Chapter 9 - Terms

Question 1

race

Answer 1

a group whose inherited physical characteristics distinguish it from other groups

Question 2

genocide

Answer 2

the annihilation or attempted annihilation of a people because of their presumed race or ethnicity

Question 3

ethnicity (and ethnic)

Answer 3

having distinctive cultural characteristics

Question 4

minority group

Answer 4

people who are singled out for unequal treatment and who regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination

Question 5

dominant group

Answer 5

the group with the most power, greatest privileges, and highest social status

Question 6

ethnic work

Answer 6

activities designed to discover, enhance, maintain, or transmit an ethnic or racial identity

Question 7

discrimination

Answer 7

an act of unfair treatment directed against an individual or a group

Question 8

racism

Answer 8

prejudice and discrimination on the basis of race

Question 9

prejudice

Answer 9

an attitude or prejudging, usually in a negative way

Question 10

contact theory

Answer 10

the idea that prejudice and negative stereotypes decrease and racial-ethnic relations improve when people from different racial-ethnic backgrounds, who are of equal status, interact frequently

Question 11

individual discrimination

Answer 11

person-to-person or face-to-face discrimination; the negative treatment of people by other individuals

Question 12

institutional discrimination

Answer 12

negative treatment of a minority group that is built into a society’s institutions; also called systemic discrimination

Question 13

scapegoat

Answer 13

an individual or group unfairly blamed for someone else’s troubles

Question 14

authoritarian personality

Answer 14

Theodor Adorno’s term for people who are prejudiced and rank high on scales of conformity, intolerance, insecurity, respect for authority, and submissiveness to superiors

Question 15

split labor market

Answer 15

workers split along racial–ethnic, gender, age, or any other lines; this split is exploited by owners to weaken the bargaining power of workers

Question 16

reserve labor force

Answer 16

the unemployed; unemployed workers are thought of as being “in reserve”—capitalists take them “out of reserve” (put them back to work) during times of high production and then put them “back in reserve” (lay them off) when they are no longer needed

Question 17

selective perception

Answer 17

seeing certain features of an object or situation, but remaining blind to others

Question 18

compartmentalize

Answer 18

to separate acts from feelings or attitudes

Question 19

population transfer

Answer 19

the forced transfer of a minority group

Question 20

ethnic cleansing

Answer 20

a policy of eliminating a population; includes forcible expulsion and genocide

Question 21

internal colonialism

Answer 21

the policy of exploiting minority groups for economic gain

Question 22

segregation

Answer 22

the policy of keeping racial–ethnic groups apart

Question 23

assimilation

Answer 23

the process of being absorbed into the mainstream culture

Question 24

multiculturalism (or pluralism)

Answer 24

a policy that permits or encourages ethnic ­differences

Question 25

WASP

Answer 25

white anglo saxon protestant

Question 26

white ethnics

Answer 26

white immigrants to the United States whose cultures differ from WASP culture

Question 27

rising expectations

Answer 27

the sense that better conditions are soon to follow, which, if unfulfilled, increases frustration

Question 28

pan-Indianism

Answer 28

an attempt to develop an identity that goes beyond the tribe by emphasizing the common elements that run through Native ­American cultures