200
Chapter 12
Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
MULTIPLE CHOICE
W 1. Human genetic variation generally is distributed in a continuous range, with varying
clusters of frequency. The significance we give our variations, the way we perceive
them—in fact, whether or not we perceive them at all—is determined by our
_______________.
a. culture
b. aversion to pigmentation
c. the presence of prejudice allele
d. media
e. religion
W 2. For characteristics controlled by a single gene, different versions of that gene, known as
alleles, also mediate variation. Such traits are called _______________.
a. endorphic
b. metamorphic
c. polymorphic
d. polytypic
e. polytechnic
W 3. When a polymorphic species is divided into geographically dispersed populations,
biologists describe this species as _______________; that is, genetic variability is
unevenly distributed among populations.
a. polysynthesism
b. polynomial
c. polygala
d. polychromatic
e. polytypic
Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
W 4. As pointed out in your textbook, the human species has been polytypic since at least the
time of ______________.
a. Homo habilis
b. A. afarensis
c. Homo erectus
d. A. robustus
e. Cro-Magnon
W 5. The racial categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau, such as White, Black, Alaskan
Native American Indian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, or Native Hawaiian, are not
biological
categories at all, but rather _______________.
a. linguistic anomalies
b. cultural constructs
c. offensive terms
d. social constructs
e. negative terms
6. _______________ is known to protect skin against damaging ultraviolet solar radiation,
consequently darkly pigmented peoples are less susceptible to skin cancers and sunburn than
are those whose skin has less.
a. Sweat
b. Coconut oil
c. Melanin
d. Aloe
e. Vitamin D
7. While dark skin pigmentation has enjoyed a selective advantage in the tropics, the opposite is
true in northern latitudes, where skins have generally been lightly pigmented. This light
pigmentation enables the weak ultraviolet radiation of northern latitudes to penetrate the skin
and stimulate formation of _______________, necessary for calcium regulation.
a. melanin
b. Vitamin E
c. Vitamin B
d. Niacin
e. Vitamin D
8. Generally, people long native to regions with cold climates tend to have which of the
following characteristics?
a. greater body bulk (not equated to fat) relative to their extremities
b. suffer more from summer heat
c. developed efficient clothing to keep the body warm
d. all of the above
e. only a and c
9. Which of the following exemplify the statement that cultural adaptation has reduced the
importance of biological adaptation and physical variation, at the same time cultural forces have
imposed their own selective pressures?
a. diabetes
b. lactose tolerance
c. skin color
d. epicanthic eye fold
e. only a and b
10. The problem with the kinds of definitions of racial groups devised by 18th century Swedish
naturalist Carolus Linnaeus is that, besides being ethnocentric, _______________.
a. they confuse biological traits with cultural characteristics
b. they do not include all of the traits by which these races are distinguished
c. they are not scientific enough; that is, they do not include the frequencies with which
these characteristics occur in the population
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
11. How do many anthropologists talk about human variation in such a way that they avoid the
problems associated with the concept of race?
a. They pay attention only to cultural categories and avoid biological traits.
b. They accept the idea that it is impossible to study pure races today, and that they
must reconstruct them from an analysis of racial mixtures.
c. They concentrate on studying the distribution and significance of single, specific,
genetically based characteristics and continuous traits related to adaptation.
d. They choose what they consider to be the single most important trait in defining a
racial group.
e. They do not talk about human variation at all.
Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
12. People living in regions with hot climates _______________.
a. tend to have bulkier bodies
b. tend to have shorter extremities
c. have a body shape that has more surface area relative to volume
d. wear more clothing than people in cold climates
e. tend to have circulatory system modifications that allow them to remain comfortable
at colder temperatures
13. A person with larger body bulk and shorter extremities would _______________.
a. get rid of excess heat quickly in hot climates
b. conserve body heat in cold climates
c. die in temperate climates
d. overheat and die in cold climates
e. be less likely to wear clothing than a long, slender person
14. Features of the body that are adaptive in cold climates include _______________.
a. longer, larger noses
b. epicanthic eye fold
c. round head
d. fatty deposits on face
e. all of the above
15. Which anthropologist has been concerned for the ethical treatment of minorities in the human
genome project?
a. Margaret Mead
b. Franz Boas
c. Hortense Powdermaker
d. Fatimah Jackson
e. Farook Johanas
16. Until _________________ years ago, the genus Homo exclusively inhabited the tropics and it
is likely that lightly pigmented skins are a recent development in human history.
a. 1 million
b. 800,000
c. 200,000
d. 40,000
e. 10,000
17. Skin color is the result of _______________.
a. the foods that you eat
b. the transparency or thickness of the skin
c. reflected color from blood vessels
d. the pigments carotene and melanin
e. all of the above except a
18. A doctrine by which one group justifies the dehumanization of others based on their
distinctive physical characteristics is _______________.
a. race
b. racism
c. polytypic
d. polymorphic
e. epicanthic
19. Which of the following is not a racist statement?
a. “Scandinavians are cold.”
b. “Americans are rude.”
c. “The frequency of the A allele is highest among some European populations; the B
allele has the highest frequency in Asia.”
d. “Yanomami Indians are fierce.”
e. all of the above (none are racist statements)
20. Is there a “basketball gene”?
a. yes, but it is extremely rare
b. yes, but it must be acquired before birth
c. no, but it can be developed after birth
d. no
e. yes
21. The fact that children adopted into privileged families can boost their IQs by 20 points is
evidence that ______________.
a. the major cause of intelligence is heredity
b. environment has very little influence on intelligence
c. some races are more intelligent than others
d. environment has an enormous effect on intelligence
e. one’s race is determined by birth order and where one lives
22. Intelligence is _______________.
a. what IQ tests measure
b. based on measurable performance
c. made up of many abilities based on genes that are independently inherited
d. a product of past experience, present motivation, and heredity
e. all of the above
23. Although culture often acts like an umbrella to protect genes from the selective pressures
of the environment, it also brings about its own selective pressures. For example, in
populations with cultural practices in which fresh milk is an important part of the diet, the
gene for the enzyme lactase _______________.
a. is absent
b. has a very low frequency
c. has a very high frequency
d. is linked with the gene for skin color
e. has no adaptive advantage
24. The epicanthic fold is common among _______________.
a. West Asians
b. East Asians
c. South Asians
d. North Asians
e. Africans
25. The racial categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau: e.g. White, Black, Hispanic,
Alaskan Native, American Indian, Asian, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander are
large catchall categories that include diverse people. To compound the situation,
inclusion in one or another of these categories is usually based on self-identification.
Thus, in reality what we are dealing with are not biological categories at all, but rather are
_______________.
a. hypothetical categories
b. cultural constructs
c. social scientific jargon
d. ethnic categories
e. politically correct labels
26. When different versions of a gene, known as alleles mediate variation (such as blood
types determined by the alleles for types A,B, and O blood), the traits are said to be
_______________.
a. polytypic
b. polymorphic
c. epicanthic
d. faunal
e. racist
27. When polymorphisms of a species are distributed into geographically dispersed
populations, biologists describe this species as _______________.
a. ethnic
b. racist
c. polytypic
d. polymorphic
e. faunal
28. In the distribution of the polymorphism for blood type the human species is
_______________.
a. polytypic
b. confused
c. on the verge of extinction
d. about the evolve into a more advanced species
e. pure
29. Native Americans have a high frequency of the O allele in the ABO blood type system,
whereas the B allele has its highest frequency in Asia. This is an example of humans
being _______________.
a. climatic
b. polymorphic
c. polytypic
d. influenced by culture
e. hereditarian
30. Fava beans, a dietary staple in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea, also provide
some protection against _______________.
a. AIDS
b. yellow fever
c. cholera
d. tuberculosis
e. malaria
31. In Blumenbach’s classification of races, light-skinned peoples from Europe and adjacent
parts of western Asia and northern Africa were part of the _______________ race.
a. European
b. Guinean
c. Dravidian
d. American Indian
e. Caucasian
32. The frequency of alleles or physical traits well adapted to a particular environment will
increase through _______________.
a. genetic drift
b. accommodation
c. natural selection
d. adaptation
e. assimilation
33. Up until 6,000 years ago the _______________ in humans permitted efficient storage of
fat to draw on in times of food shortage, and in times of scarcity conserved glucose for
use in brain and red blood cells, as well as nitrogen through its diminished exertion.
a. thrifty hormones
b. non-thrifty genotype
c. liberal genotype
d. conservative genotype
e. thrifty genotype
34. Which of the following are flaws in the studies looking at differences in intelligence from
one population to another?
a. They generally involve comparisons among races, a category that is biologically
false.
b. Problems with defining intelligence cross-culturally exist as intelligence involves
several different skills and abilities.
c. Most instruments (tests) used to measure intelligence are biased toward the dominant
culture of the people who created the test.
d. As a complex set of traits, intelligence cannot be linked simply to discrete
evolutionary forces acting in a particular environment.
e. All of the above are flaws in studies looking at differences in intelligence from one
population to another.
35. In which of the following diabetes is very common among overweight individuals who
get little exercise?
a. United States
b. South Africa
c. Brazil
d. Polynesia
e. people in all of the above have high rates of diabetes
36. _______________, the president of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, gave an important speech criticizing hierarchical notions of race.
a. Franz Boas
b. Ashley Montagu
c. Bronislaw Malinowski
d. Johann Blumenbach
e. William Jankowiak
37. The frequency of alleles or traits in populations can be the result of the random effects of
_______________.
a. genetic drift
b. natural selection
c. assimilation
d. acculturation
e. accommodation
38. Visible differences among humans are expressed within the framework of biological
features shared throughout the species. In other words, as a species humans
_______________.
a. are basically the same
b. are all very intelligent
c. do not possess high IQ
d. are highly variable
e. are biologically similar
39. Though taxonomist Carolus Linneaus originally divided humans into subspecies based on
geographical location, German physician _______________ was responsible for creating
a hierarchy of human types.
a. Ashley Montagu
b. Jared Diamond
c. Johann Blumenbach
d. Johann Schroeder
e. E. A. Guillette
210
40. Anthropologists study biological diversity in terms of _______________ or the
continuous gradation over space in the form of frequency of a trait.
a. natural selection
b. genetic drift
c. clines
d. inclinations
e. cultural processes
TRUE/FALSE
W 1. According to your textbook, in spite of the fact some populations receive lower average
scores on IQ tests than others, there are no differences in intelligence from one
population to another.
W 2. Whatever genes are involved with determining intelligence, it is clear that environmental
factors are critically important.
W 3. The visible physical traits within groups occurred in abrupt shifts from population to
population, with many sharp breaks.
W 4. At present we cannot make any assumptions about intelligence or behavior based on a
single phenotypic trait such as skin color.
W 5. Fingerprint patterns of loops, whorls, and arches are genetically determined.
6. The differences among individuals and within a so-called racial population are greater
than the differences among populations.
7. Human genetic variation generally is distributed across the globe in a continuous pattern.
8. Anthropologists have abandoned the race concept as being of no particular utility in
Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
211
understanding human biological variation.
9. With clear genocidal intent, systematic organization, and intense speed, Hutu actions
remind us that genocide is far from a thing of the past.
10. Given what we know about the adaptive significance of human skin color, and the fact
that, until 800,000 years ago, hominins were exclusively creatures of the tropics, it is
likely that lightly pigmented skins are quite an ancient development in human history.
11. Without much hair to cover early hominin bodies, selection would have favored dark
skins; hence all humans appear to have had a ‘Black’ ancestry, no matter how ‘White’
some of them may be today.
12. Clearly, we know what the heritability of intelligence really is. Whatever the degree of
heritability may be, it is clear that the effects of environment are not important for
intelligence.
13. It is fair to say that an IQ test is a reliable measure of innate intelligence.
14. Fatimah Jackson deals in research areas that are diverse, yet unified by consistent
representation of African American perspectives in biological anthropological research.
15. Fava beans can provide some protection against malaria.
16. Melanin is known to protect the skin against damaging ultraviolet solar radiation.
17. Race is a cultural construct without objective scientific merits.
18. Though the distribution of human variation for a single trait reflects a polytypic
Chapter 12
212
description, the concept is valid as well when more than a single trait is involved.
MATCHING
Match the person with his or her contribution to the field of anthropology
a. effectively criticized race as a valid biological concept influencing people’’s thinking on the
subject
b. anthropologist who was concerned about ethical issues of African-American participation in
the genome project
c. created a hierarchy of human types based on skeletal remains
d. carried out a study of race and athletic abilities
e. an African Pygmy carried for exhibit in the United States
1. ______ Johann Blumenbach
2. ______ Fatimah Jackson
3. ______ Jonathan Marks
4. ______ Ashley Montagu
5. ______ Ota Benga
SHORT ANSWER
1. When the species Homo sapiens is divided into geographically dispersed populations,
forces such as drift and natural selection operate in slightly different ways, causing the
store of genetic variability to be unevenly expressed. Provide examples for this
phenomenon.
2. Why is it important to get rid of race as a biological category?
3. What are the reasons for differences in intelligence, one population to another?
4. Many behavioral traits are learned or acquired by living in a society; other characteristics
are passed on physically by heredity. Your textbook states that both are affected by
environment. Describe how this is so.
Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
213
5. Explain why humankind has been able to occupy and survive in a variety of radically
different environments.
6. What is the evidence that the human species has been polytypic since at least the time of
H. erectus?
7. What are long term effects that climate has imposed on human variation?
8. Compare the castas in Mexico to the hierarchy imposed in the U.S.
9. What is the “basketball gene”?
10. Describe the way people adapt to cold culturally, rather than biologically.
11. How is skin color related to adaptation?
12. Why are intelligence tests increasingly becoming the subject of controversy?
13. Using the example of fava beans and malaria, discuss how culture acts as an agent of
biological selection.
14. How is skin color affected by the historic movement of certain populations from their
original homelands to other regions, or the practice of selective mating, or both?
15. Why are today’s anthropologists actively working to get rid of race as a biological
category that applies to humans?
Chapter 12
214
16. Explain how the skin color one actually has, at any given moment, is strongly affected by
cultural and environmental factors.
17. What are clines, and what does the concept allow anthropologists to do?
ESSAY
1. Discuss the reasons why the racial approach to human variation is unproductive.
2. Outline the early history of assigning racial constructs.
3. What are some of the problems with continuing to classify humans using racial
constructs?
4. How did classifying races based on varying traits originate?
5. Why is biological diversity a key component of our collective identity as a species?
6. How is the concept of intelligence defined? Could there be a genetic link to intelligence,
and if so, will scientists be able to quantify the data necessary to support the genetic
basis?
7. As a device for understanding polytypic variation in humans, the biological race concept
has serious drawbacks. Identify and describe those drawbacks.
8. The confusion of social with biological factors is frequently combined with attitudes that
are then taken by some people as excuses to exclude whole categories of people from
certain roles or positions. This has happened in the United States and elsewhere. Give
Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
215
examples. How can this be prevented from happening in the future?
9. There are a host of problems caused by cultural practices confronted by humans today
that ultimately will have an impact on gene pools. Identify and describe those problems.
10. Though there are studies focusing on the differences in intelligence from one population
to another, these studies are flawed in many ways. Identify and discuss the flaws in such
studies.