How White Are You Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Two neighborhoods have unequal access to safe parks. The city directs additional funding to the underserved neighborhood to address the gap. Which principle does this illustrate?
Equality, because every neighborhood receives the same resources regardless of circumstances
Equity, because resources are adjusted in response to different conditions and barriers
Assimilation, because one neighborhood is encouraged to resemble another
Color-blindness, because racial and historical patterns are excluded from consideration
2. What does the changing meaning of whiteness across countries and historical periods most strongly demonstrate?
Ancestry has no relationship at all to how people understand identity
Whiteness is determined entirely by an individual’s preferred cultural activities
Whiteness has always referred to one identical legal category worldwide
Whiteness is a social category whose boundaries are not universal or timeless
3. A colleague repeatedly asks an Asian American coworker, “Where are you really from?” after receiving an answer. Which concept is commonly used for this interaction?
Cultural exchange, because information about heritage is being requested
Explicit segregation, because the coworker is being excluded from a facility
Code-switching, because the speakers are adapting their language to each other
A microaggression, because the repeated question can imply that the coworker is an outsider
4. Why might the boundaries of who is considered white differ across historical periods or societies?
Racial categories are shaped by changing social, political, and legal contexts
Human genetic patterns reorganize whenever governments change categories
Ancestry remains fixed, but ethnicity always changes from one generation to the next
Race is determined only by the language most commonly spoken in a society
5. A DNA ancestry estimate links much of someone’s ancestry to several European regions. What can reasonably be concluded from that result alone?
The estimate concerns genetic ancestry and does not by itself determine racial identity
The person must identify with all cultures associated with those regions
The person will necessarily be viewed as white in every social context
The result provides a permanent and exact racial percentage
6. At a meeting, someone notices that a colleague’s idea was overlooked. Which response most clearly demonstrates constructive allyship?
Crediting the colleague’s idea and supporting their opportunity to speak for themselves
Remaining silent while privately deciding that the meeting was unfair
Changing the subject to avoid making anyone uncomfortable
Speaking for the colleague without first considering what support they want
7. A school says it treats everyone identically, so it never examines persistent racial differences in discipline. What concern is commonly raised about this approach?
Equal rules necessarily create unequal treatment in every situation
Ignoring race can make existing patterns and structural barriers harder to recognize
Race should determine which disciplinary rules apply to each student
Any numerical difference proves that individual staff acted with prejudice
8. News coverage and public policy increasingly portray a previously nationality-based group as a distinct race. Which process does this illustrate?
Code-switching, because the group is changing its communication style
Equity, because institutions are distributing resources according to need
Racialization, because racial meaning is being assigned to a group
Ethnic assimilation, because cultural differences are gradually disappearing
9. Someone says, “White privilege means every white person has had an easy life.” Which response is most accurate?
That is accurate because racial advantage prevents financial or personal hardship
Privilege refers to certain race-related advantages, not freedom from every hardship
Privilege refers only to wealth inherited directly from previous generations
Privilege is another term for intentional prejudice by an individual
10. Which definition best captures institutional racism?
Policies or organizational practices that create or maintain unequal racial outcomes
Any disagreement between people who identify with different racial groups
A private assumption about a group that is never expressed or acted upon
A cultural tradition adopted by people living in a new region
11. Which statement correctly distinguishes prejudice from discrimination?
Prejudice occurs only in institutions; discrimination occurs only between individuals
Prejudice concerns attitudes or judgments; discrimination involves consequential treatment or action
Prejudice is always conscious; discrimination is always unintentional
Prejudice concerns ancestry; discrimination concerns cultural preferences
12. Which statement best reflects what a responsible “How White Are You” quiz can measure?
Whether someone’s tastes qualify them for a particular racial identity
The proportion of someone’s personality caused by European ancestry
Knowledge of whiteness and related social concepts, not a person’s racial percentage
A precise racial classification based on everyday preferences
13. What is the central idea of intersectionality?
Personal identity is best understood by examining one category at a time
Every member of a racial group has essentially the same social experience
Economic class replaces the influence of race, gender, and other identities
Overlapping identities and social positions can shape experiences in interconnected ways
14. A person adjusts vocabulary, accent, or mannerisms between home, school, and work to fit different expectations. What is this commonly called?
Racialization
Cultural appropriation
Institutional discrimination
Code-switching
15. A landlord treats otherwise comparable applicants differently after inferring their race from their names. Which concept most directly describes the landlord’s behavior?
A stereotype, because the situation involves only a generalized belief
Implicit association, because no consequential decision has been made
Racial discrimination, because perceived race affects access to housing
Cultural assimilation, because applicants are being compared with local norms
16. What does ethnicity generally describe more directly than race?
A precise division of humanity based on biological subspecies
The way strangers classify a person from appearance alone
Shared cultural heritage, such as traditions, language, history, or national origin
A legally fixed identity that remains identical in every country