Immigrants to the United States from Poland, Ireland, Italy, and Germany are examples of ______.

• A. Refugees
• B. White ethnics
• C. Citizens
• D. Exiles

Answer: (B)

The main idea is how sociologists categorize European immigrant groups who are white but maintain distinct cultural identities. Polish, Irish, Italian, and German newcomers fit this label because they shared a European origin and were seen as part of the white population in the United States, yet each group kept its own language, traditions, religion, and neighborhood networks that made them culturally distinct from the Anglo-Protestant mainstream. This combination—being white while preserving a separate ethnic identity—defines the idea of “white ethnics.” They aren’t defined by fleeing danger (refugees), nor by forced exile, nor solely by citizenship status, so those options don’t capture the enduring cultural distinctiveness these groups maintained within a white American majority.