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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Wilkerson, what constituency does the Republican Party represent?
(a) Humanitarians and the marginalized.
(b) People whose first concern is the sovereignty of the United States.
(c) Progressives and nativists.
(d) Those who want to protect an older social order that benefits whites.

2. On page 6, Wilkerson refers to white "preeminence." What quality is she referring to?
(a) Using language and mannerisms that indicate superiority.
(b) Having the highest rank or position.
(c) Devotion to tradition or already existing institutions.
(d) Unjustified rage.

3. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is the Louise Beavers anecdote meant to illustrate?
(a) That White filmmakers feared the audience reaction to an attractive Black woman.
(b) That Black Americans have been made to assume the markers of inferiority like an actor playing a role.
(c) That Mary Pickford was concerned about being upstaged by a Black actress.
(d) That it is impossible to judge intelligence and character based on skin color.

4. In "Chapter Five: 'The Container We Have Built for You,'" why does Harold Hale's daughter get called into her principal's office?
(a) For holding hands with a White boy.
(b) For telling a teacher to call her by her last name.
(c) For asking to be moved to a more advanced class.
(d) For using walkie-talkies with her friends.

5. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is Wilkerson's central claim?
(a) That American Blacks have historically been treated like animals.
(b) That the caste system depends on all members of the lowest caste being treated as inferior to all members of the highest caste.
(c) That even ordinary events like getting onto a bus reflect the premise that Blacks are inferior.
(d) That Black Americans have had to learn an elaborate performance of inferiority.

Short Answer Questions

1. When legislation was finally adopted to limit the workday of enslaved persons, how long did their workday become?

2. To whom is Wilkerson referring on page 4 when she describes someone as "a no-nonsense national figure overqualified by some estimates"?

3. In "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," what does the Nigerian playwright tell Wilkerson about Blacks in Africa?

4. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," how does Wilkerson say North Carolina prevented Blacks from achieving economic independence?

5. According to "The Trials of the Middle Castes: The Race to Get Under the White Tent," what caused the Supreme Court to rule that "White" means "Caucasian"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What explanation does Wilkerson give of the origins of caste in Hindu scriptures in "Pillar Number One: Divine Will and the Laws of Nature"?

2. According to Wilkerson, what relationship exists between immigration or transportation to America and "becoming" white or Black?

3. How does Wilkerson use the colonial census as support for her argument about caste in colonial America?

4. Explain the relationship between Hammond's "Mudsill" speech and the economic uses of caste that Wilkerson describes in "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill."

5. How does Wilkerson explain the differences between race and caste?

6. In "The Hierarchy of Trace Amounts: Griffes, Marabons, and Sangmelees," what are the words "Griffes, Marabons, and Sangmelees," and what point do they illustrate?

7. In "'The Container We Have Built for You,'" how does "Miss" end up with her unusual first name?

8. According to Wilkerson in "An Old House and an Infrared Light," how are caste systems justified, and what is their real purpose?

9. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what does Wilkerson say underlies each of the first seven "pillars" she has already described?

10. According to Wilkerson, how did slavery create the conditions for American stereotypes about Black people?

(see the answer keys)

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