Racial and Ethnic Minorities In The United States Midterm Examination
The following exam lists 3 sets of questions. Pick either an “a” or a “b” in each numbered set.
Usually, 1-2 pages of single-spaced writing is enough to cover an answer. We will not read a third
page for any answer, so be concise in your comprehensiveness! Please staple each answer
SEPARATELY and then paper clip your exam together. Make sure your name is on each page of
the exam. These are due on Friday (3/1) by NOON in Dr. Pitt’s mailbox (in Garland 201).
1a) If you were sitting at dinner with your family and they insisted that racial and ethnic inequality in the
United States came primarily from individual bigotry, how would you convince them of the structural and
institutional bases of racial and ethnic inequality? A strong answer will incorporate a social institution
(e.g., schools, employment, the media, the justice system) and explain how that institution contributes to
the maintenance of racial and ethnic inequality.
1b) In the last census, Latinos overtook Blacks as the largest U.S. minority (15%). By 2050, U.S.
minorities are projected to be 47-51% of the population, and much of this growth will come through
Latino growth (25-27%). Basing your answer on the class lectures and discussions, hypothesize about
what may happen to stop this from occurring. A strong answer will incorporate our discussions about
assimilation, colonization theories, and minority/majority identity development.
2a) Choose a competitive relationship between two distinct ETHNIC groups (e.g., African-Americans and
Korean-Americans, Italian-Americans and Hispanics) as a case study and demonstrate how ethnic
antagonism has developed between these two groups. Don’t spend all of your time doing research, but we
will expect you to come up with specific examples of contact, competition, or other theoretically-relevant
aspects of this relationship. A strong answer will use at least two theories of race and ethnic relations.
2b) As mayor, you are becoming more and more concerned with the rise in tension between racial groups
in within your city. Given your knowledge of the root causes of ethnic antagonism, what would be a
possible (theoretically-derived) CAUSE for these tensions and some possible (theoretically-workable!)
SOLUTIONS or policy implications that could help your city? A strong answer will include at least three
of (but not only) the following ideas: pressure power, all-weather liberal, amalgamation, forced
assimilation, enclaves, niche overlaps, de facto, competitive resources, ideology of bounded racial change,
psychological discrimination, timid bigotry, hyphenation, or forced assimilation.
3a). The Supreme Court is about to revisit whether or not the University of Texas can use race as a
variable in their admissions decisions. Such decisions inadvertently mean that “less qualified” (not
“unqualified”) non-White students will be admitted instead of their “more qualified” White peers. What
would contact theory and status expectations states theory say will happen when those students meet each
other in UT’s dorm rooms and class rooms? A strong answer will outline the process(es) that status has in
the perpetuation of racism, discuss how contact is expected to overcome any problems, and give some
examples of how this might work if students know the school uses affirmative action.
3b). Imagine you were sitting at a table with some close friends and they asserted that racism has ended.
Write an email that is intended to prove to them that racism is still prevalent in American society and that
there are sociological explanations for their belief that racism is dead? A strong answer will incorporate
our discussions on ideological racism, institutional discrimination, and social psychological theories,
without leaving your friends offended!