Race and Biology
This 18th-century scientist classified humans into racial categories based on physical traits in Systema Naturae.
Carl Linnaeus
This court case was the first to use science-based racial categories to determine U.S. citizenship.
Ah Yup
This belief claims racial hierarchies are rooted in biology and supported by flawed scientific methods.
Scientific Racism
What was the goal of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study?
To observe the natural progression of untreated syphilis in Black men without treating them.
Define personally-mediated racism with an example.
Individual prejudice or discrimination; e.g., being followed in a store as they are suspected of shoplifting
This theory, central to eugenics, falsely claims intelligence and character traits are inherited biologically.
Hereditarianism / Eugenics
This legal concept classified individuals as Black if they had even “one drop” of African ancestry.
The One-Drop Rule
Eugenic sterilization programs in the U.S. primarily targeted which group?
Poor White people
What assumption did researchers make about Black men in the Tuskegee study?
That they were too promiscuous and would not seek treatment even if available.
What is internalized racism? Give an example.
When a person believes negative societal messages about their own group; e.g., using skin lightening products.
Despite sharing the same gene variant, African Americans in the U.S. show higher hypertension risk than Africans. Why is that?
Genetics alone do not completely account for differences in health outcomes; environmental and social factors are key.
Which Supreme Court case denied citizenship to someone from India, despite being “Caucasian” by anthropological terms?
Bhagat Singh Thind
What role did Charles Davenport play in advancing scientific racism and eugenics policy?
He promoted negative stereotypes about immigrants and influenced sterilization and immigration laws based on eugenic ideas.
What unethical medical experiments did the U.S. conduct in Guatemala in the 1940s?
Infected prisoners and mental patients with venereal diseases without their consent.
What is institutionalized racism? Give an example.
Policies or practices that disproportionately disadvantage certain racial groups; e.g., unequal funding and resources for historically marginalized communities
The Human Genome Project found that all humans are ___% genetically identical.
99.9%
How has the U.S. Census' racial classification system evolved over time?
Racial categories reflect shifting social and political definitions and rules used by the government.
What is a key contradiction Dorothy Roberts identifies in the scientific use of race?
That science uses race despite denying it has biological basis, creating inconsistency and confusion.
What does the Hispanic Paradox refer to?
The phenomenon that recent immigrants from Latin America often have better health than White Americans despite lower socioeconomic status.
What does it mean to say that racism is "prejudice plus power"?
Racism involves both individual bias and systemic control to uphold unequal racial hierarchies.
Explain why the concept of biological race fails to account for observed health disparities.
Because race is a social construct, health disparities arise more from structural inequalities, access to care, and stress, not from genetic racial differences.
What law in Virginia required racial classification at birth and criminalized interracial marriage?
The Racial Integrity Act of 1924
Why is labeling certain studies as “pseudo-science” misleading, according to Roberts?
Because such studies often reflect mainstream scientific thinking of their time.
What does Millett et al. argue improves equity in health outcomes?
Equity in access and delivery of health care, as seen in nationalized systems like those in the UK and Canada.
What is the advantage of defining racism as a structured system of opportunity and value assignment?
It reveals the broader systemic nature of racism and helps connect individual experiences to institutional structures.