Chapter 30

Quiz for Document 30-5: Barack Obama, A More Perfect Union (2008)

Reader Quiz

Chapter 30e

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Question 1

In his 2008 speech, A More Perfect Union, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama responds to public outcry over his relationship with his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who had expressed controversial criticisms of the United States from his pulpit. Obama’s speech successfully defuses the situation byA. affirming that Wright is a man of God who never made such negative remarks.
B. emphasizing his youth and inexperience at the time he joined Wright’s Chicago church.
C. rationalizing that he himself is not like Wright because he was raised in a white family.
D. explaining that Wright’s views originate in the racist context of post-World War II America.

Question 2

Obama directly connects many of the disparities plaguing the African American community toA. biological racial characteristics.
B. historical legal and social inequalities.
C. the inherent evil of white Americans.
D. weaknesses in the capitalist system.

Question 3

Obama uses the examples of African American anger and white American anger to make his broader point thatA. African Americans should work for the election of fellow African Americans.
B. elections bring out the worst in all Americans regardless of race.
C. racial division has been used to distract all Americans from their common interests.
D. racial divisions are a permanent feature of American politics.