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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. As a first step of the meetings with the white Senior Citizens Committee, some of the merchants agreed to remove what?

2. MLK suggests that the Negro had been brainwashed to accept what white man's theory?

3. Who is the person in Bull Connor's Birmingham that had been jailed several times and had had his home and church damaged by bombs?

4. MLK states that he and his group possessed the most formidable weapon of all. What was this weapon he spoke of?

5. What does MLK talk about in "The Negro Revolution-Why 1963" that celebrates it's 100th birthday in 1963?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened soon after the Supreme Court had handed down a decree calling for desegregation of schools that discouraged MLK?

2. In the second section of Bull Connor's Birmingham, what does MLK state that the one threat to the reign of white supremacy in Birmingham was?

3. What would happen if a volunteer did not pass the strict test for service as a demonstrator?

4. How does MLK describe tokenism as thwarting the dreams of the Negro population's dreams and aspirations?

5. What are some of the questions that the girl and boy ask themselves?

6. In 1962, what did some of the students from Miles College and leaders of A.C.H.R. do together in Birmingham, and what were the results?

7. For years, why did the white segregationists say that the Negro was "satisfied"?

8. What were the mass meetings that were held in the Negro community, how many were there, and where were these meetings held?

9. How does MLK describe what it would be like to be a Negro baby born and brought up in Birmingham?

10. What two concentric circles of segregation does MLK state that Negros live in?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are some of your favorite words that MLK writes? Why did these words appeal to you more than others? What kind of feelings did these words evoke in you as a reader? How do you think MLK was feeling at the time he wrote these particular words? Explain the reason for picking the particular excerpts. How do you think MLK changed as a person during the events of this book? Explain your reasoning by using specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Throughout the book we read about fear and experience this frequently. MLK mention's that Bull Connor's Birmingham had the silent password of fear. The black people were oppressed, so there was fear. Why does MLK say the white citizens were fearful? Why did the thought of change bring fear among Negros and white citizens too? Why and how did Bull Connor strike a sense of fear in the city? What other instances of fear do you find in the book?

Essay Topic 3

The book, Why We Can't Wait, is written by Martin Luther King, Jr. about the time of the civil rights movement during the 1960s in which Birmingham became the center of attention for the nation to watch those "fighting" for freedom. How do you think MLK's perspective on the details of these events affected the reader of the book? How would the details of the events be told differently if we were reading a book by Bull Connor? How about a book by Jesse Jackson? Explain your answers and use evidence from the book to support those answers.

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