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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," Wilkerson explains a complicated "solution" to a problem presented by free Black passengers on steamboats of the nineeenth century. What was this problem?
(a) How and when to feed them.
(b) Where they would be allowed to sleep.
(c) At what times they would be allowed on deck.
(d) Where they would bathe and use the bathroom.

2. On page 283 of "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does Wilkerson quote anthropologist Edmund Leach as saying about the lowest caste in India?
(a) "It is a feeling of danger."
(b) "The first moral duty is resignation and acceptance."
(c) "Knowledge without wisdom is adequate for the powerful."
(d) "People embrace narratives about forgiveness."

3. Just before the 2008 election, what mailing did many Americans receive that Wilkerson, in "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," says became an "inadvertent leaflet in favor of the Democrat" (312)?
(a) A solicitation for contributions by John McCain.
(b) Their quarterly statements for their retirement accounts.
(c) An openly racist cartoon paid for by a Republican PAC.
(d) Notifications of layoffs and downsizing at their employers.

4. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," what does Wilkerson compare to the modern phenomenon of whites calling the police on Blacks who are just going about ordinary everyday business?
(a) Zookeepers reacting with fear to escaped "animals."
(b) Whites deputized to police escaped slaves.
(c) Wardens in a prison.
(d) Adults supervising a race of "children."

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," Wilkerson says that when people vote, they often choose to vote in a way that will do what?
(a) Empower a candidate who appeals to their worst instincts.
(b) Show solidarity with those who share their lowest-status trait.
(c) Consider the needs of the many instead of the needs of the few.
(d) Protect the best interests of their own highest-status trait.

6. In "Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Price We Pay for a Caste System," what does Wilkerson blame for the relatively low quality of life in the United States?
(a) The cost of suppressing Black talent.
(b) Rivalry based in a caste system.
(c) A two-tiered educational system.
(d) Governmental dysfunction.

7. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," what are the Black women on the wine train ejected from the train for?
(a) Delaying the train by boarding too slowly.
(b) Insisting that they be served before the other passengers.
(c) Causing a disturbance by laughing and talking.
(d) Endangering themselves and others by drinking excessively.

8. On page 287 of "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does Wilkerson blame on "the latitude granted these white saviors...[and] the collective desire to solve tribal wounds with superficial gestures of grace from the wounded"?
(a) The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.
(b) The failure of society to see the truth of Devonte Hart's situation.
(c) The light sentence given to the white officer who shot a man who was just watching TV in his own apartment.
(d) The 2015 Charleston church massacre.

9. In "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," Wilkerson mentions the "Lost Cause." What does this term refer to?
(a) The desire of modern progressives to base governance on science and humanism.
(b) An alternative perspective regarding the contribution of enslaved Blacks to the economy of the South.
(c) A factually incorrect ideology that says that the Civil War was not fought over slavery but "states' rights" and that in any case slavery was not such a bad thing.
(d) The attempt to use Reconstruction to alter not only the legal position of Blacks in the South but their social status as well.

10. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," what does Wilkerson use Tamir Rice's story to illustrate?
(a) Black parents are capable of raising their own children.
(b) Whites often assume that they have authority over unrelated Black children.
(c) White bystanders often assume that they know better than Black parents.
(d) Black parents have good reason for being afraid for their sons.

11. According to "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what percentage of White voters voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012?
(a) 45% each time.
(b) 32% each time.
(c) 43 and 39%, respectively.
(d) 38 and 23%, respectively.

12. In the conference described in "Chapter Ten: Central Miscasting," what difficulty does Wilkerson face?
(a) The scholars in attendance refuse to speak to her.
(b) The crowd is openly hostile to her presentation.
(c) Being stared at for sitting in front.
(d) Getting copies of the papers being presented.

13. On page 287 of "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does Roxanne Gay say causes whites to "embrace narratives about forgiveness"?
(a) A desire to pretend that the world is fair.
(b) A subconscious sense of guilt for the wrongs of the past.
(c) The urge to protect their caste privilege.
(d) Christianity.

14. In "Chapter Nineteen: The Euphoria of Hate," what film footage does Wilkerson describe?
(a) The last public lynching in Georgia.
(b) Hitler's return to Germany after the conquest of Paris.
(c) The liberation of Auschwitz.
(d) The trial of the police officers who killed Freddie Gray.

15. In "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung," Wilkerson discusses biases that occur without thought. What is this kind of bias called?
(a) Unconscious bias.
(b) Autonomic bias.
(c) Subconscious bias.
(d) Automatic bias.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," whose work on collective narcissism does Wilkerson discuss?

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," what does Wilkerson describe at the site of the bunker where Hitler died?

3. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," Wilkerson says that Clinton might have suffered from the "Bradley Effect." What does this mean?

4. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does the Black bailiff do when the white killer of a Black man begins crying about her conviction?

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," Wilkerson relates the story of a white Brooklyn woman who called the police because of an alleged "sexual assault." How old was the Black person she told the police had assaulted her?

(see the answer keys)

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