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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the Hammond quotes?
(a) This illustrates the depth of hatred that White Southerners had for the lowest caste.
(b) It bolsters Wilkerson's ethos, making the reader more receptive to her claims about India.
(c) It demonstrates that religious belief is incompatible with endorsement of a caste system.
(d) This is a defining historical moment that explicitly supports the chapter's central claim.

2. In the 1863 Draft Riots, what immigrant group perpetrated violence against Blacks?
(a) Irish.
(b) Italians.
(c) Chinese.
(d) Germans.

3. On page 16, Wilkerson says that people adjust to the "idiosyncrasies" of an old house. What is she saying that they adjust to?
(a) Its peculiar or unique features.
(b) Its layout and design.
(c) Its positive qualities.
(d) Its negative qualities.

4. According to Wilkerson in In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what do social scientists say combines with racial bias to produce racism?
(a) Personal intention.
(b) Systemic power.
(c) Extremism.
(d) Overt hatred.

5. In "Through the Fog of Delhi to the Parallels in India and America," what is one of the main differences that Wilkerson notes between caste in America and caste in India?
(a) The lowest caste in India was never enslaved.
(b) There is no attempt being made in modern India to improve the situation of the lowest caste.
(c) The American system is for the most part a binary one.
(d) Blacks in America are not permanently confined to the lowest caste.

6. What technique does Wilkerson use for the first time in the beginning of "An Old House and an Infrared Light"?
(a) Rhetorical questions.
(b) Analogy.
(c) Anecdote.
(d) First person point of view.

7. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what does Wilkerson say human-genome testing has revealed about race?
(a) It is entirely dependent on geography.
(b) It does not exist.
(c) There are up to 36 divisions that could be called "races."
(d) There is tremendous variation within each of the five races.

8. In the opening anecdote of the book, what escapes from the melting permafrost?
(a) SARS-CoV-2.
(b) Nuclear waste.
(c) Anthrax.
(d) Mercury.

9. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what happened to Forest Whitaker at a Manhattan Deli?
(a) An employee referred to him using a racial epithet.
(b) He was assaulted by a police officer.
(c) He was accused of shoplifting.
(d) A customer assumed that he was a busboy.

10. How many American states had laws officially prohibiting marriage between Blacks and whites?
(a) 41.
(b) 50.
(c) 12.
(d) 26.

11. In "The Third Pillar: Endogamy and the Control of Marriage and Mating," what does Wilkerson imply was the reason for the prosecution of Hugh Davis?
(a) The Black woman in the relationship was already married.
(b) Davis treated his Black partner as an equal.
(c) Very few white men had previously admitted to relationships with Black women.
(d) Davis raped a Black woman.

12. On page 59 of "Chapter Five: 'The Container We Have Built for You,'" when Harold Hale's daughter is about to return to school after a visit with a friend's family, what is the grandmother's response?
(a) "There was a time when I could have made you stay."
(b) "Why on earth would you want to go back there?"
(c) "We should never have had you in our home."
(d) "Colored folks around here have better manners."

13. Besides the caste systems in India and the United States, which other caste system does Wilkerson say that she will focus on?
(a) Apartheid South Africa.
(b) The Nigerian Osu System.
(c) Yuan China.
(d) Nazi Germany.

14. According to Wilkerson's explanation on page 9, why did Democrats hesitate to impeach Trump?
(a) Fear of backlash from his base.
(b) Fear of retribution from Trump himself.
(c) Many had investments in Trump businesses.
(d) The evidence was unclear.

15. When 20 Black people arrived in the New World on a Dutch ship in 1619, what were they classified as?
(a) Merchandise.
(b) Colonists.
(c) Indentured servants.
(d) Slaves.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Pillar Number Six: Dehumanization and Stigma," what is the best definition of the word "stigma"?

2. In "Pillar Number One: Divine Will and the Laws of Nature," what is Wilkerson's central claim?

3. According to "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what percentage of Blacks worked in white-collar professions during the Great Depression?

4. On page 12, Wilkerson says that some contagions can only be managed with "vigilance." How is she proposing they should be managed?

5. On page 68 of "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what does Wilkerson say is "one of the most contentious and misunderstood" words in American culture?

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