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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is the 'greatest barrier to black progress', according to Steele?
(a) Government.
(b) Education.
(c) Self-hatred.
(d) Racism.

2. What did Steele's attitude say is true of racial discrimination?
(a) It was a political ploy, but never actually happened in America.
(b) Some blacks claim racial discrimination in situations where it is not true.
(c) It was necessary in order to keep order in America.
(d) It is no longer practiced in America.

3. When one rejects responsibility, what does Steele say that individual is also rejecting?
(a) A base of power.
(b) A sense of pride.
(c) Adulthood.
(d) Education.

4. In terms of 'creating a black identity', what did Steele say is something that blacks engage in?
(a) Dancing.
(b) Compensatory grandiosity.
(c) Writing.
(d) Singing.

5. Steele mentioned that which of the following 'spreads like spilled paint'?
(a) Love.
(b) Overcaution.
(c) Tolerance.
(d) Intolerance.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Steele, what two ways do blacks generally handle the feeling of powerlessness?

2. In Steele's mind, what undermines the struggles for freedom?

3. What is the race / ethnicity of Steele's wife?

4. What is Steele's son's name?

5. In what state does Steele work?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Steele say race-holding negatively affects the civil rights freedoms won decades ago? What must blacks do to avoid this?

2. According to Steele, how does black nationalism ultimately affect blacks?

3. Why did Steele say he was accused of being inauthentic? How do many blacks say Steele views the priority of the black race? Have other blacks followed in Steele's footsteps? If so, how and why?

4. Steele said the 60's were turbulent. What are two of the race related movements that took place in that decade?

5. In order to explain issues specific to race, Steele said it was necessary for him to understand human universals. What was he talking about?

6. Steele talks about forgetting that he is black while writing this book. What did he mean by that?

7. What are the three ways that Steele said integration shock manifests as segregation?

8. What effect did Steele say integration shock has on blacks' attitude about racism as a whole? How did he say it affects their individual attitudes?

9. How do whites act innocent when it comes to the racial struggle, as per Steele's opinion?

10. According to Steele, how is the struggle for racial power more of a struggle for innocence for blacks?

(see the answer keys)

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