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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "An American Untouchable," how does the high school principal in India refer to Martin Luther King'?
(a) As an "American Gandhi."
(b) As an "untouchable."
(c) As a "Negro."
(d) As a great leader.

2. In "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," what does the Nigerian playwright tell Wilkerson about Blacks in Africa?
(a) They also have a history of slavery.
(b) They do not exist.
(c) They are afraid to come to the U.S.
(d) They are also prejudiced against Black Americans.

3. 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) There are up to 36 divisions that could be called "races."
(c) It does not exist.
(d) There is tremendous variation within each of the five races.

4. What is the best definition of "heritability" as used in "The Second Pillar: Heritability"?
(a) A status based on genetics.
(b) A privilege that stays within a particular family.
(c) Capable of being passed down from parent to child.
(d) Able to bind different families together.

5. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what does Wilkerson say Blacks found when they migrated North during the Great Migration?
(a) Although occupations were not closed to them by law, they were closed in practice.
(b) The same sets of laws they were trying to escape in the South started to be enacted in the North.
(c) They were welcomed into trade unions, because larger union numbers benefited all workers.
(d) They were finally able to own property and begin creating family wealth.

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

7. In "Pillar Number Seven: Terror as Enforcement, Cruelty as a Means of Control," what common misunderstanding of the slave system in America does Wilkerson dispute?
(a) That brutality against slaves was the result of whites' fear of slave rebellion.
(b) That many slaves entered into consensual relationships with slaveholders.
(c) That many slaveholders were cruel just because they could be.
(d) That slaves were too "valuable" to be mistreated.

8. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what distinguishes "caste" from "class"?
(a) Class cannot be inherited.
(b) Class is not a status marker.
(c) Caste is permanent and inescapable.
(d) Caste is not related to economics.

9. On page 12, Wilkerson says that some contagions can only be managed with "vigilance." How is she proposing they should be managed?
(a) With careful thoroughness.
(b) With great speed.
(c) With constant watchfulness.
(d) With brute force.

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

11. 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) "Colored folks around here have better manners."
(c) "Why on earth would you want to go back there?"
(d) "We should never have had you in our home."

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

13. On page 6, Wilkerson calls a financial crisis "cataclysmic." What kind of crisis was it?
(a) Protracted; drawn-out.
(b) Violent and overwhelming.
(c) Overblown, lacking in substance.
(d) Creating the necessary conditions for a later event; a precondition.

14. 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?
(a) Discrimination.
(b) Race.
(c) Caste.
(d) Racism.

15. In the beginning of "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what physical characteristic is the basis for Wilkerson's imaginary caste system?
(a) Height.
(b) Eye color.
(c) Shoe size.
(d) Sex.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Wilkerson, what serves as a signal of rank within the American caste system?

2. To what part of history does Wilkerson explicitly link the Electoral College?

3. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is the Louise Beavers anecdote meant to illustrate?

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

5. What is the best definition of "endogamy" as used in "The Third Pillar: Endogamy and the Control of Marriage and Mating"?

(see the answer keys)

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