hewittvalue2equizzes

Quiz for The Affirmative Action Debate

Document Links

Choose the best answer to each question.

Question

1. In his commencement address at Howard University (Document 27.5), how did President Lyndon B. Johnson describe the concept of ability?

Predicated upon one’s surroundings

The product of one’s birth

An innate classification

Closely aligned to academic achievement

Correct: The answer is a. President Johnson viewed ability as stretched or stunted by the poverty or richness of one’s surroundings.

Incorrect: The answer is a. President Johnson viewed ability as stretched or stunted by the poverty or richness of one’s surroundings.

Question

2. Which statement below was true after the ratification of Title IX (see Document 27.6)?

Girls must be given an opportunity to try out for the boys’ basketball team if there is no girls’ basketball team.

Equal monetary funds must be allotted for male and female sports at the high school level.

Boys must be given an opportunity to try out for the girls’ gymnastic team if there is no boys’ gymnastic team.

Both sexes should have the opportunity to play every sport in college.

Correct: The answer is c. “…Where a recipient operates…a team in a particular sport for only one sex and athletic opportunities for the other sex have previously been limited, members of the excluded sex must be allowed to try out for the team offered unless the sport involved is a contact sport.”

Incorrect: The answer is c. “…Where a recipient operates…a team in a particular sport for only one sex and athletic opportunities for the other sex have previously been limited, members of the excluded sex must be allowed to try out for the team offered unless the sport involved is a contact sport.”

Question

3. What is the thesis of Nathan Glazer’s statement about affirmative action (see Document 27.7)?

Affirmative action is reverse racism against whites.

There should be more than two classes that are entitled to statistical parity on the basis of race.

Some form of compensation for past injustices should be granted to certain ethnic groups.

Racial and ethnic groups make poor categories for creating public policy.

Correct: The answer is d. Glazer’s main argument is that racial and ethnic groups make poor categories for the creating public policy. He believes that special opportunity should be available based on need and not race.

Incorrect: The answer is d. Glazer’s main argument is that racial and ethnic groups make poor categories for the creating public policy. He believes that special opportunity should be available based on need and not race.

Question

4. How did Justice Lewis Powell view race in the greater context of affirmative action (see Document 27.8)?

Race is one of the many elements that can be used in the college selection process as long as there is no discriminatory intent.

Race is a constitutionally protected category that can be used by itself to decide entry into college.

Race can be used as a deciding factor in college admittance so long as the intent of the policy is to correct the injustices of the past.

A quota system should be created based on the demography of each region of the country to determine how many minority spots to allot for college admissions.

Correct: The answer is a. Powell viewed race as one of the many elements that can be used in the college selection process as long as there is no discriminatory intent. In striving for a diverse college population, the race of an applicant may tip the balance in his favor, just as geographic origin may tip the balance of another candidate’s case.

Incorrect: The answer is a. Powell viewed race as one of the many elements that can be used in the college selection process as long as there is no discriminatory intent. In striving for a diverse college population, the race of an applicant may tip the balance in his favor, just as geographic origin may tip the balance of another candidate’s case.

Question

5. What is Nell Irvin Painter’s best counter-argument to Bob Dole’s claim that “fighting discrimination should never become an excuse for abandoning the color-blind ideal” (see Document 27.9 and Document 27.10)?

The color-blind ideal is unrealistic, and abolishing affirmative action will prevent certain races and genders from getting jobs.

She was helped by affirmative action, and she wouldn’t have been accepted to Harvard without it.

Gender and race are constitutionally protected classes that utilize strict scrutiny in determining constitutionality.

Faculty diversity reaps academic rewards by exposing students to different ideological backgrounds.

Correct: The answer is a. The counter-argument is that the color-blind ideal is unrealistic and will keep certain race and genders from being gainfully employed. Painter was hired by two history departments that had no black or female members before the late 1960s when affirmative action was put in place.

Incorrect: The answer is a. The counter-argument is that the color-blind ideal is unrealistic and will keep certain race and genders from being gainfully employed. Painter was hired by two history departments that had no black or female members before the late 1960s when affirmative action was put in place.