Political Science: Race and Politics
Test Questions
Course Introduction
This course examines the complex interplay between race and politics, focusing on the ways in which racial identities and attitudes shape political behavior, public policy, and institutional practices. Students will explore the historical and contemporary impact of race on political systems, voter participation, and representation in the United States and other societies. Through readings, case studies, and discussions, the course analyzes how movements for racial justice, patterns of inequality, and political ideologies influence governmental responses and the broader struggle for equity and inclusion within political life.
Recommended Textbook
Race in America 1st Edition by Matthew Desmond
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Race in the Twenty-First Century
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Q1) A _____________________ is a social and symbolic hierarchical system of classification and social division that organizes people into rigid groups.
A)racial hierarchy
B)caste system
C)phenotypical classification
D)genetic variation
Answer: B
Q2) Two friends are arguing over the results of a recent NBA draft.Alex tells Jorge that his favorite team should have picked more black players because they naturally have more athletic skill and everyone knows "white men can't jump." Jorge calls Alex out for basing his argument on:
A)biological determinism
B)social constructivism
C)institutional racism
D)interpersonal racism
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: The Invention of Race
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Q1) How did the United States acquire the land that today is New Mexico,California,Utah,Nevada,parts of Arizona,and disputed areas of Texas?
A)the Monroe Doctrine
B)Manifest Destiny
C)the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
D)the Thirteenth Amendment
Answer: C
Q2) For the Native Americans,the process of white colonialism brought inflictions on their bodies,their spirits,and their land.What is one example given in the textbook of how Native Americans experienced violence "on their spirits"?
A)cultural reeducation
B)disease
C)eradication of tribal property
D)bullet wounds
Answer: A
Q3) What were two ways in which slaves rebelled against their masters?
Answer: Answers may include the following: Subtle resistance,such as playing dumb and working slowly,and more overt resistance,such as armed rebellion and fleeing the South.
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Chapter 3: Politics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The majority of whites are registered members of which political party?
A)Green
B)Republican
C)Independent
D)Democrat
Answer: B
Q2) What was the Southern Strategy?
Answer: President Nixon's efforts to polarize the electorate around racial politics and to recruit masses of southern whites,who had been loyal Democrats since Reconstruction,into the Republican Party.
Q3) In 1960,what percentage of Mississippi's black adults was registered to vote?
A)less than 2 percent
B)less than 5 percent
C)less than 20 percent
D)less than 40 percent
Answer: A
Q4) Briefly explain one way in which many people of color still face voter discrimination today.
Answer: Answers will vary and may include the following: felon disenfranchisement and voter ID laws.
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Economics
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Q1) According to social scientific evidence,what has been the impact of affirmative action policies on white men?
A)Employers regularly pass over equally or better qualified whites to hire people of color.
B)It can help white men in cases where qualified white men are given more of a chance against candidates who would have landed a job through old-boy networks and cronyism.
C)Companies often hire unqualified people of color or women over qualified white men.
D)White men regularly file formal complaints citing "reverse discrimination."
Q2) Following World War II,suburban America exploded due in large part to homebuilding funded by which legislation?
A)Social Security
B)the Taft-Hartley Act
C)the GI Bill
D)Reaganomics
Q3) Briefly list two of the three structural causes of poverty outlined by the textbook.
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Chapter 5: Housing
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Q1) What are two purposes that ethnic enclaves serve for immigrants?
Q2) Which of the following were findings of the Detroit Area Survey?
A)The majority of black respondents said their ideal neighborhood was 50 percent black and 50 percent white,while 84 percent of white respondents said they would not enter such a neighborhood.
B)The majority of black respondents said their ideal neighborhood was 75 percent black and 25 percent white,and white respondents preferred a neighborhood that was 50 percent white and 50 percent black.
C)The majority of white respondents said their ideal neighborhood was one with 50 percent black and 50 percent white residents,and a majority of black respondents said they would not feel comfortable entering such a neighborhood.
D)The majority of black respondents would move away from a neighborhood that was 50 percent white and 50 percent black,while whites would prefer to move to this type of neighborhood.
Q3) It has been said that ending residential segregation in the United States is going to require a "moral commitment" from white America.What is meant by "moral commitment," and why is this commitment necessary from white America in order to end segregation?
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Chapter 6: Crime and Punishment
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Q1) Jasper,a young black man in Chicago,gets by as a low-level drug dealer.Given studies cited in the textbook,what can we likely conclude about his income and hours worked doing so?
A)Jasper probably makes close-to or less-than minimum wage,with hours that add up to only part-time work.
B)Jasper works overtime compared to the traditional workweek and makes a lucrative living,pulling in a couple of thousand dollars a week.
C)Jasper is "killing it" by working only a few hours a week but making money that adds up to a six-figure yearly salary.
D)Jasper works for a well-structured organized gang that pays him a salary through the ranks of their leadership for the work he does,meaning he makes the same amount no matter what hours he works.
Q2) In the 1960s,when politicians mentioned cleaning up "violence in the streets," to what were they primarily referring?
A)gang wars in Chicago
B)a slew of murders,usually involving men attacking single females
C)riots and civil disobedience by civil rights protestors
D)muggings and catcalling
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Chapter 7: Education
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Q1) Compare the findings of Annettte Lareau and the psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley.What are the common findings? How would you suggest a local elementary school communicate research-based suggestions to teachers and parents?
Q2) In many U.S.classroom settings,students of color are often dubbed the "experts" on race through what practice?
A)allowing students of color to speak for themselves
B)tracking students of color into ethnic studies majors
C)inflating the grades of students of color
D)asking students of color to speak for an entire population
Q3) Prudence Carter and John Ogbu were both concerned with the question of whether black students' academic achievement is negatively impacted by a cultural practice of avoiding "acting white." How does their work differ?
Q4) What is one way that progressive intellectual movements,such as feminism,are dominated by a white framework?
A)centering women of color's unique experiences
B)attempting to speak for women of color
C)publishing memoirs rather than statistical research
D)committing to electoral politics as a method for social change
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Chapter 8: Aesthetics
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Q1) Aside from limiting professional options for nonwhite models,what is one consequence of the overrepresentation of white models in the fashion industry?
A)It reinforces the features of white women as the standards of beauty.
B)It decreases demand for haute couture.
C)It increases the price of designer fashion.
D)It supports the rise of white fashion designers.
Q2) From a sociological perspective,what is the problematic underlying assumption behind the increasingly popular question,"Why do white youth love hip-hop?"
A)Hip-hop has reached the status of highbrow culture.
B)Hip-hop has not reached the status of "true art."
C)White youth are out of touch with traditionally white music.
D)White youth are alienated from society.
Q3) An increase in double-eyelid surgeries by Asian Americans is an example of an outcome from the internalization of what?
A)the racist aesthetic
B)the nonracist aesthetic
C)the white aesthetic
D)cultural appropriation
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Chapter 9: Associations
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Q1) Robert Putnam,the author of the modern classic Bowling Alone,argues which of the following about American civil society?
A)Across the last two generations,participation in American civil society has grown,strengthening the core of American democracy.
B)American participation in civil society has become highly fractured over the last two generations and now mostly involves recreational sports.
C)Americans' participation in civil society is a way to gauge how trustful and connected we are to one another,and by those indicators,American civil society is in trouble.
D)While some forms of American civic involvement have declined over the last two generations,political participation and activism has increased.
Q2) Over the past 100 years,social capital and civic engagement in the United States has:
A)increased dramatically
B)increased but only since the information age began in the 1970s
C)declined dramatically
D)declined but only between the agrarian era and the industrial age.
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Chapter 10: Intimate Life
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Q1) Which of the following is a reason that black marriages are twice as likely to end in divorce as whites?
A)Black men and women marry at much younger ages than men and women of any other ethnic group.
B)Black women have greater participation in the workforce than women of other ethnic groups.
C)Divorce is stigmatized in the white community more than it is in the black community.
D)High levels of poverty and high incarceration rates can strain marriages,causing conflicts over time.
Q2) Because many American Indians are married to non-American Indians,they often find themselves looking through the cultural lens of their partners and expanding their perspective.This type of emotional work is called:
A)cultural labor
B)symbolic interaction
C)acculturation
D)the second shift
Q3) What is "racial authenticity," and why is it important?
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Chapter 11: Toward Racial Democracy
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Q1) Why do the proponents of color-blindness critique cosmopolitanism? Do you agree with their critiques? Why or why not?
Q2) When a person chooses to look toward uncomfortable racial situations and encounters with openness and self-reflection,he or she is receptive to:
A)color-blindness
B)racial healing
C)accommodation
D)symbolic encounters
Q3) Explain why the melting pot is the common symbol of American assimilation.
Q4) A white politician,acknowledging the ways in which policies he previously supported have negatively impacted communities of color,makes the statement that he "only hopes that I can somehow change who I am in my remaining lifetime and pass on to my children what I've learned..." In this example,the man most likely:
A)is in the initial stages of racial awareness
B)is stuck in the experience of white guilt
C)has become bitter about his white racial identity
D)has confronted how his identity and actions feed racism
Q5) What is the basic problem with statements such as "Blacks are very athletic."?
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