather bigot
  3. All-weather liberal
  4. Asian Americans
  5. Amalgamation
  6. Assimilation
  7. Cultural pluralism
  8. De facto discrimination
  9. De jure discrimination
  10. Ethnic group
  11. Ethnicity
  12. Fair-weather liberal
  13. Genocide
  14. Hispanic Americans
  15. Indianoid
  16. Institutional discrimination
  17. Minority
  18. Native Americans
  19. Race
  20. Racism
  21. Segregation
  22. Slavery
  23. Stereotype
  24. Subjugation
  25. Timid bigot
  26. White ethnics

Part 2 – Identifying Sociological Ideas (2 points each)

Fill in the blank. Write the term or name that is identified by each statement.

  1. According to Merton, a person who is not prejudiced but discriminates anyway because of societal pressure
  2. Belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is naturally superior to others
  3. Blending of culturally distinct groups into a single group with a common culture and identity
  4. Category of people who share inherited physical characteristics and who are perceived by others as being a distinct group
  5. Denial of equal treatment to individuals based on their group membership
  6. Removal of legal and informal barriers to full integration and equality
  7. Discrimination that is an outgrowth of the structure of society
  8. Individuals who share a common cultural background and sense of identity
  9. Ownership of one group of people by another
  10. Practice of placing blame for one’s troubles on an innocent person or group
  11. Prediction of results that makes the prediction come true
  12. Segregation based on informal norms
  13. Segregation based on laws
  14. Set of cultural characteristics that distinguishes one group from another group
  15. Unsupported generalization about a category of people

Part 3 – Understanding Sociological Ideas (2 points each)

Multiple Choice: Write the letter of the best answer in the space provided

  1. The US minority group granted citizenship in 1924 is
    1. Asian Americans
    2. African Americans
    3. Native Americans
    4. Hispanic Americans
  2. Which of the following tends to be true of a society in which groups interact on the basis of equality?
    1. There are high levels of prejudice
    2. There are large differences in power held by the various groups
    3. There are low levels of prejudice
    4. There are high levels of discrimination
  3. Maintaining control over a group through force is called
    1. assimilation
    2. population transfer
    3. subjugation
    4. extermination
  4. Segregation based on informal norms is called
    1. legal discrimination
    2. de facto segregation
    3. de jure segregation
    4. slavery
  5. The US minority group that has been called a model minority is
    1. Asian Americans
    2. Native Americans
    3. White ethnics
    4. Hispanic Americans
  6. According to Merton, a person who is prejudiced but afraid to discriminate because of social pressure is a 
    1. timid bigot
    2. fair-weather liberal
    3. active bigot
    4. all-weather liberal
  7. All of the following are racial categories except
    1. Mongoloid
    2. Negroid
    3. Caucasoid
    4. Indianoid

  8. Legal discrimination was outlawed in the US by the passage of
    1. Jim Crow laws
    2. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
    3. Plessy vs. Ferguson
    4. The 19th Amendment
  9. The confinement of Japanese Americans to relocation camps during World War II is an example of
    1. population transfer
    2. de facto segregation
    3. assimilation
    4. cultural pluralism
  10. Which of the following best describes Asian Americans
    1. They came to the US from predominately Catholic countries
    2. Experts predict that they will soon become the nation’s largest minority group
    3. They became US citizens in 1924
    4. They have been called a model minority

Part 4 – Key Terms and Concepts (1 point each)

Use the terms in the Word Bank; write the correct letter on your paper

41.  _____ is unfair treatment because of race, nationality, sex, or religion.

42. The attitude that one’s own group or way of life is superior is _____.

43. _____ refers to the South African regulations that governed economic, social, and political arrangements.

44. The mass murder of an entire ethnic or national group is called _____.

45. Forbidding contact between groups by custom or law is called _____.

46. _____ is characterized by a live-and-let-live attitude toward people who are different.

47. The term _____ refers to a group of people who share a unique social and cultural heritage.

48. _____ is an unfair or false belief about a group of people.

49. _____ is the removal of legal and informal barriers to full integration and equality.

50. One’s racial group is an example of a/an _____ status.

Word Bank

a.     Accommodation

h.     Achieved

o.     Apartheid

b.     Ascribed

i.       Assimilation

p.     Desegregation

c.     Discrimination

j.      Dominant Group

q.     Ethnic enclave

d.     Ethnic Group

k.     Ethnicity

r.      Ethnocentrism

e.     Genocide

l.       Minorities

s.      Prejudice

f.      Prejudiced Discriminator

m.   Prejudiced Discriminator

t.      Prejudiced Nondiscriminator

g.     Religions

n.     Segregation

u.     Unprejudiced Discriminator

Part 5 – Critical Thinking (1 point each)

Multiple Choice: Write the letter of the best answer

51. Which of the following is the best example of de facto segregation?

a.     the apartheid laws in South Africa

b.     a court decision to enforce busing to achieve racial balance

c.     housing patterns that result in racially exclusive schools

d.     affirmative action programs that promote minority students’ opportunities

52. Which of the following is the best example of de jure segregation?

a.     unwillingness of a homeowner to sell to African Americans

b.     a school that has only black students because it is in a black neighborhood

c.     a school that has only black students because laws forbid integration

d.     a business that is all Asian because only family members are hired

53. The argument most commonly used in justifying Native American mascots is

a.     since they get to run casinos, we get to use the mascots

b.     since they lost the wars, it doesn’t matter what they want

c.     since their teams always do well, there is no reason to change

d.     since they are being honored, they shouldn’t mind

54. Which of the following state the chief difference between prejudice and discrimination?

a.     Prejudice is nonviolent; discrimination is violent

b.     Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is a way of behaving

c.     Prejudice is caused by culture; discrimination is caused by propaganda

d.     Prejudice is caused by evidence; discrimination is caused by rumor

55. Which of the following is NOT an example of discrimination?

a.     preventing members of a particular religious group from joining a civic organization

b.     moving out of a neighborhood because it is racially mixed

c.     believing that a certain nationality group is dishonest

d.     harassing members of a particular ethnic group

56. Blaming a less powerful group when the direct cause of anger cannot be attacked is called:

a.     accommodating

b.     scapegoating

c.     anomie

d.     assimilating

57. In a sociological sense, a racial group is a group

a.     that shares a combination of physical features

b.     that is socially or culturally defined

c.     that is held in low esteem

d.     whose ancestors settled a particular region of the country

58. An ethnic enclave is a neighborhood in which

a.     all the population is of the same ethnic group

b.     a particular ethnic group is not allowed to reside

c.     only a particular ethnic group is allowed to reside

d.     a particular group by law is forced to reside

59. According to Merton, which of the following is an “all-weather liberal?”

a.     prejudiced discriminator

b.     prejudiced nondiscriminator

c.     unprejudiced discriminator

d.     unprejudiced nondiscriminator

60. Nature vs. Nurture is very similar to

a.     Discriminator vs. nondiscriminator

b.     Ascribed vs. achieved

c.     De facto vs. de jure

d.     Assimilation vs. amalgamation