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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 fraction of the young black male population in the United States today are unemployed, according to the author in Chapter 4: "The Cruel Hand"?

2. What sentence did Edward Clary originally receive for possession of crack cocaine when he was 18?

3. What were the defendants in Yick Wo v. Hopkins accused of doing?

4. One in how many black men between the ages of 20-35 was behind bars in 2006?

5. How many African American men received a bachelor's degree from Illinois state universities in 1999?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was enacted with the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998?

2. What is discussed regarding Stanley Cohen's States of Denial in Chapter 5: "The New Jim Crow"?

3. What was determined in the Supreme Court case of Rucker v. Davis?

4. How does the author describe the crime statistics of Chicago in regard to race in Chapter 5: "The New Jim Crow"?

5. What is the "Black Box" that the author refers to in Chapter 4: "The Cruel Hand"?

6. When did Whren v. United States go before the Supreme Court? What was the Court's decision?

7. When was crack-cocaine introduced to users in the U.S.? What involvement did the government have with the introduction of crack to African American communities?

8. How does the author compare the circumstances of a freed prisoner to those of a black person living in Mississippi at the height of Jim Crow in Chapter 4: "The Cruel Hand"?

9. What was enacted with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988?

10. How is Iris Marion Young's "birdcage" metaphor described in Chapter 5: "The New Jim Crow"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the author's metaphor of a birdcage in The New Jim Crow. To what is a birdcage compared? What comprises the bars of the cage? What does the author remark about the door of the cage?

Essay Topic 2

How did the wealthy planter class manage to create a divide between poor white workers and poor black workers in the American colonies? Why did they do so? How did they benefit from this estrangement?

Essay Topic 3

How is the penal population in the United States compared with other countries? What different elements contribute to this disparity? What actions has the U.S. taken to address the problems of mass incarceration?

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