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Quizzes > Society & Culture

Ethnicity quiz: race and culture in 15 quick questions

Quick, free race and ethnicity quiz to test your knowledge. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Hannah PangapalanUpdated Aug 28, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper cutout art showing diverse faces and abstract shapes around 15-question quiz title on dark blue background

This race and ethnicity quiz helps you check what you know about identity, culture, and key terms. Use it to review for class, spot gaps, and learn as you go. For more practice, try the ethnicity knowledge quiz, explore a civil rights act quiz, or test a lighter angle with guess my ethnicity.

What is the primary way social scientists define race?
A biological taxonomy based on genetics.
A social construct based on perceived physical differences.
A legal category determined by citizenship.
A spiritual classification of individuals.
Social scientists define race as a social construct based on perceived physical differences rather than a scientifically fixed category. It reflects how societies categorize people, often to rationalize inequalities. Race categories vary across time and place, showing their fluidity and social origins.
What best describes ethnicity?
A genetic trait passed through families.
A legal status granted by the state.
A group identity based on shared culture, history, language or religion.
A category determined solely by skin color.
Ethnicity encompasses shared cultural traditions, language, religion, and historical experiences that form a group identity. It differs from race, which focuses on perceived physical traits. Ethnic bonds often include practices and symbols passed through generations.
Which of the following is a racial category used by the US Census?
Southern European
African American or Black
Middle Eastern
Latino
The US Census includes categories like Black or African American to capture self-identified race. Other official racial categories are White, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native. These categories are used to monitor demographic trends and enforce civil rights laws.
What best distinguishes race from ethnicity?
Both terms are interchangeable.
Race is about cultural background while ethnicity is about physical traits.
Race is a social construct linked to physical traits; ethnicity refers to cultural affiliation.
Ethnicity is determined by law; race is inherited genetically.
Race is commonly understood as a social construct associated with physical characteristics, whereas ethnicity involves shared cultural heritage, language, and traditions. Although they overlap in identity discussions, they address different aspects of group membership. Recognizing this distinction helps clarify discussions about diversity and inclusion.
The concept of "white privilege" refers to:
A formal government program benefiting only white citizens.
Unearned social and institutional advantages granted to white individuals.
The idea that white people have an inherent genetic advantage.
Economic subsidies exclusive to white neighborhoods.
White privilege describes the systemic advantages and unearned benefits white people experience due to their race. It manifests in areas like education, employment, housing, and interactions with law enforcement. Understanding this concept highlights how societal structures advantage some groups over others.
Intersectionality best describes:
The study of cross-cultural communication.
The interconnected nature of social categorizations like race, gender, and class.
A historical period of racial integration.
A theory that focuses only on race over other identities.
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how multiple social identities (e.g., race, gender, class) overlap and intersect, creating unique experiences of discrimination or privilege. Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, it emphasizes that identities cannot be examined in isolation.
What is a microaggression?
A subtle, often unintentional, expression of prejudice.
A legally sanctioned act of discrimination.
A small-scale, deliberate hate crime.
A formal policy of segregation.
Microaggressions are everyday verbal or nonverbal slights and insults, intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile or derogatory messages to marginalized individuals. They can accumulate over time and negatively affect mental health.
Cultural identity refers to a person's sense of belonging to a group based on:
Shared cultural traits like language, traditions, and beliefs.
Income level.
Nationality exclusively.
Physical appearance only.
Cultural identity arises from the traditions, language, values, and beliefs that individuals share with a particular group. It shapes self-perception and social connections. Cultural identity can encompass national, ethnic, and linguistic affiliations.
Cultural appropriation involves:
Government regulation of cultural expressions.
Dominant groups adopting elements of marginalized cultures without understanding or respect.
The respectful exchange of cultural practices with permission.
The blending of two cultures equally.
Cultural appropriation occurs when members of a dominant culture adopt cultural elements from marginalized groups without context, respect, or reciprocity, reinforcing power imbalances. It often strips traditions of their original meaning.
The "one-drop rule" historically in the US meant:
People of mixed European heritage were always considered white.
Single-drop vaccines prevented diseases.
Anyone with any African ancestry was classified as Black.
Individuals could choose their racial identity freely.
The one-drop rule held that any person with even one ancestor of African descent was legally classified as Black, reflecting strict racial hierarchies and segregation laws.
Colorblind ideology in race discourse refers to:
A medical condition.
Ignoring race in an attempt to treat everyone equally.
Emphasizing racial categories for equality.
A political movement advocating for racial segregation.
Colorblind ideology suggests that ignoring racial differences will promote equality, but it can obscure systemic racism and invalidate the experiences of marginalized groups.
Which scholar argued that race is a social construct rather than a biological reality?
Ian F. Haney López
Audre Lorde
Charles Darwin
W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois challenged biological notions of race and emphasized that racial categories are created by social and historical processes rather than genetics.
The Black Lives Matter movement began primarily in response to:
Corporate environmental policies.
Economic inequality in rural areas.
International conflicts.
Police killings of unarmed Black individuals.
Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013 after George Zimmerman's acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin, focusing on police violence and systemic racism against Black communities.
The "model minority" stereotype is most often applied to which group in the US?
African Americans
Asian Americans
Native Americans
Latino Americans
The "model minority" stereotype portrays Asian Americans as successful and hardworking, which can mask the diversity of experiences within the community and obscure challenges they face.
The term "racialization" refers to:
Assigning social meaning and significance to perceived racial differences.
Government census procedures.
The process of granting equal rights to all races.
The biological evolution of races.
Racialization is the social process by which certain groups are ascribed racial identities and meanings, affecting how they are perceived and treated in society.
Panethnicity refers to:
Moving from multiple ethnicities to a singular identity.
Grouping diverse ethnic groups under one umbrella identity.
The fear of other cultures.
Exclusive focus on national borders.
Panethnicity denotes the merging of multiple related but distinct ethnic groups into a broader collective identity, such as Asian American or Latino.
Which term refers to systemic policies and practices that produce racial inequality?
Cultural appropriation
Personal racism
Color-blind racism
Structural racism
Structural racism describes the macro-level systems and institutional policies that perpetuate racial inequalities across society, beyond individual acts of prejudice.
According to Allport's contact hypothesis, intergroup contact reduces prejudice when:
Groups compete for resources.
Groups have segregated settings.
There is equal status, common goals, cooperation, and support of authorities.
Contact is brief and unstructured.
Allport's contact hypothesis asserts that positive intergroup contact under conditions of equal status, shared goals, cooperation, and institutional support can reduce prejudice.
In Canada, which term is used in the census to refer to populations visible by race/national origin?
Indigenous peoples
Visible minorities
Ethnocultural communities
Racialized group
Statistics Canada uses the term "visible minorities" to categorize non-Indigenous individuals who are non-white in appearance, reflecting a different approach than the US census.
"Racecraft" as introduced by Karen and Barbara Fields critiques:
Government policies on racial quotas.
The idea that race is solely determined by DNA.
The mystification of social racism into an illusion of natural biological differences.
The use of race in craft-making.
"Racecraft" examines how the concept of race obscures the real social processes of racism and naturalizes racial categories as biological realities.
Segmented assimilation theory predicts:
All immigrants assimilate into the mainstream uniformly.
Assimilation leads to the erasure of ethnic identity.
Different immigrant groups assimilate into various socioeconomic segments.
Economic mobility is solely based on age at arrival.
Segmented assimilation theory posits that immigrants experience differing paths of integration, leading some to integrate into middle-class norms, others to marginalized communities, and still others to maintain ethnic enclaves.
Which index is commonly used to measure residential racial segregation?
Human Development Index
Dissimilarity index
Consumer Price Index
Gini coefficient
The dissimilarity index quantifies how evenly two groups are distributed across neighborhoods, making it a standard measure of residential segregation.
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is designed to measure:
Explicit beliefs about race.
Automatic, unconscious associations between concepts.
Demographic trends.
Genetic ancestry.
The IAT reveals automatic, unconscious biases by measuring reaction times when pairing concepts (e.g., race) with positive or negative attributes. It highlights implicit attitudes that may differ from conscious beliefs.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 primarily abolished:
Employment-based immigration.
Family reunification visas.
National origins quota system.
Refugee admissions.
The 1965 Act ended the national origins quota system, replacing it with a preference system emphasizing family reunification and skilled immigrants, greatly diversifying U.S. immigration.
In critical race theory, Derrick Bell's principle of "interest convergence" posits that:
Economic factors are unrelated to racial reform.
Racial justice advances only when it aligns with white interests.
All racial progress benefits all groups equally.
Civil rights laws apply solely based on individual merit.
Interest convergence theory argues that major civil rights gains occur only when they serve the interests of the dominant white group, revealing how power dynamics shape the pace and scope of racial justice.
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Study Outcomes

  1. Understand Key Concepts -

    Clarify the definitions of race and ethnicity and distinguish between these foundational concepts.

  2. Differentiate Cultural Identity -

    Recognize how cultural practices, language, and heritage shape individual and group identities.

  3. Analyze Historical Context -

    Examine how historical events and social structures have influenced modern perceptions of race and ethnicity.

  4. Identify Stereotypes and Biases -

    Spot common misconceptions and implicit biases related to race and ethnicity to foster more inclusive thinking.

  5. Evaluate Diversity Concepts -

    Assess the importance of diversity and inclusion in various social and professional settings.

  6. Apply Insights to Real-World Scenarios -

    Use knowledge gained from the quiz to engage in respectful dialogue and informed decision-making on cultural identity issues.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Distinguishing Race and Ethnicity -

    Race typically refers to socially defined groupings based on physical characteristics, while ethnicity encompasses shared culture, language, and traditions (APA, 2020). A handy mnemonic is "RACE for your face, ETHNICITY for your identity" to recall the difference quickly. Mastering this distinction is foundational for any questions about race and ethnicity quiz or trivia.

  2. The Social Construction of Race -

    According to Omi and Winant's racial formation theory (2015, University of California Press), race is a fluid category created and transformed through social, economic, and political forces. Remember that race has no genetic or biological basis - this concept challenges many misconceptions in diversity quizzes. Understanding social construction helps you critically analyze quiz statements and avoid false assumptions.

  3. Historical Shifts in US Census Categories -

    Since 1790, the US Census has repeatedly updated its race and ethnicity categories, reflecting changing social attitudes and political pressures (US Census Bureau). For example, the "Hispanic" ethnicity was first introduced in 1980 to capture cultural identity across races. Reviewing these shifts equips you to contextualize questions about race and ethnicity trivia that reference census data.

  4. Intersectionality and Overlapping Identities -

    Coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989), intersectionality examines how race intersects with gender, class, and other identities to produce unique experiences of privilege or discrimination. In a cultural identity quiz, expect questions that explore how multiple social categories interact rather than acting in isolation. Keeping intersectionality in mind ensures a nuanced approach to each scenario presented.

  5. Measuring Ethnic Identity Development -

    Phinney's Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) is widely used in academic research to assess exploration and commitment to one's ethnicity (Phinney, 1992). A sample formula: Ethnic Identity Score = (Average Exploration Items) + (Average Commitment Items). Familiarity with MEIM helps when tackling diversity quiz questions that probe the stages of cultural identity formation.

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