CCAS 101 Quiz

These flashcards cover key concepts related to personal and social identity, citizenship laws, racial dynamics, and related sociopolitical narratives as discussed in the lecture.

What does personal identity consist of?

Psychological traits and dispositions that give personal uniqueness, derived from intrapsychic and socialized influences; includes aspects such as values, beliefs, memories, and experiences that shape how individuals perceive themselves and relate to others; this is much more stable and coherent over time than social identity

(i.e. I am a singer, artists, writer, etc.)

How is social identity defined?

Aspects of self-identity deriving from knowledge of being a member of categories and groups, with emotional significance attached.

(i.e. race, age, social class, gender, sexual orientation, religion)

What is Chicano social identity?

Person of Mexican descent living in the US, emphasizing pride in Mexican culture and activism. By using the label, you show that you understand the need for activism and are conscious of the history of discrimination

What are social categorizations?

Where we meet people and put a label (category) or boxes; “Nationality, language, race, or ethnicity, skin color, or any other social or physical characteristics that are meaningful in a particular social context…” (Hurtado, p. 331)

What is a social comparison?

The act of comparing one's social group with others in society; “Once individuals are categorized, they naturally tend to compare their groups with others” (Hurtado, p. 331)

What is psychological work in the context of stigmatized identities?

The process of navigating and healing from stigmatized identities, which may involve finding pride or 'passing'. “ ...both cognitive and emotional work… to achieve a positive sense of distinctiveness… feeling good about the groups into which individuals have been categorized and is activated by the discomfort that follows being categorized into devalued groups” (Hurtado, p. 131-132)

What is unrestricted birthplace-based citizenship (jus soli)?

Anyone born within the states territory is a citizen at birth regardless of the parents citizenship or immigration status

What is restricted birthplace-based citizenship (jus soli)?

Anyone born within the state’s territory is a citizen at birth; restrictions apply based on parents citizenship or immigration status

What is unrestricted ancestry-based citizenship (jus sanguinis)?

Anyone born to citizen parents is a citizen at birth; no restriction on how many generations citizenship can be passed down

What is restricted ancestry-based citizenship (jus sanguinis)?

Anyone born to citizen parents is a citizen at birth; restrictions apply based on the citizenship of parents or grandparents.

What is the definition of U.S. birthright citizenship?

The U.S. has a combination of unrestricted (jus soli) and restricted (jus sanguinis) citizenship; if born in the U.S. you are a citizen at birth regardless of your parents' citizenship status as per the 14th amendment

Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship: Presidential Action January 20, 2025.  What are its main provisions? 

A removal or prevention of US citizenship based on the following scenarios:

● when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, 

● when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.

What is the basic ruling of the Dred Scott case?

The Dred Scott case ruled that African Americans could not be considered U.S. citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court; “Dred Scott was invalidated after the Civil War by the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which declared that “All persons born . . . in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be citizens of the United States.” 

Native Americans and citizenship

Natives were denied citizenship until 1924; even with the ratification of the 14th amendment (1866), Natives were excluded on the argument they lived in tribal communities and weren’t under the U.S.’s jurisdiction; Snyder Act (1924) granted Natives the right to citizenship and would later gain the right to vote in 1965, as part of the Voting Rights Act

What was the ruling in Wong Kim Ark v. U.S.?

Wong Kim Ark v. U.S (1898): U.S. born citizen, denied entry after visiting China, claiming that he wasn’t a citizen (because his parents were Chinese immigrants); Established that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen regardless of their parents' national status.

What is the status of Trump’s executive action on birthright citizenship?

As of now it has been blocked in federal courts with temporary restraining orders until cases are fully adjudicated; Appealed to the Supreme Court on March 15

White By Law Book:  What were main points of book discussed in lecture?

Argues that Law constructs race at every level; Law as a formal matter directly engages with racial definitions; Much of race has been created by congress, laws that are passed, and by judges that hear cases and make rulings on these cases; Laws shape the social meanings that surround races and create social categories while also assigning meaning to these categories

Racial Pre-requisite cases

• Dred Scott (1857) - ruled that Black people were not citizens by striking any referenceof race from the naturalization statute

• Ah Yup Case (1878) - decision in federal district court in CA, used common knowledge to justify denying citizenship to Chinese applicant due to “common knowledge” understanding of a white person

• Ozawa v. United States (1922) - the court relied on both rationales to excllude a Japanese petitioner, using both common knolwedge and believed “science”

Race as social construction is…

not a fixed or natural category, social construct shaped by historical and legal forces; maintained & created by law; “Critical race theory increasingly acknowledges the extent to which race is not an independent given on which the law acts, but rather a social construction at least in part fashioned by law” (Haney-Lopez, 2006, pg. 9)

Bhagat Singh Thind case (1923)

Born in India and immigrated to US in 1913 → part of wave of Asian Indian immigrants who were classified as “caucasian,” which became central to Thind’s argument for naturalization; District court ruled in favor of Thind, granting naturalization but was later appealed to Supreme Court who reversed his naturalization and declared that being caucasian is not the same as being “white”; dismissed race theories based on language and physical features, notably criticizing the term "Caucasian" as being scientifically manipulated

Common Knowledge rationale

• Appealed to popular, widely held conceptions of races and racial divisions.”(4)

  • The common knowledge test was used to see how a person views the white population and their general idea, while the scientific test was about comparing physical features such as skin color and facial features.

  • The Ah Yup court denied citizenship to a Chinese applicant because of his understanding of the “white person”

  • Immigrants were given tests to see if they blended into the customs of a “white” American

Scientific Knowledge rationale

The scientific test was about comparing physical features such as skin color and face features; justified racial deviations by reference to the naturalistic studies of humankind

What is colorblindness defined?

Portrayed as a good thing but minimizes the inequality as unimportant; in the end, the use of colorblindness helps white dominance helps white people because saying there’s no color says all are marginalizeded

What is the meaning of racial formation according to Omi and Winant?

The sociohistorical process by which racial identities are created, lived out, transformed, and destroyed.

What is redlining?

redlining is a practice that reinforces racial inequalities; it was used to create racially restrictive housing covenants and deny credit, loans, or insurance, based solely on race; comes from the red lines that real estate lenders on maps to seperate neighborhoods by race

What are the ways in which maps were classified:

• Green (Type A): Wealthy, white neighborhoods are considered most desirable.

• Blue (Type B): Predominantly white suburban areas with minimal racial mixing, still seen as desirable.

• Yellow (Type C): Racially mixed areas labeled as “declining” and considered risky investments.

• Red (Type D): Neighborhoods primarily made up of Latinos, Asians, Black people, Jews, and Italians, deemed the highest risk and least desirable.  

What does the term 'colorblindness' imply in racial discussions?

The omission of racial considerations, minimizing the significance of racial inequalities.

What are racial projects?

Simultaneous interpretations, representations, or explanations of racial dynamics, aiming to reorganize resources along racial lines.

(i.e. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is a prime example of a Racial Project)

What is a racist project?

a structural, systematic racial inequality that perpetuates discrimination and unequal access to resources based on race

what is a racial dictatorship?

the norm against which all U.S. politics must be measured; it’s a system where one racial group dominates the political, ecpnomic, and social power in a society while other racial groups are excluded, oppressed, or denied rights; in this system, race determines who has power and who doesn’t

What is hegemony (domination) as defined in the lecture?

Rule by coercion and consent; a form of social control that maintains racial disparities.

What is the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

In February 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which resulted in them receiving 15 million dollars in exchange for half of Mexican territory; California, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas; U.S. took over half a million square miles from; 60,000 Mexicans living in New Mexico in 1848; Included Arizona, parts of Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming

What was the significance of the Snyder Act of 1924?

Granted citizenship rights to Native Americans, but did not automatically confer voting rights.

How are Mexicans categorized as 'off-white'?

An in-between racial group used as a wedge group to reinforce white supremacy while distancing from non-white groups.

Citizenship and Article IX

“The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall no preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the employment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their religion without restriction.”

Pablo de la Guerra case

The court ruled in favor of de la Guerra, upholding his right to hold public office as a naturalized American citizen and affirming the rights of naturalized citizens in California.

Property and Article X

The omitted Article X, had comprehensive guarantees protecting “all prior and pending titles to property of every description.” All grants of land made by the Mexican government or by the competent authorities, in territories previously appertaining to  Mexico, and remaining for the future within the limits of the United States, shall be respected as valid, to the same extent that the same grants would be valid, if the said territories had remained within the limits of Mexico.

• Deleted by the US senate 

• Deprive Mexicans of their land

CA Constitution of 1849 and Mexican voting right

1849: Debate at CA constitutional convention over whether former Mexican citizens (under Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo) could vote regardless of race; Six Californio delegates pushed to protect elite status; concerns about racial discrimination against darker-skinned Mexicans; Result: Right to vote extended only to "white male citizens" of Mexico who chose U.S. citizenship; Indians and Black people were excluded but could possibly gain voting rights later by 2/3 legislative vote (Art. II, Sec. 1).

Laura Gomez article: Mexicans as “offwhite” and racial wedge group

The article by Laura Gomez examines the classification of Mexicans as an "offwhite" racial category, highlighting how this status has historically positioned them as a wedge group in racial discourse and its implications for social identity and citizenship; because of their status, Mexicans often sough to distance themselves from non-white groups; Pueblo Indians were meanswhile excluded from citizenship but puzzles Europeans as they were at times very much intergrated with Mexican communities

Main points of guest lecture: Jose Serrano

citizenship - legal ways to obtain citizenship; Even asylum seekers and refugees are at risk for deportation; pertaining to immigration age of 21 and up is considered being an adult; Crime sentencing is harsher for immigrants; Crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT) make any applicant applying for citizenship immediately ineligible and deportable.

What are some “push” elements for immigration?

Push elements for immigration include economic hardship, political instability, violence, and lack of opportunities in the home country. These factors drive individuals to seek better living conditions and prospects elsewhere

What are some “pull” elements for immigration?

Pull elements for immigration include better job opportunities, political stability, availability of social services, and the presence of family or community networks in the destination country, which attract individuals seeking improved living conditions.

What is the Latino Threat Narrative?

Discourse portraying Latinos (immigrants or U.S.-born) as a danger to the U.S.; Dehumanizes Latinos, leading to less public sympathy; Claims Latinos are unwilling/incapable of assimilating and are seen as an invading force threatening the American way of life (Chavez, 2013).

What is a media spectacle?

Dramatized event spread by news and social media to push specific narratives; Often based on exaggerations and lies; Immigration issues like border control and assimilation fears are common media spectacle topics (Chavez, 2013)