race relations midterm Flashcards
Races
Categories of humankind with shared physical or social qualities.
Blacks and Whites
Terms used to describe people of African descent (Black) and European descent (White).
Racial Hierarchy
A system of ranking races in a way that produces unequal power, privilege, and social status among different groups.
Natural Selection
The process through which species adapt to their environment; used in social contexts to justify social hierarchies and inequalities.
Cultural Selection
The process by which certain cultural traits become more common within a society.
Indentured Servitude
A labor system where people paid for their passage to the New World with years of labor.
Slavery
A system where individuals are owned by others, deprived of personal freedoms, and forced to work.
Political Ideals
Beliefs about the best forms of government and ways to organize society.
Natural Outcome
A result that occurs without human intervention, often used to justify social phenomena.
Natural Antipathy
An inherent dislike or opposition, often used to justify racial prejudices.
Bacon’s Rebellion
A 1676 rebellion in Virginia, highlighting tensions between frontiersmen and Native American policies of the colonial government.
White Privilege
The societal privileges that benefit White people beyond what is commonly experienced by non-White people.
Folk Beliefs
Traditional beliefs held by a group of people, often passed down through generations.
Ahistorical Fallacy
The incorrect belief that historical context does not impact the present.
Racialization
The process by which racial meanings are attached to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice, or group.
Racial Formations
The sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed.
Racializing
The act of imposing a racial interpretation on something.
Racialized
Being assigned a racial identity by society.
Sharecropping
A system where tenants farm land owned by others and pay rent with a portion of the crops.
Convict Leasing
A system where prisoners were leased to private parties for labor.
Jim Crow Segregation
Laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Landmark U.S. legislation outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Multiracials
Individuals of mixed racial heritage.
Language Loss
The process by which a community loses its native language.
Economic Mobility
The ability of an individual or family to improve their economic status.
Intermarriage Rates
Statistics on marriages between individuals of different racial or ethnic backgrounds.
One-Drop Rule
The historical social classification in the U.S. that any person with even one ancestor of Black ancestry is considered Black.
Hypodescent
The practice of classifying a child of mixed race ancestry into the more socially subordinate parent group.
Outsiders’ Ascriptions
The labels and identities imposed on individuals by those outside their group.
Latino Threat Narrative
The depiction of Latino immigrants as a threat to American culture and society.
Durable Ethnicity
The persistence of ethnic identities over time and generations.
Reactive Ethnicity
The intensification of ethnic identity in response to perceived threats.
BIPOC
An acronym for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Electorate
All the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election.
Honorary White
Non-White groups who are granted some privileges of Whiteness.
Collective Blacks
Groups of people who share a common Black identity and experience.
White Immunity
The phenomenon where White individuals are less likely to face consequences for certain actions compared to non-White individuals.
Reconstruction
The period following the American Civil War (1865-1877) aimed to rebuild the Southern states and integrate formerly enslaved people into society. It involved significant political and social changes but ultimately faced strong resistance, leading to the establishment of Jim Crow laws.
Jim Crow Era
A period of racial segregation laws in the United States, primarily in the South, from the late 19th century until the civil rights movement of the 1960s. These laws enforced racial discrimination and disenfranchisement of African Americans.
Nordics
This refers to people from Northern Europe, particularly those of Scandinavian descent, who were often associated with ideas of racial superiority in the early 20th century, especially in discussions of eugenics and immigration policy.
“Slide into Whiteness”
A concept describing the process by which individuals or groups, often of mixed racial heritage, gain social acceptance and privileges associated with being perceived as white, thereby distancing themselves from their non-white ancestry.
Blackface
A theatrical practice where white performers darkened their skin to caricature and stereotype Black people, perpetuating racist imagery and attitudes. It became prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Human Genome Project
An international scientific research initiative aimed at mapping and understanding all the genes of the human species. Completed in the early 2000s, it has implications for genetics, medicine, and our understanding of human diversity.
Black Exceptionalism
The idea is that specific individuals or groups within the Black community stand out or achieve success in ways that contrast with broader systemic issues affecting the larger community. It often serves to obscure or downplay structural inequalities.
