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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. How does Rothstein explain how places like Ferguson, MO got to be so racially homogenous?

2. How does Rothstein characterize the FHA’s theory about value in terms African Americans bringing down housing prices?

3. When does Rothstein say the Supreme Court overturned its 1883 decision?

4. What was the outcome of the Gerald Cohn investigation?

5. What kind of language did federal documents use to disguise their racial intent?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did many of the African-American men in Rothstein’s study rise to the status where they could afford to buy houses?

2. What does Rothstein say the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded about the American government’s role in creating segregation?

3. How does Rothstein say deeds were used as mechanisms of segregation, and how does he say they were backed as de jure segregation?

4. How does Rothstein circumvent the argument that racially restrictive covenants and exclusionary zoning ordinances were private agreements?

5. What backing does Rothstein say the FHA presented to support its claim that African Americans lowered property values?

6. When black families could end up getting mortgages, how does Rothstein say those mortgages affected them?

7. Why does Rothstein say that Robert Mereday did not even bother filing an application for a mortgage?

8. What effect did the Communist Revolution in Russia have on American housing policy?

9. What was the evidence published in Appraisal Journal on the question of whether black families affect housing prices?

10. How does Rothstein say blacks were prevented from voting in South Carolina in 1876?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do you think The Color of Law would be different if it were centered on women’s experiences? How do you think you could approach the same content but tell the story from women’s point of view? How does the focus on men’s experiences change the narrative in The Color of Law?

Essay Topic 2

Would you recommend The Color of Law? For what purposes would you recommend The Color of Law, and what kinds of readers would you recommend it for? What other book would you recommend that would cover the same material or tell the same story in a different way?

Essay Topic 3

Evaluate your own reading of The Color of Law—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,093 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample