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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What conclusion about people does Wilkerson come to in In "Chapter Nineteen: The Euphoria of Hate"?
(a) Charismatic leaders are dangerous.
(b) People tend to want to distance themselves from even fairly recent evil acts.
(c) Ordinary people are easily seduced by evil.
(d) Most people have accurate beliefs about themselves and others.

2. In the opening of "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what does Wilkerson call "The greatest departure from the script of the American caste system" (311)?
(a) The election of Barack Obama.
(b) The toppling of the Confederate monuments.
(c) The Voting Rights Act.
(d) Reconstruction.

3. What fact does Wilkerson offer in "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste" to refute the common idea that economic insecurity cause people to vote for Trump?
(a) Clinton won the popular vote.
(b) Clinton won among non-White voters.
(c) Clinton won among Whites with no college degree.
(d) Clinton won among voters in the lowest economic bracket.

4. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," why does Wilkerson include the story of Corey Lewis and the children he was supervising?
(a) It is an example of Black parents trying to protect their sons from the dangers of being Black in America.
(b) It is an example of white policing of Blacks doing ordinary everyday things.
(c) It is an example of whites assuming they have the right to supervise Black children.
(d) It is an example of police violence toward Black Americans.

5. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," what does Wilkerson say is the "greatest threat to a caste system" (224)?
(a) Lower-caste failure.
(b) Upper-caste success.
(c) Upper-caste failure.
(d) Lower-caste success.

6. 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?
(a) Appeals to food-related issues like food safety, agricultural policy, and food scarcity.
(b) Appeals to caste-related concerns like immigration, voting rights, and affirmative action.
(c) Appeals to women's concerns with reproductive freedom, physical safety, and equal rights.
(d) Appeals to everyday people's concerns with money, education, and health care.

7. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," which group does Wilkerson say is the most susceptible to collective narcissism?
(a) The white upper class.
(b) The white working class.
(c) Poor and marginalized whites.
(d) The white middle class.

8. In "Chapter Twenty-One: The German Girl with the Dark, Wavy Hair," what point does Wilkerson make about the relationship of the loss of the Jewish population and the chapter's titular story?
(a) The Jewish community had acted as a moderating force; in its absence, Germans began to turn on one another.
(b) The collective narcissism of Germans needed a new focus in the absence of the Jewish population.
(c) Once Jews were gone, Germans looked for other scapegoats.
(d) Once the Jews were gone, it became clear that the anxiety Germans felt had nothing to do with the Jews.

9. In "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what error of John McCain's does Wilkerson say contributed to Obama's victory?
(a) He refusal to discuss his war record.
(b) His involvement in the 2008 financial crisis.
(c) His choice of a vice-presidential candidate.
(d) His open appeals to Black and Mexican voters.

10. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," how did the incident at People's Grocery begin?
(a) With an argument between two children.
(b) When a Black man tried to vote.
(c) When a Black man did not show enough deference to a white bus driver.
(d) When a Black soldier arrived in uniform.

11. In "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung," what does Wilkerson argue the lowest-status Whites have been given in the place of real security and opportunity?
(a) Dominance over political systems.
(b) The illusion of racial superiority.
(c) The possibility of climbing into the middle class.
(d) False promises about economic growth.

12. 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 since humans are not canines, it is not relevant to human societies.
(b) It performs a valuable and necessary role.
(c) That it does not actually exist in natural wolf groupings.
(d) That humans should treat people at the bottom of the human "pack" with more kindness and respect.

13. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," what solution does the flight attendant offer Wilkerson when other first class passengers seem to be making antagonistic comments about her race?
(a) They can move the other passengers into coach.
(b) Wilkerson can stand in the flight attendants' area in the front of the plane.
(c) They can move Wilkerson into coach.
(d) They can ask the pilot to land the plane and have the passengers ejected.

14. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," what does Wilkerson tell Gwen Ifill she thinks is behind Trump's popularity?
(a) A rise in evangelicalism.
(b) Illegal immigration.
(c) Demographic shifts.
(d) Economic problems.

15. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," whom does Wilkerson name as the most loyal voters of the Republican Party?
(a) The wealthiest ten percent of voters.
(b) White business owners.
(c) Older Americans.
(d) White evangelicals.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," when Devonte Hart and his foster siblings begged for food, what did their white guardians tell people?

2. Just before the 2008 election, what mailing did many Americans receive that Wilkerson, in "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," says became an "inadvertent leaflet in favor of the Democrat" (312)?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," what does Wilkerson say is the cause of phenomena like an Iranian immigrant feeling moved to point out the existence of a blond-haired child somewhere in the family?

(see the answer keys)

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