Deck 22: Progress and Poverty

Question 1

Many African Americans objected to the policies of the Reagan administration for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

A)his reluctance to support a national holiday commemorating Martin Luther King,Jr.
B)the disproportionately high black unemployment rates that prevailed throughout his presidency.
C)the economic burden imposed on black families by his insistence on repeatedly raising federal taxes.
D)his determination to decrease the federal government's spending on social programs such as food stamps and Medicaid.

Answer 1

the economic burden imposed on black families by his insistence on repeatedly raising federal taxes.

Question 2

Thomas Sowell,Walter Williams,and Shelby Steele were all prominent African-American scholars who

A)served as cabinet members under Republican presidents.
B)opposed affirmative action in schools.
C)kept alive the tradition of militant cultural nationalism.
D)quit their jobs to protest the reversal of the gains blacks had made in the realm of higher education since the 1960s.

Answer 2

opposed affirmative action in schools.

Question 3

In the late 1980s and early 1990s,the U.S.Supreme Court

A)began to whittle away at affirmative action programs and anti-discriminatory policies.
B)became the sole liberal holdout in a government otherwise dominated by conservatives.
C)expanded its progressive agenda as more women and blacks took seats on the Court.
D)consisted entirely of white men for the first time since the 1960s.

Answer 3

began to whittle away at affirmative action programs and anti-discriminatory policies.

Question 4

Guion S.Bluford,Jr.and Mae E.Jamison were,respectively,the first black man and first black woman to

A)win tennis championships at Wimbledon.
B)serve as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
C)travel into outer space.
D)serve as U.S.attorneys general.

Question 5

Forty-five years after Brown v.Board of Education,American public schools

A)had become fully integrated,though some school districts remained stronger than others.
B)continued to show widespread evidence of de facto racial segregation.
C)operated under a federal system which ensured a standard quality of education.
D)became the target of a major Supreme Court initiative to fulfill the promises of the landmark 1954 case.

Question 6

Which black scholar upset many civil rights leaders with his argument in books like The Declining Significance of Race that race had become less important than class in proscribing the opportunities of the black underclass?

A)William Julius Wilson
B)Benjamin Chavis
C)David Bositis
D)Cornel West

Question 7

Which of the following statements about economic changes in the United States between 1945 and 1990 is LEAST accurate?

A)Working-class blacks suffered disproportionately from the general rise in unemployment in the 1970s and early 1980s.
B)Manufacturing jobs grew scarcer in the Northeast as industries moved to more tax-friendly and less unionized regions.
C)The advent of the public highway system along with the emergence of the trucking industry allowed for the dispersal of manufacturing jobs into suburban industrial parks.
D)Untrained black workers suffered as low-paid,part-time work opportunities grew increasingly scarce.

Question 8

During his presidency,George H.W.Bush

A)appointed numerous African Americans to visible and influential positions.
B)succeeded in winning almost a quarter of the black electorate back to the Republican Party.
C)continued his predecessor's policy of only appointing blacks to token positions within his administration.
D)appointed fewer blacks to positions of leadership than any president since Harry Truman.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about Clarence Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court is LEAST accurate?

A)The controversial nature of Thomas's appointment increased substantially when a former employee accused him of sexual harassment.
B)Before his appointment to the Supreme Court,Thomas had held government positions related to civil rights.
C)Although they disagreed with his positions,both the NAACP's LDF and the Congressional Black Caucus supported his appointment.
D)He was appointed to replace an outgoing black justice,ensuring the African Americans would retain some representation on the Court.

Question 10

Whom did President Ronald Reagan succeed in appointing as head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1982?

A)William Bell
B)Arthur S.Flemming
C)Clarence Thomas
D)Julius Chambers

Question 11

In both the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections,approximately what percentage of black voters cast their vote for the Democratic candidate?

A)75%
B)80%
C)90%
D)95%

Question 12

In the 1988 presidential campaign,supporters of George H.W.Bush ran ads of "Willie" Horton,who was

A)a black felon who raped a white woman while on furlough in the state governed by Bush's Democratic opponent.
B)a white steelworker who lost his job after twenty-five years,allegedly to make room for an "affirmative action hire."
C)an unemployed black man who collected enough revenue from federal and state welfare programs to lead an upper-middle-class lifestyle.
D)a former member of the Communist Party who claimed that Bush's Democratic opponent had for a long time regularly attended party meetings.

Question 13

When Jesse Jackson made his second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988,approximately what percentage of the votes cast did he receive?

A)1%
B)6%
C)17%
D)24%

Question 14

Which of the following statements about Jesse Jackson's bid for the Democratic presidential candidacy is LEAST accurate?

A)His bid was derailed in part by what some regarded as anti-Jewish statements and actions.
B)Though he failed to win the candidacy,Jackson did receive strong financial support from the civil rights establishment.
C)Jackson's campaign was both inspired by and expanded the success of black political candidates on a local level.
D)Jackson sought support not only from African Americans but also from other groups who felt marginalized by the political mainstream.

Question 15

Eldrick Woods achieved fame in which sport?

A)golf
B)tennis
C)basketball
D)football

Question 16

In Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential bid,his grassroots supporters were known as

A)the King's Dream Team.
B)the Moral Majority.
C)the Rainbow Coalition.
D)the Freedom Fighters.

Question 17

Which of the following statements about the Million Man March is LEAST accurate?

A)Its planners restricted march participation to men,though some women did appear on the program.
B)Having been organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam,participation in the march was restricted to Muslims.
C)The march attempted to draw attention to problems such as black-on-black crime,drugs,and broken families.
D)The march represented an attempt to incite local activism rather than a response to a strong preexisting movement.

Question 18

In general,President Ronald Reagan used his appointment powers to

A)ensure that the expansion of civil rights remained at the top of the federal government's agenda.
B)continue the federal government's encouragement of civil rights,but on a more moderate and gradual basis than had previously been the case.
C)bring more blacks into federal offices than would hold them for another twenty-five years.
D)eviscerate federal programs designed to protect and further civil rights.

Question 19

Under President George H.W.Bush,Colin Powell held what important position?

A)Secretary of State
B)Secretary of Defense
C)Director of the CIA.
D)Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Question 20

Who was only the second black senator of the twentieth century and the first ever black woman to serve in the Senate?

A)Maxine Waters
B)Carol Mosely Braun
C)Mary Frances Berry
D)Anita Thomas

Question 21

Which author became the first African-American recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993?

A)Alice Walker
B)Rita Dove
C)Toni Morrison
D)Kara Walker

Question 22

Released in 1979,the song "Rapper's Delight" was a breakthrough hit for

A)the Sugar Hill Gang.
B)Run DMC.
C)LL Cool J.
D)Grandmaster Flash.

Question 23

The murders of Tupac Shakur and Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace are generally presented as a result of the contemporary rivalry between

A)native-born and Caribbean rappers.
B)African-American rappers and rock stars.
C)Hip Hop record producers and their artists.
D)East Coast and West Coast rappers.

Question 24

Who was Amadou Diallo?

A)a Guinean immigrant killed by police who short forty-five rounds at him as he reached for his wallet
B)a Haitian immigrant who suffered severe internal damage after being beaten and sodomized with a broomstick while in police custody
C)an African-American hitchhiker who was chained to the back of a truck by two whites and dragged to his death
D)an African-American motorist who was savagely beaten by white police officers after leading them on a high-speed chase

Question 25

Colin Powell was the first African American to hold all of the following positions EXCEPT

A)Secretary of State.
B)Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
C)Secretary of Defense.
D)National Security Advisor.

Question 26

Which artist painted subway walls under the graffiti tag SAMO and won recognition for provocative works such as Irony of a Negro Policeman?

A)Martin Puryear
B)Jean Michel Basquiat
C)Kara Walker
D)Carrie Mae Weems

Question 27

Which group's Nasty as They Wanna Be led to the arrest of its members on charges of obscenity after a performance in Florida,an arrest which the courts later overturned as a violation of free expression?

A)2 Live Crew
B)Public Enemy
C)A Tribe Called Quest
D)N.W.A.

Question 28

Which of the following statements about Clinton's "One America" advisory board is MOST accurate?

A)Its seven members consisted entirely of African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
B)It emphasized education as an important means of addressing racism.
C)Its recommendations had little influence on the president's actual policies.
D)From its inception,it received the wholehearted support of the American people.

Question 29

Who emerged as perhaps the most prominent black filmmaker of the late 1980s and 1990s with his films Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X?

A)John Singleton
B)Spike Lee
C)Mario Van Peebles
D)Robert L.Johnson

Question 30

Who was the first black female billionaire in the history of the United States?

A)Whoopi Goldberg
B)Venus Williams
C)Halle Berry
D)Oprah Winfrey

Question 31

President Clinton faced criticism from some African Americans for his refusal to fight to get Lani Guinier appointed as

A)a justice on the U.S.Supreme Court.
B)head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
C)Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
D)chair of the Civil Rights Commission.

Question 32

Hip Hop culture in the early 1980s included all of the following elements EXCEPT

A)graffiti.
B)breakdancing.
C)rock and roll.
D)innovative deejay styles.

Question 33

As president,Bill Clinton did all of the following EXCEPT

A)appoint the first African American to the post of Secretary of State.
B)appoint four black Americans to his cabinet.
C)appoint more African-American judges than any previous president.
D)drastically reduce poor Americans' access to welfare benefits.

Question 34

One reason that The Cosby Show was culturally important is that

A)it portrayed a successful,upper-middle-class black family.
B)it offered a bluntly honest depiction of inner-city black life.
C)it brought militant black-power politics to prime time television for the first time.
D)it established the template for 1980s sitcoms starring black actors in predominantly white casts.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about the Rodney King case is LEAST accurate?

A)King was videotaped being viciously beaten by white police officers after a high-speed chase.
B)The police officers were acquitted of charges of brutality by a jury which contained eleven whites and no blacks.
C)In a subsequent trial,two of King's assailants were found guilty of violating his civil rights.
D)Despite a few reports of minor property damage,the response of Los Angeles's black community to the episode was notable for its calm restraint.

Question 36

In the 1980s,Americans successfully employed protests and sanctions to topple the racist system of apartheid in

A)Cameroon.
B)Ghana.
C)South Africa.
D)Liberia.

Question 37

The most significant literary trend between 1980 and 2000 was the

A)emergence of black playwrights as the leading figures in American theater.
B)emergence of black men as the leading authors of the day.
C)emergence of black women as the leading authors of the day.
D)disappearance of race consciousness from most black authors' works.

Question 38

Salt n Pepa,MC Lyte,and TLC were prominent examples of

A)gangsta rappers.
B)female rappers.
C)Neo-Soul artists.
D)Zulu Nation affiliates.

Question 39

The music of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest is marked by

A)violent and misogynistic imagery.
B)an embrace of "Dirty" southern sounds known as Neo-Soul.
C)a mix of black nationalism and New Age spirituality.
D)the recurring use of Islamic themes.

Question 40

Which cofounder of Def Jams Records is arguably the first major producer of Hip Hop?

A)Sean Combs
B)Tupac Shakur
C)Clive Campbell
D)Russell Simmons