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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Menakem say police officers do not have to choose between?

2. What do all adults need to learn how to do, according to Menakem?

3. What does writer Nikki Giovanni say happens when you do not understand yourself in her quote in Chapter 9?

4. What happens when a person heals historical and intergenerational trauma?

5. What did Menakem's grandmother used to whip he and his brothers with?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does a settled body matter so much, according to Menakem?

2. What does Menakem think about lizard-brain panic and use of force involving police officers?

3. What does confronting white-skin privilege involve, according to Menakem?

4. Why does Lonnie Soppeland say he shot Matthew Hovland-Knase?

5. In Chapter 8, what does Menakem say police are often tasked with in communities?

6. Why does Menakem think Officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile?

7. What should white people do when they hear someone use a "dodge" during a racially charged conversation, according to Menakem?

8. What historical event does Menakem ask the reader to look at pictures of, and why, in Chapter 16?

9. What does active listening involve?

10. What advice does Menakem give to leaders in police departments or units at the end of Chapter 17?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some differences and similarities in the manner in which both trauma and resilience are passed from one generation to the next, according to Menakem? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How does trauma spread between bodies, "like a contagious disease," according to Menakem (37)? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

What is the harm done to society and to the cause of racial justice by the persistence of what Menakem calls the "false fragility of the white body" (97)? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

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