Racial and Ethnic Politics Midterm Exam Review Sheet

What is racial essentialism?

Racial essentialism is the belief that race is biological and central to a person’s behavior, intellect, and other traits.

What is racial constructivism?

belief that the biological basis of racial difference is false; race is not intrinsic to human beings but an identity created by society that shifts and evolves over time.

How do race and ethnicity differ?

Race is a classification system to distinguish groups based on phenotypic characteristics, while ethnicity refers to association with cultural practices or national/regional attachments.

What is an example of scientific racism?

An example of scientific racism includes notions that different skull shapes are indicative of intellectual capacity, suggesting a white skull is 'human' while a Black skull is closer to an 'ape'.

What does miscegenation refer to?

Miscegenation refers to laws that banned interracial marriage.

What is racism?

A system of social, economic, and political advantage based on race, defined as prejudice plus institutional power. (Prejudice + Institutional Power = Racism)

How is discrimination defined?

An individual act that disadvantages a member of another group.

What are stereotypes?

beliefs or assumptions that all people in a specific group share certain characteristics solely because they are members of that group.

What is phenotype?

physical characteristics such as skin color, hair color and texture, and body shape.

What is prejudice?

Negative attitudes toward an individual or group based solely on their membership in a particular social group.

Why was Bacon’s Rebellion important?

it led to the creation of America's racial hierarchy as elites sought to prevent unity among poor whites and Black people.

Why were Africans preferred as slaves?

Because of being inexpensive and their unfamiliarity with the regional climate, combined with perceived religious justifications.

What did the term 'race' originally signify?

familial ties or kinship.

What was the one-drop rule?

A racial classification system that determined any person with even one ancestor of Black descent was considered Black, used to enforce segregation.

What white ethnic groups migrated to the U.S. in the early 1800s?

Irish and German immigrants

What area of the world did white ethnics emigrate from in the late 1800s

Eastern and Southern Europe

What did the Naturalization Act of 1790 establish?

only 'free white persons' could become naturalized U.S. citizens, systematically excluding Black and Indigenous people.

What factors contributed to white immigrants eventually being incorporated into white identity?

Military service in wars like WWII.

Economic mobility and access to homeownership.

Legal and social policies that prioritized European immigrants over non-white groups.  

What advantages did white Americans receive from the Homestead Act of 1862?

provided 160 acres of land to settlers, mostly benefiting white Americans while systematically excluding Black people and Indigenous groups.

The New Deal. How did it systematically exclude African Americans from its benefits?

Many New Deal programs (like Social Security and labor protections) excluded agricultural and domestic workers, jobs largely held by Black Americans.

Redlining and housing discrimination prevented Black families from benefiting from government-backed home loans.  

How did the G.I. Bill disadvantage African Americans?

Black veterans were often denied benefits like low-interest home loans and college tuition assistance.

Discriminatory housing policies (like redlining) prevented Black veterans from buying homes in desirable areas.

Many colleges excluded Black students, limiting their educational opportunities.

What was redlining?

discriminatory practice where banks and the government denied loans and housing to Black Americans by marking their neighborhoods as 'high-risk'.

Social Security Act. How did it systematically exclude African Americans

Initially excluded agricultural and domestic workers, which disproportionately affected Black workers.

Many Black Americans were left without retirement benefits or unemployment protections. 

What is Replacement Theory?

a racist conspiracy theory claiming that white populations are being 'replaced' by immigrants and non-white groups.

What was the significance of the Three-Fifths Compromise?

counted each enslaved person as 3/5 of a person for representation and taxation, giving more political power to slaveholding states.

What was the Fugitive Slave Clause?

required that any enslaved person who escaped to a free state be returned to their owner.

What were Slave Codes?

laws that limited the movement and agency of slaves, restricting activities like testifying in court and assembly.

What were the Black Codes?

post-Civil War laws aimed at restricting the rights of newly freed Black Americans, criminalizing vagrancy and unemployment.

What was the Reconstruction era?

the period after the Civil War aimed at integrating freed Black Americans into society.

What did the Thirteenth Amendment accomplish?

abolished slavery.

What did the Fourteenth Amendment establish?

granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.

What did the Fifteenth Amendment provide?

granted Black men the right to vote.

What did the Freedman's Bureau do?

provided food, education, and healthcare to formerly enslaved people and helped establish historically Black colleges.

What was the purpose of the Compromise of 1877?

ended Reconstruction, removing federal troops from the South and allowing Southern states to enforce racial segregation.

What was the purpose of lynching?

used to enforce racial hierarchy and white supremacy through public terror and violence.

What is convict leasing?

A practice where imprisoned Black people were leased to private businesses for forced labor.

What was the significance of Williams v. Mississippi?

made literacy tests and poll taxes constitutional, leading to the disenfranchisement of Black voters.

What was the significance of Dred Scott v. Sandford?

Ruled that Black Americans were not U.S. citizens and had no legal rights.

Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, expanding slavery.

What does Plessy v. Ferguson represent?

established the 'separate but equal' doctrine, legalizing racial segregation.

What was the significance of the Black church in civil rights organizing?

provided religious, economic, and political support, serving as a central institution for civil rights leadership and organizing.

What was the NAACP's strategy for achieving Black equality?

achieve Black equality through legal action and won significant court cases like Brown v. Board of Education.

What were the Black Panther Party's main advocacy points?

advocated for self-defense, healthcare, education, and economic justice, providing community services like breakfast programs.

What was the Black Power movement?

a shift toward Black self-determination and social, economic, and political empowerment.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Led by Martin Luther King Jr., composed of ministers and church groups.

Advocated for nonviolent protests and civil disobedience.  

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest in 1955.

Lasted over a year and led to a Supreme Court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional.

Launched Martin Luther King Jr. as a civil rights leader.  

What is respectability politics?

the belief that Black Americans must conform to white societal standards to gain civil rights.

What civil rights organization did Black Lives Matter model itself after?

Student Non-Violent Organization

What is the context of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia?

determined that Native Indians could not be forcibly removed from their ancestral land.

What was Worcester v. Georgia's ruling?

ruled that non-native Americans could not enter tribal lands.

What does the doctrine of discovery entail?

justified U.S. claims to Native lands based on European civilization and ownership beliefs.

What does the trust doctrine represent?

held that whites had a moral obligation to 'civilize' Native peoples, denying Indians' capacity to manage their lands.

What did the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 indicate?

granted citizenship only to those born after 1924, leaving many Native Americans without the right to vote.

What was the purpose of Indian boarding schools?

aimed to erase Native culture and enforce European cultural practices to assimilate Native children into American society.

What is Manifest Destiny?

the belief that American westward expansion was divinely sanctioned and inevitable.

What did the Indian Removal Act do?

authorized the removal of Native Americans from their lands to territories west of the Mississippi River.

What was the Trail of Tears?

the forced relocation of the Cherokee and other tribes, resulting in many deaths due to harsh conditions.

What is the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs?

manages relations between the U.S. government and Native tribes, historically involved in assimilation policies.

What was the Dawes Act of 1887?

exchanged Indian communal lands for individual plots with the promise of citizenship.

What occurred during the Wounded Knee Massacre?

involved the U.S. military killing approximately 300 Lakota tribe members amid attempts to suppress a Ghost Dance.

What was the Red Power Movement?

arose in the 1960s, promoting civil rights for Native Americans through protests and demands for equal treatment.

What strategies did the Red Power Movement employ?

Strategies included Fish-Ins, reshaping narratives of colonization, and occupations like Alcatraz and Wounded Knee.

Mexican American War

Initiated by President James K. Polk, leading to conflict between the U.S. and Mexico.

Resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), where Mexico ceded a large portion of its northern territory to the U.S.

Led to the U.S. annexing what is now the western portion of the continental United States.

What is a pan-ethnic identity

Classification is made up of many different ethnic groups that are grouped together. 

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Ended the Mexican-American War and resulted in the U.S. acquiring the western portion of the continental U.S.

The treaty promised U.S. citizenship to former Mexican citizens.

Many, particularly those of Native American descent, did not receive citizenship until 1924.

League of United American Citizens (LULAC)

focused on advancing the rights of Mexican Americans, particularly in education, voting rights, and combating discrimination. LULAC played a key role in challenging school segregation and advocating for Latino political representation.

What event led to the U.S. acquiring Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines?

The Spanish American War

United Farmworkers

Series of labor strikes and fasts to dramatize plight of Mexican American farm workers 

(25 day fast)

What is considered the largest Latino national origin group in the U.S.?

Mexican Americans

What does Juan Crow refer to?

laws and policies discriminating against Latinos, particularly in immigration and civil rights contexts.

Why is the Cuban immigration experience unique?

differed due to political refugee status and preferential treatment, especially after the Cuban Revolution.

What does Arizona Senate Bill 1070 entail?

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 required immigrants to carry documentation and allowed law enforcement to check immigration status, criticized for racial profiling.

Why do some Latinos vote for the Republican party?

due to opposition to Democratic policies and strong anti-communist sentiments, especially among Cuban refugees.

What region of the U.S. are most Mexican Americans populated?

Southwest

What region/city are most Puerto Rican Americans populated?

Northeast/New York

Where are most Cuban Americans populated in the U.S.?

Florida

What event motivate Cuban mass migration to U.S.?

Cuban Revolution (communism)

What are some other forms of participation utilized by the Latino community? 

Civil rights activism, including organizations like the Brown Berets and the Mexican American Legal and Educational Defense Fund (MALDEF).

Protests and strikes, particularly in the Chicana/o Movement, which fought against racism and cultural assimilation.

Community organizing and advocacy, focusing on education, labor rights, and social justice.

Policies that limit Spanish language use or restrict Latino voting rights are also considered Juan Crow tactics.

The term highlights systemic discrimination against Latinos in areas such as employment, education, and law enforcement.

When was the first mass migration of Chinese Americans?

the 1850s to the 1880s (Mid 19th century)

What fueled anti-Asian sentiment in the late 19th century?

Economic competition and racial discrimination

What was the Page Act of 1875?

the first restrictive immigration law targeting a specific group by barring Chinese women from entering the U.S.

What was significant about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?

the first law intended to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the U.S.

What was Executive Order 9066?

created internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II.

Discuss the natural of Japanese internment during World War II

Crowded, people that even had one drop of Japanese blood were forced to go

What does the term Yellow Peril refer to?

racist belief that Asian immigrants posed a threat to Western society.

What was the Immigration Act of 1924's impact on immigration from Asia?

halted immigration from Asia.

What was the effect of the Immigration Act of 1965 on Asians?

rapid increase in the Asian population in the United States.

What did the Asian American Political Alliance advocate for?

sought self-determination and liberation, focusing on anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist goals.

Which political party does the Asian community generally lean towards?

As a whole, the Asian community tends to lean Democratic.

What does the Model Minority Myth involve?

presents Asians as more educated and successful, which can inadvertently uphold stereotypes and ignore inequities.

Which racial and ethnic group is the fastest growing in the U.S.?

Latinos

Which ethnic group has the highest educational attainment in the U.S.?

Asians

Which racial group has the lowest rates of unemployment?

Blacks