Question 1

During the years 1920-1932 substantially more than half of all African Americans killed by whites were killed by white officers.

Accepted Answer

During the years 1920-1932, white officers were responsible for the deaths of over half of all African Americans killed by whites.

Question 2

Police were rarely implicated in the estimated 6,000 bloody lynchings of black men and women from the 1870s to the 1960s.

Accepted Answer

Police were often complicit in the lynchings, either by participating in them, failing to protect victims, or not investigating the crimes adequately.

Question 3

Analysis of black community "riots" for the years 1943-1972 indicates that the immediate precipitating event of many community uprisings was the killing or harassment of black urbanites by white officers.

Accepted Answer

Many of the urban uprisings in black communities during this period were indeed triggered by incidents of police violence or harassment against black individuals, reflecting broader tensions and systemic racism.

Question 4

In spite of improvements in policing practices in some cities, discriminatory police harassment and violence continues to oppress African Americans and their communities today.

Accepted Answer

Despite various reforms and improvements in policing practices, numerous reports and studies continue to highlight instances of discriminatory police harassment and violence against African Americans, indicating ongoing systemic issues within law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Question 5

Federal law does not require states to collect data on deaths of people in police custody, but these data have been systematically collected by officials anyway.

Accepted Answer

Federal law does require states to report deaths in police custody under the Death in Custody Reporting Act, but compliance and systematic collection have been inconsistent.

Question 6

Police killings disproportionately involve white-on-black violence.

Accepted Answer

Police killings disproportionately involve white-on-black violence because white police officers are more likely to use deadly force against black suspects than against white suspects. This is due to a number of factors, including racial bias, implicit bias, and the fact that black suspects are more likely to be perceived as threatening.

Question 7

One expert's analysis of stop-and-frisk reports indicated that 95,000 of the reports by officers involved "reasonable, articulable suspicion," and thus was NOT a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The statement implies that the expert's analysis found that in 95,000 instances, the stop-and-frisk actions were based on "reasonable, articulable suspicion," which aligns with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment to not be considered a violation. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and actions based on reasonable suspicion are considered lawful under this amendment.

Question 8

A recent social science study in Philadelphia examined public stop-and-frisk data for predominantly black neighborhoods and found they had 70 percent more incidents of this type of racial profiling than did the nonblack neighborhoods.

Accepted Answer

The statement aligns with findings from various studies and reports that have shown higher rates of stop-and-frisk incidents in predominantly black neighborhoods, indicating racial profiling practices.

Question 9

The often unnecessary police-frisking incidents in black areas garnered fewer productive results than those in white neighborhoods.

Accepted Answer

Studies and reports have shown that police frisking in predominantly black areas often yield fewer productive results, such as the discovery of illegal items, compared to similar actions in predominantly white neighborhoods. This discrepancy has been attributed to racial profiling and systemic biases within law enforcement practices.

Question 10

Researchers have found evidence that racial bias in the bail bonding system is driven by bail judges relying on inaccurate stereotypes that exaggerate the relative danger of releasing black defendants.

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that racial disparities in the bail system can be attributed to judges' reliance on stereotypes that overestimate the risk posed by black defendants, leading to harsher bail conditions compared to white defendants.

Question 11

Denying the racial unfairness of the bail bonding system, in 2017 New Jersey officials refused to act against the system.

Accepted Answer

In 2017, New Jersey officials took significant action against the racial unfairness of the bail bonding system by implementing a major overhaul aimed at ensuring that poor individuals, who are disproportionately people of color, are not unjustly kept in jail because they cannot afford bail.

Question 12

In 2017, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced a nationwide campaign to fight for the termination of money bail and other wealth-based pretrial detention across the country.

Accepted Answer

In 2017, the ACLU did announce a nationwide campaign aimed at ending money bail and other forms of wealth-based pretrial detention, arguing that such practices are unfair to the poor and undermine the justice system by keeping people in jail who have not been convicted of a crime, simply because they cannot afford bail.

Question 13

An American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) research study concluded that nationally, a black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates.

Accepted Answer

The ACLU's research has shown that despite similar usage rates, black individuals are significantly more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white counterparts, highlighting a stark racial disparity in the enforcement of marijuana laws.

Question 14

The 2010 Fair Sentencing Act belatedly moved the minimum amount of crack cocaine to 28 grams, yet still far less than for powder cocaine.

Accepted Answer

The 2010 Fair Sentencing Act reduced the disparity between the amount of crack cocaine and powder cocaine needed to trigger certain federal criminal penalties from a 100:1 weight ratio to an 18:1 weight ratio, effectively raising the amount of crack cocaine to trigger the same penalties as powder cocaine, but still maintaining a significant disparity.

Question 15

Pressure from the U.S. Sentencing Commission have failed to get Congress to officially recognize the racial differentials between crack and powder cocaine convictions.

Accepted Answer

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has successfully influenced Congress to address the racial disparities in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine, leading to legislative changes such as the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.

Question 16

While illegal drug use is at least as common among white men as black men, black men are far more likely than white men to be arrested for illegal drug crimes.

Accepted Answer

Studies and statistics have consistently shown that despite similar rates of illegal drug use among white and black men, black men are disproportionately more likely to be arrested and convicted for drug-related offenses. This discrepancy highlights systemic racial biases within the criminal justice system.

Question 17

Black Americans make up a very disproportionate percentage of Americans facing execution on death row.

Accepted Answer

Black Americans are disproportionately represented on death row compared to their percentage of the overall US population, indicating racial disparities in the application of the death penalty.

Question 18

When a homicide victim is white, the likelihood is far greater that the case will end in an execution than if a homicide victim is black.

Accepted Answer

Studies and statistics have shown that in the United States, cases involving white victims are more likely to result in the death penalty compared to cases involving black victims. This discrepancy highlights racial disparities in the application of capital punishment.

Question 19

Research on the death-penalty abolition movement has found much caution among some anti-death-penalty advocates when it comes to giving attention to this issue of racial bias, as they fear distancing moderate whites from the abolition cause.

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that some anti-death-penalty advocates are cautious about emphasizing racial bias in their arguments against the death penalty. They fear that focusing too much on racial issues might alienate moderate white supporters, who are crucial for the broader abolition movement. This strategic caution reflects a concern about maintaining a broad coalition for abolition.

Question 20

Because of racial and associated class bias in many court decisions, since the early 2000s several states have abolished the death penalty, and the number of death sentences nationally has dropped.

Accepted Answer

Since the early 2000s, there has been a notable decline in the use of the death penalty in the United States, partly due to growing awareness of racial and socioeconomic biases in the application of capital punishment. This has led some states to abolish the death penalty, and nationally, the number of death sentences has decreased.

Quiz 5: Racial Oppression Today: Everyday Practice