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“Shadowy Lines That Still Divide,” Janny Scott and David Leonhardt

The United States looks like a classless society, the authors say, but class has actually

come to play a greater role in determining life chances over the past three decades. It is

difficult to discuss class, they argue, because the word is defined differently by different

people. Because people of all classes buy luxury items that would have been

unimaginable fifty years ago, and because shows like American Idol and The

Apprentice reinforce the rags-to-riches mythology that feeds the American dream, the

perception of class has blurred while the reality is that class mobility has flattened, and

inequality of opportunity has increased.

Class mobility has _____ in the United States.

a. flattened out

b. increased

c. remained the same

d. always been possible for anyone who works hard

“Sub-Prime as a Black Catastrophe,” Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro

The catastrophe described by Oliver and Shapiro is rooted in the fact that home equity

is the most important source of wealth for families in the United States. The authors

argue this is particularly so for African American families. It was the targeting of

African American families by sub-prime lenders that robbed so many of this important

and hard-earned source of security.

Due to the very high interest rates charged for these loans, the devastating effects of

these sub-prime loans has not only taken away gains made in the recent past, but will

compromise the ability of African American families into the future, effecting the

ability to open small businesses, pay for college educations, and support retirements.

Predatory loans have left African American communities facing, “the greatest loss of

financial wealth” ever. “Institutional and racialized policy,” they argue, “are trumping

hard-earned educational, job and income advances.”

Oliver and Shapiro point out that forty years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968,

housing markets are still segregated by:

a. family income

b. occupation

c. class and race

d. law

“The Prison and the Closet,” Patricia Hill Collins

Patricia Hill Collins considers the intersecting relationship between racism and

heterosexism. She argues that the assumption that these two hegemonic ideologies

represent separate systems of oppression obscures the fact that racism and sexism rely

upon each other for meaning. Without sacrificing the acknowledgement of differences

in the way that racism and heterosexism manifest, the author shows that the two

systems converge and that both systems affect the everyday lives of all people.

Colonial regimes routinely manipulated ideas about ________________ in order to

maintain

unjust power relations:

a. race

b. sexuality

c. gender

d. democracy

“The Well-Coifed Man: Class, Race, and Heterosexual Masculinity in the Hair

Salon,”Kristen Barber

Kristen Barber responds to claims that the male body is now sexualized and objectified

by media just as women’s bodies have been. In her case study of a small hair salon in

California, Barber finds that men who purchase “beauty work and beauty products”

consciously distinguish themselves from white working class men and distance

themselves from “the feminizing character ” of beauty work. She argues that these men

“appropriate embodied symbols of cultural capital that distinguish them as raced,

classed, sexualized and gendered” and that they

“heterosexualize” their contacts with women stylists, further distancing themselves

from the potential gender equalizing effects of beauty work.

According to Barber, it is no longer enough for men to work hard, they must also:

a. care for home and children

b. look good

c. have endearing personalities

d. participate in sports

“Rethinking Families and Community: The Color, Class, and Centrality of

Extended Kin Ties,” Naomi Gerstel

Naomi Gerstel argues that limiting the definition of “family” to those composed of

husbands and wives or parents and young children misses much of the experience of

families as they actually exist. Calling for recognition of the importance of extended

kin, Gerstel illustrates that the development and maintenance of family support

networks is an important class-based survival strategy. In addition, Gerstel analyzes

how marriage and the nuclear family cut both men and women off from extended and

fictive kin, an idea that challenges much of classical theory on the subject.

Blacks and Latino/as less often have the economic resources that allow for the kind of

_______________ that the nuclear family entails, according to Gerstel.

a. home life

b. leisure activities

c. privatization

d. extensive social contacts

“The Contested Meaning of “Asian American”: Racial Dilemmas in the

Contemporary U.S.,” Nazli Kimbria

Kibria explores the social construction and contested meanings of “Asian American” in

the U.S.

She views the social construction of race as a dynamic process involving the imposition

of categories from without as well as the shaping of meaning within the categorized

group. Kibria discusses the tension between “pan-Asianism” and a multiracial approach.

Construction refers to:

a. scientific processes

b. a one time act of classification that then becomes permanent

c. a group’s sense of self identity

d. an ongoing project

“How a Scholarship Girl Becomes a Soldier: The Militarization of Latina/o Youth

in Chicago Public Schools,” Gina Perez

Gina Perez explores the complicated relationship between young Latina/o students in

Chicago and the U.S. military. Perez argues that in addition to limited economic

opportunities, gendered understandings of autonomy, family obligations, honor and

respectability influence, how young people respond to the increasingly militarized

educational context.

Military involvement allegedly keeps young men out of _______________:

a. early marriages

b. debt

c. gangs

d. hospitals

“Families on Frontier: From Braceros in the Fields to Braceras in the Home,”

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo

Decades ago the demand for immigrant labor in the western United States was a

demand for male labor. This has changed as a result of transformations in political

economy. Now there is a high demand for female immigrant workers. Mexican and

Central American women immigrants become members of transnational families, as

they leave their children at home and work in the United States in order to support their

families financially. Domestic work in the United States, and in many other countries, is

structured in a way that requires workers to be separated from their families. Pierrette

Hondagneu-Sotelo explores the “broad repercussions for the social relations among

Latina Immigrants and their families” that result from the privatization of social

reproduction.

The federal agency charged with enforcement of migration laws has historically served

the interests of:

a. migrant male laborers

b. migrant female laborers

c. domestic employers

d. documented workers

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh

Peggy McIntosh explores the invisibility of racial privilege. She argues that Whites tend

to be unaware of the privilege they have as members of the dominant group. To

illustrate this point she compares her own experiences with denied male privilege to her

own limited perception of the privilege she enjoys because she is White. In an effort to

challenge this lack of awareness, she lists forty-six examples of the invisible privilege

she experiences in her everyday life that people of color do not. She points out that

these daily benefits of being white make her life easier. For example, the ability to shop

without being followed, to count on her skin color not causing suspicion of her financial

reliability, or even the ability to find blemish cover to match her skin tone reflects her

white privilege. She argues that for Whites these occurrences are largely taken for

granted. They are expected, assumed to be the normal experiences of everyday life. For

people of color, however, they are constant reminders of the struggle involved in all

aspects of life when one’s position in society is reflected as outside of the norm.

McIntosh identifies positive and negative aspects of privilege; unearned advantage and

conferred dominance. The advantage experienced by the privileged group can be

unearned, merely as a consequence of their position, or it can be created through

dominance yielded because of their position. Both aspects challenge the notion that

one’s experience in society is based solely on one’s merit, and recognizing this

challenges the denial surrounding systems of privilege and oppression. McIntosh

contends that once the privileged can no longer deny the benefits intrinsic to their

position, they must then decide to either destroy or maintain the system from which

they benefit.

The author believes Whiteness protected her from many kinds of:

a. adjustments, fears and actions

b. hostility, distress and violence

c. fears, violence and adjustments

d. depression, anxieties, and self defeating behaviors

“Sex and Gender Through the Prism of Difference,” Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierrette

Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael Messner

Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael Messner present a new

framework of the study of gender. The “prism of difference” they describe broadens the

traditional view of gender by recognizing the influences of social locations other than

gender, and hierarchical systems other than patriarchy. This new perspective

encompasses the experiences of all women, not just those defined as middle class white

women, new views on men and masculinity, and the consideration of gender within a

global perspective. The authors argue that by looking at gender through a “prism,”

instead of a patchwork of other factors, such as class, race, national identity, age, etc.,

the differences and inequalities recognized among both women and men will serve to

expand our understanding of gender.

Maxine Baca Zinn, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael Messner argue it is

possible to make good generalizations about women and men. But these generalizations

should be drawn carefully, by always asking the question(s):

a. Why? How?

b. Which women? Which men?

c. Why not include children?

d. How important is biology in determining the differences between genders?

“Media Magic: Making Class Invisible,” Gregory Mantsios

Gregory Mantsios examines the way media misrepresents social class by creating an

illusion of an egalitarian society and thereby hiding social and economic inequalities.

Mantsios argues that the media creates a false sense of universal membership in the

middle class. He claims that the working and middle classes come to fear and hold the

poor responsible for their hardships while remaining blind to the damage the upper

class inflicts on society.

According to Gregory Mantsios in “Media Magic: Making Class Invisible,” blaming

the poor for their situation ignores:

a. the systemic nature of poverty and the economic and political policies which create

an imbalance in wealth.

b. the culture of poverty

c. the individual characteristics responsible for poverty.

d. human nature.

“The Contested Meaning of “Asian American”: Racial Dilemmas in the

Contemporary U.S.,” Nazli Kimbria

Kibria explores the social construction and contested meanings of “Asian American” in

the U.S.

She views the social construction of race as a dynamic process involving the imposition

of categories from without as well as the shaping of meaning within the categorized

group. Kibria discusses the tension between “pan-Asianism” and a multiracial approach.

In the 1960s the emerging Asian American Movement rejected the term:

a. pan-Asian

b. Occidental

c. Oriental

d. multiracial

“Straight is to Gay as Family is to No Family,” Kath Weston

This essay presents a distinct dichotomy that depicts the establishment and maintenance

of family and extended kin in the gay and straight world. Weston delineates a path of

rejection, isolation and loneliness from straight families as gay persons attempt to

establish individual identities. In addressing misperceptions surrounding gay life, this

essay also introduces alternative approaches to the establishment and cultivation of

family life.

Based on Weston’s research, some lesbians and gay men have embraced the popular

equation of their sexual identities with the:

a. hope for a better future.

b. renunciation of access to kinship.

c. renunciation of fear.

d. remnants of power and success.

“Is This A White Country, or What?” Lillian Rubin

Lillian Rubin demonstrates the links between economic competition, racial prejudice,

and the anti-immigration sentiments expressed by working class whites. Rubin points

out that while there is a long history of racial hostility toward immigrant groups in

America, the limited employment opportunities and the darker skin tones of recent

immigrants have intensified these hostilities. Racism and nativism, according to Rubin,

is apparent in Whites’ views of recent immigrants and people of color. The visibility of

and the demands for recognition expressed by these groups are seen as threats to whites’

economic livelihood and their understanding of America. Rubin’s interviews with

working class Whites illustrate this point, as well as two contradictions evident in

Whites’ attitudes toward immigrants and people of color: Whites resent the unity of

these groups, yet they exclude them from dominant society. Whites criticize members

of these groups for their perceived failures as well as their successes. Rubin asserts that

Whites have begun to reclaim their ethnic heritage as a way to secure what they see as

their hard earned position of privilege in American society.

As noted in “Is This A White Country, or What?” early Irish, Italian, and Jewish

immigrants:

a. experienced racial prejudice and were viewed as able to assimilate by the dominant

group.

b. were welcomed to America as an additional labor force.

c. never experienced racial prejudice and were viewed as able to assimilate by the

dominant group.

d. were always considered to be White by the dominant group.

“The Prison and the Closet,” Patricia Hill Collins

Patricia Hill Collins considers the intersecting relationship between racism and

heterosexism. She argues that the assumption that these two hegemonic ideologies

represent separate systems of oppression obscures the fact that racism and sexism rely

upon each other for meaning. Without sacrificing the acknowledgement of differences

in the way that racism and heterosexism manifest, the author shows that the two

systems converge and that both systems affect the everyday lives of all people.

Racism and sexism use a common cognitive framework called ________________

thinking.

a. prejudiced

b. discriminatory

c. opposites attract

d. binary

“A Dream Deferred: Undocumented Students at CUNY,” Carolina Bank Munoz

Carolina Bank Munoz argues that contemporary immigration policy ignores structural

conditions that force people to migrate to the United States. These policies, she argues,

seek individual solutions to structural problems, thereby unfairly denying college

education to undocumented students. Many undocumented students came here as

children with parents who obtained visas that eventually expired. Under current policies

it is difficult for these students to obtain documentation. The author advocates for

passage of the Dream Act, which would make it easier for students to obtain

documentation. Documentation would not only increase the life chances of the students,

but would also assure that this country does not lose “a generation of extraordinarily

bright and talented students…”

Currently our immigration policy is sending the message that undocumented students

who have been raised in the United States are:

a. welcome to stay and become permanent citizens

b. welcome to stay if they finish college

c. welcome to stay if they turn their undocumented parents in to authorities for

deportation.

d. disposable.

“Selling Sex for Visas: Sex Tourism as a Stepping-stone to International

Migration,” Denise Brennan

Addressing the myth that sex workers around the globe are simply victims of

exploitation and domination, Denise Brennan considers the case of women sex workers

in Sosua, Dominican Republic. These women – predominantly poor, single mothers

with limited educations – see sex work not as a survival strategy, but as an advancement

strategy. They have meager job opportunities and can make more money more quickly

selling sex than in any other job available to them. Ultimately many hope to obtain

marriage proposals from wealthy sex tourists, and with them visas to places with

greater economic opportunities. Brennan sites these strategies as examples of the

“savviness and resourcefulness of the so-called powerless.”

According to Brennan, the attempts by Dominican sex workers to take advantage of

clients in order to get visas is evidence of their:

a. resourcefulness

b. greed

c. oppression

d. victimization by savvy foreign clients

“Lifting as We Climb: Women of Color, Wealth, and America’s Future,” Center

for Community Economic Development

This article addresses the significant gap in wealth owned by diverse groups of women

of color compared to men who are their racial counterparts and to white women. Both

structural and cultural factors that contribute to the gap are discussed, along with policy

solutions. Because women of color “are some of the most resilient, resourceful, and

relied-upon people in our society” programs aimed at increasing economic security for

these women are essential to the future economic health of the nation as a whole.

Black and Hispanic mothers with children under the age of 18 have a median wealth of:

a. $2500

b. zero

c. $10,000

d. $25,000

“Rape, Racism and the Law” Jennifer Wriggins

Wriggins argues that the legal system’s treatment of rape has furthered racism and has

denied the reality of women’s sexual subordination. She illustrates how the history of

rape in the US has focused on the rape of White women by Black men, ignoring both

White men as rapists and Black women as victims of rape.

Many Whites accepted _______________ as an appropriate punishment for a Black

man accused of raping a White woman.

a. lynching

b. corporal punishment

c. imprisonment

d. steep fines

“Racism in Toyland,” Christine Williams

Williams examines the social organization of shopping and uncovers labor, advertising

and other practices that perpetuate racial (as well as gender and class) injustice and

inequality. She identifies problems in retail policies such as selective advertising;

opposition to public bus service to malls; job segregation; and racial profiling by clerks

and security guards. Williams views the raising of awareness as a first step in creating a

better alternative.

The racism of shopping is reflected in:

a. labor practices

b. guidelines for relationships between clerks and customers

c. store organization

d. all of these answers are correct

“Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the

Color Line in Post Race America,”

Gallagher argues that a new form of racist thinking, an ideology called color-blind

racism, has become dominant among whites in America. Media and popular culture

have created an illusion of equality by reducing race to cultural symbols that are

marketed to everyone. Symbols of racial equality are embodied in the images of

successful personalities in politics and sports, as well as in commodities as diverse as

music, clothing, condiments, and cars. This focus on race as merely symbolic allows a

majority of whites to believe that racial harmony prevails, institutional racism has been

eliminated, and race no longer shapes life chances. This myth buttresses the deeply held

belief that America is a meritocracy and that therefore any advantages that whites have

now relative to racial minorities are earned advantages, achieved through individual

effort. White privilege is thus rendered invisible, and support for programs that address

problems caused by institutional racism is undermined.

In color-blind thinking, race is reduced to:

a. cultural symbols

b. products for sale

c. differences in style

d. structural inequalities

“Is Capitalism Gendered and Racialized?” Joan Acker

Capitalism has been dominated by white males and built by a subordinated gender and

race segregated labor force. It has been buttressed by a largely unpaid force of

caregivers who are primarily female. These gender and race divisions of labor still exist

and are global in scope. Furthermore, capitalist endeavors are gendered in that

hegemonic masculinities define dominant values in the norms of corporate conduct.

What kind of labor has been viewed as outside the main business of capitalism?

a. domestic labor and care giving

b. white collar jobs

c. industrial labor

d. teaching

“Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?” Mary Waters

Mary Waters explores the difference in ethnic identities experienced by White and

non-White ethnic and racial groups. Waters asserts that White ethnics are able to decide

if, and what part of, their ethnic ancestry they want to claim. For White ethnics, theirs is

a symbolic ethnicity, one which is individually designed and only serves to benefit

White ethnics. Non-White groups do not have the same choice regarding their ethnic

identities because the physical distinctions of these groups denies the choice. As a

result, Waters argues, non-White ethnic group members are unable to avoid the negative

experiences associated with being a member of an ethnic/racial minority group.

Because White ethnics view their own ethnicities as voluntarily acquired and since

those aspects of their ethnicity which are not beneficial to them are ignored, White

ethnics do not recognize the involuntary nature of non-White ethnicities, nor do they

identify with the racial oppression experienced by these groups. Waters points out that

this understanding results in problematic race relations which can be seen on college

campuses around the country. Waters argues that a cultural pluralistic society can only

be achieved once the dynamics and consequences of ethnic identity are recognized by

individuals and within social institutions.

According to “Optional Ethnicities: For Whites Only?” as a result of the exclusion

they experienced at college, Black students may form:

a. militant defense groups.

b. oppositional identities.

c. inhibited identities.

d. symbolic ethnicities.

“Across the Great Divide: Crossing Classes and Clashing Cultures,” Barbara

Jensen

Jensen tells the story of Shelly, a working class college student who experiences

cognitive dissonance as she confronts the “great divide” between working class and

middle class cultures. According to Jensen, Shelly’s “cross-over experience” is typical

and can lead to emotional distress and dysfunctional behavioral responses unless the

person can add rather than subtract aspects of self. Jensen calls this more positive

response to the cross-over experience “bridging”.

In the title of this article the words “great divide” refer to:

a. the income gap between rich and poor

b. good middle-class values and bad working class values

c. the way Shelly actually felt compared to what she said about it

d. the opposing world views of middle and working class cultures

“Whosoever” Is Welcome Here: An Interview with Reverend Edwin C. Sanders

II” Gary David Comstock

Gary David Comstock discusses how an urban-based minister is making a difference in

the lives of lesbian/bisexual/gay/transgendered people by welcoming them to the

church he pastors and encouraging them to participate in the life of the church. As a

result, his efforts have paid off in creating a compassionate and caring community of

worshipers that evolve from diverse cultural, racial and sexual backgrounds. Because of

this approach, the Reverend Edwin C. Sanders II and his congregation are involved in

various community causes such as an HIV/AIDS ministry and a prison ministry that

benefit the membership as well the community.

Reverend Sanders informs Gary David Comstock that one of the real hooks for just

about

everyone at Metropolitan is the _______________at the end of the Sunday service.

a. friendship grouping

b. fellowship circle

c. fun circle

d. interaction circle

“Rethinking Families and Community: The Color, Class, and Centrality of

Extended Kin Ties,” Naomi Gerstel

Naomi Gerstel argues that limiting the definition of “family” to those composed of

husbands and wives or parents and young children misses much of the experience of

families as they actually exist. Calling for recognition of the importance of extended

kin, Gerstel illustrates that the development and maintenance of family support

networks is an important class-based survival strategy. In addition, Gerstel analyzes

how marriage and the nuclear family cut both men and women off from extended and

fictive kin, an idea that challenges much of classical theory on the subject.

Married adult children take care of elderly parents _______________ than their

unmarried siblings.

a. somewhat more often

b. substantially more often

c. less often

d. equally as often

“Health and Wealth: Our Appalling Health Inequality Reflects and Reinforces

Society’s Other Gaps,” Lawrence R. Jacobs and James A. Morone

Jacobs and Morone address the relatively low ranking of the United States relative to

other countries on issues influencing life chances, particularly those relevant to health

and longevity. They note disparities within the United States based on wealth, and

identify three causes of health woes including poverty, inequality, and the organization

of the health care system. They conclude that while other countries have followed

“three paths to good health” the United States has supported public policies that

compromise the health of most of its citizens.

According to Jacobs and Morone, 33 million people in the United States live with:

a. food insecurity & homelessness

b. untreated AIDS

c. alcohol abuse and/or drug addiction

d. unemployment and no health insurance

“White Flight in Networked Publics? How Race and Class Shaped American Teen

Engagement with Myspace and Facebook,” Danah Boyd

Danah Boyd looks at the demographics of MySpace and Facebook and Facebook and

finds that these online communities reflect the same social categories of race and class

found in the larger society. In fact, she traces a movement away from MySpace to

Facebook, and identifies the trend as “White flight” ” a trend that mirrors the movement

of Whites from urban to suburban neighborhoods in the 20th century.

According to Boyd, the choice between MySpace and Faecbook became

_______________.

a. gendered

b. classified

c. racialized

d. difficult for teens

“Race, Class, Gender, and Women’s Works,” Teresa Amott and Julie Matthaei

Teresa Amott and Julie Matthaei explore the economic experiences of women through

the interconnected effects of gender, race-ethnicity, and class. Taking a historical

perspective, the authors illustrate the relativeness of these social constructs and

demonstrate how each is affected by the others. For example, Amott and Matthaei point

out that while the construction of gender created spheres of “men’s” and “women’s”

work, what this work entailed had to do with class position and racial-ethnic identity.

Race and class greatly affected the definition of womanhood in the 1950s. White

middle class women were not expected to be part of the paid labor force, while it was

common for poor Black women to work as domestic servants. Both women were

expected to remain “in the home,” but for poor Black women that meant theirs as well

as those of their White employers. The authors apply the concepts of race-ethnicity and

class to the examination of gender, but point out the limitations of applying each

independently.

As noted in “Race, Gender, and Women’s Works,” the analysis of gender in terms of

class involves:

a. the sexual division of labor.

b. the labor position of husbands and fathers.

c. racial-ethnicity job typing.

d. all of these answers are correct

“A Different Mirror,” Ronald T. Takaki

Through personal reflection and historical summaries, Ronald T. Takaki explores

multicultural America. As a Japanese American, Takaki argues that the historical and

cultural influence of the Japanese, as well as other racial and ethnic groups, on

American culture is largely unrecognized. The contributions of racial and ethnic groups

must be acknowledged to fully appreciate the true essence of American identity.

Takaki illustrates how despite historical similarities, racial and ethnic groups have been

pitted against one another, and their historical presence denied. Yet, he points out, their

influences and contributions to society are evident everywhere. He argues that

recognizing the value of their experiences allows for an enlightened understanding of

our common history and the tensions and struggles evident among racial and ethnic

groups today.

Takaki points out that the Irish were denied acceptance by dominant society because of

their:

a. political activity.

b. whiteness.

c. religion.

d. late arrival

“Our Mothers’ Grief: Racial-Ethnic Women and the Maintenance of Families,”

Bonnie Thornton Dill

Bonnie Thornton Dill broadens the dominant perspective of American families through

this historical analysis of racial-ethnic women and their families. She demonstrates how

the establishment of the “modern American family” ideal and expectations of racial and

ethnic groups as sources of cheap labor created distinct familial experiences among

women of various racial-ethnic groups in early America

According to Bonnie Thornton Dill which of the following reflects the double bind

experienced by racial-ethnic women of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?

a. Their required participation in the labor force denied them the status of socially

acceptable women, wives, and mothers.

b. Their equal status in the labor force did not result in egalitarian relationships with

their husbands.

c. The sacrifice they made by participating in the labor force was looked upon as

admirable by dominant society.

d. Because they worked in the paid labor force they had to hire other women to care for

their own homes and children.

“Media Magic: Making Class Invisible,” Gregory Mantsios

Gregory Mantsios examines the way media misrepresents social class by creating an

illusion of an egalitarian society and thereby hiding social and economic inequalities.

Mantsios argues that the media creates a false sense of universal membership in the

middle class. He claims that the working and middle classes come to fear and hold the

poor responsible for their hardships while remaining blind to the damage the upper

class inflicts on society.

According to Gregory Mantsios in “Media Magic: Making Class Invisible,” the poor

are portrayed in the media as:

a. responsible for their economic state.

b. invisible.

c. undeserving of assistance.