CHAPTER 1 Race in the Twenty-First Century
MAIN POINTS
• Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy, the tokenistic
fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking about racism.
• Distinguish between institutional racism and interpersonal racism and understand how these
types of racism often interpenetrate and inform one another.
• Understand what is meant by symbolic violence and explain its significance for the
perpetuation of racial inequality.
• Understand how racism intersects with other forms of social division—those based on
gender, class, sexuality, religion, nationhood, and ability.
• Learn why race is a symbolic category and understand why there is no biological foundation
for race.
• Understand how whiteness is racial domination normalized, which produces and reproduces
many privileges for white people.
• Recognize how race and ethnicity are overlapping symbolic categories and explain why they
cannot be collapsed into one category.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the five fallacies or misconceptions about racism best describes this
example?
, “Your friend does not believe that racial segregation in schools is a problem today.
After all, she argues, the courts ruled segregated education unconstitutional many
decades ago.”
a. tokenistic fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
c. ahistorical fallacy
d. individualistic fallacy
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
2. Which of the five fallacies or misconceptions about racism best describes this
example?
“You read a newspaper article on changing racial attitudes declaring that young
adults ages eighteen to twenty-four are the least racist in American history. While
you hope this is true, you are worried that the research is using a static definition of
‘racism.’”
a. fixed fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
, c. tokenistic fallacy
d. individualistic fallacy
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
3. Sometimes speakers invoke examples of individuals—say, Madame C. J. Walker,
Oprah Winfrey, or Barack Obama—to suggest that if these individuals were able to
triumph over racial barriers, the path is clear for everyone. What type of fallacy best
describes such thinking?
a. fixed fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
c. ahistorical fallacy
d. tokenistic fallacy
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
, 4. One of the fundamental tenets of the _________________________ is that history
does not structure our experiences and that these experiences can either compound
as advantages—or privileges—or increase barriers to opportunities. What type of
fallacy best describes such thinking?
a. ahistorical fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
c. tokenistic fallacy
d. individualistic fallacy
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
5. Which of the following best summarizes the process by which systemic white
domination of people of color occurs?
a. racial domination
b. institutional racism
c. white privilege
d. symbolic violence
MAIN POINTS
• Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy, the tokenistic
fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking about racism.
• Distinguish between institutional racism and interpersonal racism and understand how these
types of racism often interpenetrate and inform one another.
• Understand what is meant by symbolic violence and explain its significance for the
perpetuation of racial inequality.
• Understand how racism intersects with other forms of social division—those based on
gender, class, sexuality, religion, nationhood, and ability.
• Learn why race is a symbolic category and understand why there is no biological foundation
for race.
• Understand how whiteness is racial domination normalized, which produces and reproduces
many privileges for white people.
• Recognize how race and ethnicity are overlapping symbolic categories and explain why they
cannot be collapsed into one category.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the five fallacies or misconceptions about racism best describes this
example?
, “Your friend does not believe that racial segregation in schools is a problem today.
After all, she argues, the courts ruled segregated education unconstitutional many
decades ago.”
a. tokenistic fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
c. ahistorical fallacy
d. individualistic fallacy
ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
2. Which of the five fallacies or misconceptions about racism best describes this
example?
“You read a newspaper article on changing racial attitudes declaring that young
adults ages eighteen to twenty-four are the least racist in American history. While
you hope this is true, you are worried that the research is using a static definition of
‘racism.’”
a. fixed fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
, c. tokenistic fallacy
d. individualistic fallacy
ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
3. Sometimes speakers invoke examples of individuals—say, Madame C. J. Walker,
Oprah Winfrey, or Barack Obama—to suggest that if these individuals were able to
triumph over racial barriers, the path is clear for everyone. What type of fallacy best
describes such thinking?
a. fixed fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
c. ahistorical fallacy
d. tokenistic fallacy
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
, 4. One of the fundamental tenets of the _________________________ is that history
does not structure our experiences and that these experiences can either compound
as advantages—or privileges—or increase barriers to opportunities. What type of
fallacy best describes such thinking?
a. ahistorical fallacy
b. legalistic fallacy
c. tokenistic fallacy
d. individualistic fallacy
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: American Racism in the Twenty-First
Century MSC: Remembering
OBJ: Explain why one should avoid the individualistic fallacy, the legalistic fallacy,
the tokenistic fallacy, the ahistorical fallacy, and the fixed fallacy, when thinking
about racism.
5. Which of the following best summarizes the process by which systemic white
domination of people of color occurs?
a. racial domination
b. institutional racism
c. white privilege
d. symbolic violence
