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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. Where did Leroy Mereday make a career for himself?

2. Why stance does Rothstein say local governments took, with regard to racially restrictive covenants?

3. What does Rothstein say made black families a risk in the mortgage industry?

4. Where does Rothstein say blockbusting had its roots?

5. What does Rothstein say was the first consequence of black families moving into whites neighborhoods through blockbusting?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did the government overcome expense as a barrier to home ownership under Hoover?

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

4. What is blockbusting?

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

6. What role does Rothstein say the federal government had to play in segregating America’s housing?

7. Why did Roosevelt’s New Deal leave African Americans behind, according to Rothstein?

8. Where does Rothstein say public housing started in the U.S.?

9. Why does Rothstein say that he started his book in San Francisco Bay?

10. How does Rothstein say UCLA students in Westwood, near Los Angeles, got around their neighborhood’s racially restrictive covenants?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What topics would you like to research further, after reading The Color of Law? Describe why additional research or reading would be beneficial to an understanding of this book. Propose a list of articles or books you would read in order to get a better handle on The Color of Law.

Essay Topic 2

Identify the most important plot points in The Color of Law. What is at stake in each of these moments? What possibilities do these moments present, and how are those possibilities channeled into specific actions or events? How does the plot chart its course among other alternative or possible plots?

Essay Topic 3

Write a character sketch of the author based on his style and content. What can we tell about him, based on the choices he makes in terms of description, characterization and plot? What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,042 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample