Race and Ethnicity

Question 1

What factors can affect the meaning behind ‘race’? /2

Answer 1

Population (large vs. small)

Ethnic tolerance

Question 2

What can race and ethnicity determine in someone’s daily life? /5

Answer 2

Education

Life expectancy

Income

Imprisonment

Social depiction and treatment (prejudice/discrimination)

Question 3

What kind of status is race and ethnicity?

Answer 3

ascribed status

Question 4

What is race stratification? /1(5)

Answer 4

different racial groups with very different experiences (layers) in:

• income
• employment
• level of education
• likelihood of imprisonment

Question 5

What are the different strategies used by minority groups to oppose/deal with the dominant group? /2

Answer 5

assimilate with the dominant group to varying degrees

remain separated

Question 6

What is the scientific conclusion of racial differences? /2

Answer 6

That it does not exist

different groups have come to into contact and interbred

Question 7

What is conventional racial grouping?

Answer 7

variation IN racial groups, not between them

Question 8

What is race? /3

Answer 8

purely a social construct

socially defined classification of people based on certain physical characteristics

most prominently skin colour

ex. black, caucasian, etc.)

Question 9

What other features can also be used to classify people according to race? /2

Answer 9

hair colour and texture

facial features

Question 10

What is ethnicity? /3

Answer 10

grouping people who share a common cultural, linguistic, or ancestral heritage

social construct

many more categories–according to country

ex. Canadian, Haitian, etc.

Question 11

How did the Confederation of Canada in 1867, prove that race and ethnicity are social constructs? /2

Answer 11

increased choices for race, ethnicity and ancestry

race is replaced by ethnic origin

Question 12

What is a visible minority? /3(12)

Answer 12

who is non-Caucasian in race

non-white in colour

consists mainly of:

• Chinese
• South Asian
• Black
• Arab
• West Asian
• Filipino
• Southeast Asian
• Latin American
• Japanese
• Korean

Question 13

What is an Aboriginal? /2

Answer 13

First Nation, Inuit or Metis

coined in the 1800s by Canadian colonial government

Question 14

What is racism? /4

Answer 14

prejudice and discrimination against some racial groups

caused by the ascribed status and advantage held by the dominant culture

exists on an individual and societal level

visible through racial stratification

Question 15

What was the racial stratification/systematic racism for the Indigenous peoples? /2

2011 study

Answer 15

unemployment rate of 10.3%

median income of $20 700 (compared to Canadian medium of approx. $30 000)

Question 16

What is the racial stratification/systematic racism for visible minorities in general? /2

Answer 16

10.6% unemployment rate

median income of $22 950

Question 17

What does racial stratification/systematic racism for visible minorities propose? /2

Answer 17

can negatively impact non-English/French speakers

persistent exclusion of and discrimination in the labour market

Question 18

Why is education the most important factor in determining income? /2

Answer 18

no formal education = difficult to get well-paying job and advance in the workplace

people with advanced degrees earn the most money

Question 19

Among the indigenous population in Canada, how many (%) completed high school?

Answer 19

less than 50% (48.4%)

Question 20

Why does the Indigenous population suffer the most, finding themselves in prison, according to sociologists? /3

Answer 20

poverty

history of colonialism

lingering effects of the residential school system

Question 21

What are pluralistic minorities? /4

Answer 21

groups that enter into an area voluntarily

seek to maintain their own culture, but want to integrate with the dominant group as well

hope to keep their cultural ties while participating in the political and economic system of the new society

one of the main factors of immigration in Canada

ex. Sri Lankan community in Montreal

Question 22

What will pluralistic minorities do to keep their culture while integrating in the dominant group? /3

Answer 22

speak their own languages

practice their own religions

eat traditional foods

Question 23

What are assimilationist minorities? /2

Answer 23

seek to give up their cultural traditions and integrate themselves into society

groups who most closely resemble the dominant group (racially or ethnically) are able to do this more easily

ex. German immigrants after WWI

Question 24

What are secessionist minorities? /5

Answer 24

groups that voluntarily decide to separate themselves from the dominant group

do not seek assimilation or cultural unification

view the dominant group with disdain, believing it will corrupt their belief system

maintain a strict distance from the rest of society

great deal of their life is exactly as it was 100 years ago, taught in their own cultural institutions

ex. Mennonites in Ontario

Question 25

Is Quebec a secessionist minority [province] in Canada? /4

Answer 25

YES

supporters of Quebec sovereignty point to the unique culture

the French-speaking majority in the province

both rationales for Quebec having the status of a distinct society

Question 26

What is militant minorities? /2

Answer 26

seek to oppose or overthrow the existing system, which they see is unjust

react to their subordination through militancy

ex. Oka Crisis of 1990

Question 27

How is the Oka crisis a militant minority? /4

Answer 27

began when the town of Oka announced the expansion of a golf course that would cover Mohawk burial grounds

Mohawk protesters vs. the police and the army

78 day stand-off

irresponsible commands and prejudice among the police