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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 6: "Part Six: Backlash".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," what does Wilkerson say political scientists call "the belief that undeserving groups are getting ahead while your group is left behind" (325)?
(a) Collective narcissism.
(b) Caste loyalty.
(c) Racialized economics.
(d) Status threat.

2. In "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung," what does Wilkerson reveal about the New Deal and the Federal Housing Administration?
(a) They were created to help white Americans, and Blacks were largely excluded from their assistance.
(b) Although intended to help primarily Black Americans, these programs have largely served whites.
(c) Black Americans used these programs as their first "leg up" toward the middle class.
(d) White American opposed them initially because they were afraid the aid would go to Blacks.

3. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," where does Wilkerson say the term "Caucasian" came from?
(a) An eighteenth century novel about a fictional people who migrated from Central Europe to Western Europe.
(b) A Sanskrit word that originally referred not to race but to caste.
(c) A German professor who thought a skull from the Caucasus Mountains was especially attractive.
(d) A long-discredited theory about human origins in Western Russia.

4. When legislation was finally adopted to limit the workday of enslaved persons, how long did their workday become?
(a) 14-15 hours.
(b) 18 hours.
(c) 9-10 hours.
(d) 12 hours.

5. In "Chapter Thirteen: The Insecure Alpha and the Purpose of an Underdog," what is Wilkerson arguing about the role of the "omega" wolf, at the bottom of the pack hierarchy?
(a) That it does not actually exist in natural wolf groupings.
(b) It performs a valuable and necessary role.
(c) That since humans are not canines, it is not relevant to human societies.
(d) That humans should treat people at the bottom of the human "pack" with more kindness and respect.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," where does Wilkerson say that the American caste system was born?

2. In "Chapter Five: 'The Container We Have Built for You,'" why does Harold Hale's daughter get called into her principal's office?

3. In "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," what does Wilkerson say Americans want to dismiss as a "sad, dark chapter" of American history (43)?

4. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," Wilkerson uses the term "kitchen table appeals" (327). What kinds of appeals are these?

5. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," Wilkerson relays the story of a Black woman who visits a new white neighbor. What is the white neighbor's response?

(see the answer key)

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