Americans are more likely to be considered black and less likely to be viewed as white after experiencing decreases in
social standing such as becoming unemployed, impoverished, or living in the inner city, according to Stanford
sociologist Aliya Saperstein. If someone's status increases. the opposite is true - that person is more likely to be seen as
white. It turns out these changes in racial categorization occur somewhat differently for men than women.
Saperstein draws on a survey of 12,686 young men and women tracked throughout their adult lives, beginning in 1979.
Every year, survey interviewers met with each person. At the end of the interview, they racially classified the respondent
as black, white, or other. Surprisingly, the interviewer's racial classification didn't always match the way the person self-
identified. What's more. it didn't always match the way the same interviewer had classified that same person in a
previous year.
Saperstein wondered what explained the changes. She hypothesized that interviewers were drawing on racial
stereotypes to make their classifications. The key is that the classifications occurred at the end of the interview, not the
beginning. "We do not have their first impression of the respondent's race. Instead we have a classification shaped by
the respondent's answers during the survey interview. This matters because the interviewer heard a range of
information about the respondent, from their income and education to their employment and marital history, prior to
recording the person's race." So, if people are told someone is a doctor, they might categorize her as white.
Alternatively. upon receiving information that this same person is a hotel housekeeper, they might categorize her race
differently.
Saperstein and Penner also wanted to know if the effects of social status cues on racial classification were stronger for
women or men. or if different sets of factors mattered depending on the gender of the person being racially classified. It
was found that some status cues work similarly for both men and women. For example. regardless of gender. people
are more likely to be seen as white if married or living in the suburbs, and are less likely to be seen as white if living in
the inner city.
Other status cues are stronger for one gender or the other. For example, poor women are more likely to be seen as
non-white, but poverty has an even stronger effect for men. In other words, poverty decreases men's odds of being
classified as white more than it decreases women's odds of being classified as white. This finding matches traditional
expectations that white men will be breadwinners.
Other stereotypes are deeply rooted in both race and gender. "Pervasive stereotypes of black men in the United States
portray them as... prone to violence and criminal behavior," Saperstein said. "Black women, on the other hand, are
widely perceived as single mothers... undeserving of government benefits."
Accordingly, receiving welfare reduces the odds of a woman being classified as white, but doesn't matter for men.
Prison time reduces the odds of a man being classified as white, but doesn't matter for women
Saperstein's and Penner's findings don't simply shed light on stereotypes. They also show how stereotypes are
recreated and help to reinforce inequality.
In other words, stereotypes based on race and gender are self-fulfilling prophecies. Because race can be "read" onto
people, when we witness behavior that has stereotypical associations with a particular race, it literally colors how we
view them. If we see a single mother, we are less likely to see her as white.
Saperstein hopes that her research will raise awareness of the ways that racial stereotypes are perpetuated. If people
recognize that they are basing their judgments on stereotypes, then they can work consciously to rethink their
assumptions about race
10. Saperstein's intersectional analysis of how gender
.
shapes race suggests which of the following
conclusions?
(a) A move to the suburbs may improve one's
status to the point of being seen as white.
(b) Poor men are more likely to be seen as black.
(c) Being poor decreases the likelihood of a woman
being classified as non-white.
(d) Serving time in prison increases the likelihood of
a man being classified as black.
(e) Single mothers are more likely to be seen as
black.
(f) Receiving welfare increases the likelihood of a
woman being perceived as non-white.
(A) a, b, c and e (B) b, d, e andf
(C) b, c and d (D) c, d, e and f
.
11 Which of the following statements can be inferred
from the passage?
(a) In the context in which it appears, "colours"
most nearly means "enhances".
(b) The purpose of the last sentence of the
passage is to explain how racial stereotypes
become self-fulfilling prophecies.
(c) Saperstein's criticism of the survey's racial
classification is best represented by the view
that the classification is based on questionable
racial assumptions.
(d) Saperstein's research suggests that social
status can change the way we see a person's
race.
(A) b and d (B) a and d
(C) b and c (D) c and d
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