1. Which of the six Americans introduced in Chapter 1 and revisited in Chapter 14 is a member
of the urban underclass?
2. The creation of minority group status for Mexican Americans reflected the dynamics of:
3. Which group benefited most from the continuing industrialization of the United States in the
twentieth century?
4. Since the 1960s, many minority spokespersons have questioned the wisdom of becoming
assimilated in the United States because:
5. Only _______________ groups seem to approximate the traditional model of assimilation.
6. In some ways, ethnicity can be a positive force for people because it:
7. The United States has become more tolerant and open, and minority group members can be
found at the highest levels of success, affluence, and prestige. One of the most obvious changes
is:
8. The view that holds that once Jim Crow–type segregation ended in the 1960s, the
opportunity channels and routes of upward mobility of U.S. society were open to all persons is
called:
9. Which factor determines the outcome of the original contact situation between dominant
and minority groups?
10. Michelle is a poor African American woman. Her race, class, and gender may combine to
produce a unique kind of inequality. The concept that describes this phenomenon is known as:
11. The distinction between prejudice and discrimination is that:
12. Institutional discrimination is often difficult to identify and measure because:
13. You hear someone on the bus say that “all women cry easily” and “all Jews are greedy.”
These are examples of:
14. Evidence presented in this text supports the view that minority groups _______:
15. Which of the following is true?
16. Which of the following groups is the most acculturated?
17. Which of the following groups is the least integrated?
18. Which of the following groups is the poorest?
19. Which of the following groups formed ethnic enclaves?
20. Which group best fits the traditional model of assimilation?
21. Which of the following is not a fairly recent improvement in the lives of minorities today?
22. The text argues that the most serious problems facing contemporary minority groups are:
23. The population of the United States is currently:
24. Which of the following is not one of the defining characteristics of a minority group?
25. By definition, a minority group is always a group:
26. Which of the following best fits Blauner’s definition of an immigrant group?
27. Stratification is another term for:
28. Variations in human skin color:
29. Women can be viewed as a minority group because:
30. When entire groups are treated unfairly and unequally in the institutions of the larger
society, this is called:
31. What are some of the reasons U.S. citizens are threatened by immigrants?
32. As society becomes more diverse with new immigrants and deals with unresolved
minority grievances, what are the issues that threaten stability?
33. What decade saw a reassertion of ethnicity and loyalty to old identities?
34. The old racist feelings are now being expressed in other guises such as:
35. The postindustrial society in the United states is helped by __________ immigrants, whereas the
secondary labor market is supplied by __________ immigrant workers.
36. The individualistic view of social mobility is consistent with human capital and melting pot
ideologies.
37. The conditions under which the minority group and dominant group first come into contact with
each other is referred to as
38. The minority groups in the textbook are presented in order from __________ to __________.
39. According to the Noel hypothesis, the outcome of the contact situation is determined by
40. All of the following are limitations to a minority group’s ability to pursue its own self-interest except
41. In general, colonized groups are at a __________ power disadvantage compared to immigrant
groups.
42. Jobs, welfare reform, and health care are examples of issues that are also objects of
43. Which hypothesis can be literally and directly applied to LGBTs?
44. All of the cultures examined in the text have __________ traditions.
45. Assimilation is typically a linear, inevitable process.
46. Which minority group is the most acculturated?
47. Survival and success in America for all minority groups has had more to do with __________ than
with __________.
48. In general, diversity is bad and unity is good in a society.
49. Which statement accurately reflects the role of diversity in U.S. society?
50. According to the authors, a fundamental question for our future is
51. This text supports the idea that most assimilation in the United States is a linear, inevitable
process.
52. Institutional discrimination is always obvious, overt, and intentionally discriminatory.
53. The diversity within a minority group is minimal compared to the diversity between groups.
54. Native Americans are probably the least assimilated minority group due to their high rates
of intermarriage.
55. African Americans are highly acculturated but not highly integrated into American society.
56. Among Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans, the amount of assimilation may vary
significantly, depending on newness of immigration, language skills, and to which generation
they belong.
57. The author suggests that the question for the future might not be so much “unity or
diversity?” as “what blend of pluralistic and assimilationist policies will serve us best into the
twenty-first century?”
58. According to the author, survival and success in America for all minority groups has more to
do with group processes than individual will or motivation.
59. Members of ethnic minority groups cannot also be members of racial minority groups.
60. Intersectionality refers to the complexities of differences within groups that have been
discussed within the texts.
61. Societies are divided into horizontal layers (or strata) called social classes. These classes
differ from one another in the amount of resources they command.
62. The major limitation of racial taxonomies is that they cannot provide clear lines between
racial groups.
63. The most important characteristic of a subordinate minority group is that it is dominated by
a more powerful group.
64. The United States can best be described as a “melting pot” of people of different cultures
coming together to create a unique society.
65. Assimilation in the United States generally has been a coercive and one-sided process
described as Anglo-Conformity.
66. Today, white ethnic groups are equal with (or above) national norms in terms of average
income, education, unemployment, and other measures of economic success.
67. Pluralism is often couched in the language of multiculturalism, a term for a variety of
programs and ideas that stress mutual respect for all groups and for the multiple heritages that
shaped the United States.
68. An example of cultural assimilation or acculturation would be an immigrant from India
changing his or her eating habits to “American foods,” such as hamburgers and french fries
instead of curry and rice.
69. An example of integration at the secondary level is intermarriage with members of the
dominant group on a large-scale basis.
70. There is so much sadness, misery, and unfairness in the history of minority groups that
evidence of progress sometimes goes unnoticed.
71. Survival and success in the United States for all minority groups has had more to do with
group processes than with individual will or motivation.
72. Since the middle of the twentieth century, minority groups have demanded greater
openness, fairness, equality, respect for their traditions, and justice.
73. Problems of minority group equality and access will eventually solve themselves or fade
away.
74. The United States is neither the most nor the least diverse country in the world.
75. The tensions and resentments we have studied in the United States are mirrored in the
global system of societies.
76. Minority group females are doubly oppressed.
77. Characterize each of the major U.S. minority groups as “high” or “low” on both
acculturation and integration. Which is most and least acculturated? Most and least integrated?
Be sure to identify and explain important variations with each of the major groups (e.g., within
Asian and Hispanic Americans).
78. How would you account for the patterns you describe above? Why do groups vary in levels
of acculturation and integration? Be sure to apply the Blauner and Noel hypotheses in your
explanation.
79. What major modes of incorporation into U.S. society have been followed by U.S. minority
groups? Which of these different modes are associated with higher levels of success and
affluence in the United States? Which are associated with lower levels of success and
affluence? Why?
80. Imagine that a new minority group, one with no ethnic or racial ties to any we have
discussed in this text, is entering U.S. society. What factors would you expect to be especially
important in shaping the contact period? Why? What advice would you give this group? What
pathways into U.S. society or strategies for adaptation would you recommend? Of all the
groups we have discussed in this course, which one would you recommend as a model to a new
minority group? Why?
81. All things considered, is a sense of ethnicity (a sense of identification with and loyalty to
one’s group) good or bad? Harmful or helpful? What would be lost if Americans lost their sense
of ethnicity? What would be gained? How would the society be strengthened? Weakened?
82. Explain this statement: “As we begin the 21st century, the dilemmas of America’s minority
groups remain perhaps the primary unresolved domestic issue facing the nation.” How might
you personally be affected?
83. Discuss the acculturation and integration of African Americans, American Indians, and
Hispanic Americans today.