FAMILY QUESTIONS FOR THE FINAL EXAM

Below are the family questions I accepted, with some editing, from the ones submitted. Remember, these questions will be on the final exam.

GREEN FAMILY (Michaela, Jennifer, Ross, Jamar, Nathan) earn 9 points.

1. In Chapter 2, The Lockdown, of "The New Jim Crow," what does Alexander say happens to a person once they are labeled a felon? (2)

ANSWER: He or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, and privileges of citizenship are off limits.

2. Explain the meaning and significance of the phenomenon of the "stereotype threat," as Dr. Tatum discusses social psychologist, Claude Steele's, study of standardized testing in Chapter 2: Connecting the Dots. (2)

ANSWER: The stereotype threat is the fear of being subject to a negative stereotype, or doing something that will confirm that negative stereotype about oneself. In educational settings, students internalize these negative stereotypes, and the stereotype threat can affect their performance on tests.

3. Give ONE reason why Frank Wu argues the "model minority" myth should be rejected. (1)

ANSWER: Any ONE of the following: (1) it is a gross simplification of the whole population of Asian Americans; (2) it implies a negative statement against African Americans who are seen as the opposite of the "model minority;" (3) it denies that Asians encounter discrimination and turns them into a racial threat.


RED FAMILY (Sheatiel, Tim, Mike, Lisa) earn 9 points

1. In Chapter 1, The Rebirth of Caste, in "The New Jim Crow," Michelle Alexander introduces the notion of a "racial bribe," which basically involves what? (2)

ANSWER: The "racial bribe" was used to keep lower class whites from uniting and rebelling with lower class blacks. Poor whites were extended certain privileges and were encouraged to perceive themselves as superior to blacks.

2. Before Michelle Alexander discusses the role of the war on drugs in the mass incarceration of African Americans, in the opening of Chapter 2, The Lockdown, she identifies two myths about the drug war that need to be exposed. Identify any ONE of these two myths and state how she challenges it. (2)

ANSWER: ONE of the following: (1) The first myth is that this war is aimed at ridding the nation of drug "kingpins" or big-time dealers, but the fact is that the majority of those arrested are NOT charged with serious offenses. Most people in state prisons for a drug offense have no history of violence or significant selling activity. (2) The second myth is that the drug war is principally concerned with dangerous drugs, but, to the contrary, arrests for marijuana possession -- a drug less harmful than tobacco or alcohol -- accounted for nearly 80% of the growth in drug arrests during the 1990s.

3. What does Michelle Alexander imply by using the term "racial caste" in connection with the current system of mass incarceration? (2)

ANSWER: Because it entails a stigmatized racial group being locked into an inferior position by law and custom, as was true of slavery and Jim Crow.
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That's it. See you 9AM, Wednesday morning.