African American Studies Review Questions
Course Introduction
African American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that explores the history, culture, politics, and experiences of African Americans in the United States. The course examines the contributions and challenges of African Americans from the era of slavery to the present day, considering how race, class, gender, and identity intersect in shaping lives and communities. Students engage with a range of sources, including historical documents, literature, music, art, and film, while analyzing major social, political, and intellectual movements. By fostering critical thinking and cultural awareness, this course encourages students to understand and appreciate the diversity and complexity of African American life and its impact on broader American society.
Recommended Textbook
Race in America 1st Edition by Matthew Desmond
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
11 Chapters
578 Verified Questions
578 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/3634 Page 2
Chapter 1: Race in the Twenty-First Century
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72265
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the five fallacies or misconceptions about racism best describes this example?
"Your friend does not believe that racial segregation in schools is a problem today.After all,she argues,the courts ruled segregated education unconstitutional many decades ago."
A)tokenistic fallacy
B)legalistic fallacy
C)ahistorical fallacy
D)individualistic fallacy
Answer: B
Q2) __________ is the collection of unearned cultural,political,economic,and social advantages and privileges possessed by people of Anglo-European descent or those who pass as such.
A)White privilege
B)Racial domination
C)Institutional racism
D)Caste hierarchy
Answer: A
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 3
Chapter 2: The Invention of Race
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
53 Verified Questions
53 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72266
Sample Questions
Q1) The H-2A guest worker program brings tens of thousands of people to the United States to work in manual labor sectors.But because these workers are bound to the companies that request them,some critics have called this practice an example of modern-day _________.
A)indentured servitude
B)homesteading
C)black codes
D)immigration acts
Answer: A
Q2) How many Cherokees died along the Trail of Tears,the 1,200-mile-long forced journey from Georgia,Tennessee,North Carolina,and Alabama to Oklahoma and Arkansas?
A)50
B)700
C)2,000
D)4,000
Answer: D
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 4
Chapter 3: Politics
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
59 Verified Questions
59 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72267
Sample Questions
Q1) What is a result of cases like Shaw v.Reno 1993)and Miller v.Johnson 1995),which outlaw only race-based gerrymandering?
A)The Court provides minority populations with an unfair electoral advantage.
B)The Court equalizes the electoral playing field.
C)The Court fails to recognize white majority districts as white districts,and whiteness is rendered invisible.
D)Minority politicians have a better chance of being elected.
Answer: C
Q2) Over the entire span of U.S.history,1,895 people have been elected to the Senate.Of these senators,only what percent were nonwhite?
A)1
B)5
C)10
D)15
Answer: A
Q3) Briefly explain one way in which many people of color still face voter discrimination today.
Answer: Answers will vary and may include the following: felon disenfranchisement and voter ID laws.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 5
Chapter 4: Economics
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72268
Sample Questions
Q1) Banks that are more likely to lend money to whites than to nonwhites and banks that charge higher mortgage rates to nonwhites are examples of:
A)present-day institutional racism
B)why there is persistent income inequality between whites and nonwhites
C)institutional racism that,while no longer practiced,has created wealth inequalities
D)the effects of past and present-day wage inequalities
Q2) Sociologist Mary Waters observes that "We should not just be asking as a society,'How can we structure our immigration policy and our institutions to facilitate immigrants adopting our civic culture and becoming American?' We should also be asking,'What can we do about the pervasive inequalities in American life that often mean that becoming black American or Mexican American leads to a less bright future than remaining an immigrant?'" Propose a government policy that you think would address this issue.
Q3) Which group prospered most following World War II?
A)African Americans
B)white Americans
C)Latino Americans
D)Native Americans
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 5: Housing
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
51 Verified Questions
51 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72269
Sample Questions
Q1) Why are Native American reservations often the target of environmental racism,such as locations for dump sites and mining operations?
A)The taxes are too high for corporation dump sites in cities.
B)Those living on the reservation do not care about the environment or their land.
C)Reservations are not subject to state regulations about dumping.
D)Native Americans do not believe that the proximity to this waste is harmful.
Q2) What is the social force driving the transformation of the racial makeup of many majority-white small towns?
A)immigration
B)deindustrialization
C)environmental racism
D)whites moving into city centers
Q3) Name and describe three legal methods that were used to prevent neighborhood integration and homeownership by nonwhites prior to the passage of the 1968 Civil Rights Act.
Q4) Explain two consequences of residential segregation,as identified in Chapter 5.
Q5) How do lack of housing assistance,stagnating incomes at the bottom of the wage distribution,and rising housing costs affect racial inequality?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 7
Chapter 6: Crime and Punishment
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72270
Sample Questions
Q1) Since when have nonwhite urban neighborhoods have been subjected to heightened surveillance and police repression?
A)the beginning of the Mexican drug war
B)the racial uprisings of the 1960s
C)World War II
D)the Cold War
Q2) In the 1960s,politicians began what has come to be known as the "war on drugs," a product of which includes increased imprisonments for nonviolent drug offenses.Which of the following was one result of the war on drugs during the 1970s?
A)Potential race rioters were arrested.
B)Drug trafficking decreased.
C)Sexual violence decreased.
D)Drug use decreased.
Q3) Contrary to popular belief,social scientific evidence has shown that immigrants:
A)make America safer
B)make America less safe,whether they are here legally or not
C)are more likely to call police in an emergency
D)are less likely to drop out of high school
Q4) In what way did lynch mobs uphold white patriarchy?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 8
Chapter 7: Education
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72271
Sample Questions
Q1) What was the primary objective of cultural reeducation of American Indians?
A)educate them on the cultural practices of their ancestors
B)expose them to a variety of social norms and values
C)force them to assimilate into Anglo-American society and culture
D)provide them space to explore their own needs and desires
Q2) Approximately ______ percent of first-year students enrolled in America's top universities are white students who failed to satisfy their universities' minimum requirements.
A)5
B)10
C)15
D)20
Q3) A stark critic of Booker T.Washington's "compromise," W.E.B.Du Bois argued that Washington perpetuated what by not opposing white supremacy?
A)civil rights
B)intellectualism
C)symbolic violence
D)de jure segregation
Q4) Explain the concept of a "model minority."
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 9
Chapter 8: Aesthetics
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72272
Sample Questions
Q1) Audience conduct that is "orderly,regulated,learned,prosperous,and civilized" is characteristic of:
A)highbrow culture
B)cultural capital
C)lowbrow culture
D)cultural appropriation
Q2) The authors of the textbook state that people often develop "distaste for things they cannot afford." Explain what the authors mean and how this relates to the racialization of art worlds.
Q3) In Chapter 8,the textbook authors discuss how the dominant art world often serves to "exoticize" people of color.Using the concepts of cultural appropriation and the white gaze,explain what the authors mean by this and why it might be negative for people and artists of color.
Q4) The symphony,as a cultural organization,is an example of what?
A)the merging of different aesthetic styles
B)legitimating the artistic preferences of some racial groups over others
C)the institutionalization of art forms designed to appeal to all social groups
D)the institutionalization of artistic divisions between highbrow and lowbrow culture
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 10
Chapter 9: Associations
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
56 Verified Questions
56 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72273
Sample Questions
Q1) When an individual is the victim of a hate crime,how does that crime typically impact the larger racial and ethnic community of which he or she is a part?
A)It galvanizes the community into a reactive and equally violent social movement.
B)It provides a legal foundation for people in the community to self-segregate into ethnic enclaves.
C)It becomes a symbolic narrative for community members to share with white Americans about experiences they've shared across racial and ethnic boundaries.
D)It puts community members on notice by making them aware that there are people out there who want to hurt them.
Q2) Because we often don't know a person's racial identity online,many Internet users have come to regard _______ as the virtual norm.
A)nerds
B)colorblindness
C)whiteness
D)blackness
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
11
Chapter 10: Intimate Life
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72274
Sample Questions
Q1) When an adolescent takes on a nonwhite symbolic identity that is not recognized as authentic by all of his or her peers,the adolescent may:
A)be able to easily traverse the boundaries of being white in some situations and nonwhite in other situations
B)be criticized by whites and nonwhites alike and have a hard time integrating with peers in general
C)have a more fluid identity than people in previous generations who tried to pass as white
D)have perfected the dynamic of code-switching between front and back stage behaviors
Q2) The "ghetto pass" in Ice Cube's song "True to the Game" is:
A)a way of signaling that one is both black and rich
B)a way of acting out against others that elevates someone to an "untouchable" status
C)an education that gives someone skills to leave the ghetto and attain a prosperous life
D)an implied right to authentic blackness that can be taken away if one acts outside of race norms
Q3) What is "racial authenticity," and why is it important?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: Toward Racial Democracy
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/72275
Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the steps of Park's race relations cycle.
Q2) If a campus fraternity presented itself as a white supremacy group:
A)the multiculturalism framework would reject the existence of this group outright because of the efforts of multiculturalists to accept groups that bring about positive interrelationships among others in society
B)proponents of multiculturalism would be presented with an ideological challenge in such a scenario because of the intention by multiculturalists to see value in every perspective
C)the multiculturalism framework would question how a democratic community can be created on the campus with representation from each and every group,including those who are a part of the fraternity
D)multiculturalists would visit the fraternity and try to reason with the members by explaining the cosmopolitan view of life and advancing an agenda of solidarity
Q3) What is the basic problem with statements such as "Blacks are very athletic."?
Q4) How can asking people questions about their racial perceptions open up a dialogue for potential growth at the level of interactions?
Q5) Explain why the melting pot is the common symbol of American assimilation.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 13