| Date | November 2017 | Marks available | 3 | Reference code | 17N.1.BP.TZ0.13 |
| Level | Both SL and HL | Paper | Paper 1 - first exams 2017 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | What | Question number | 13 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Source M
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a former US Navy officer and a sociologist who was Assistant Secretary of Labor for President Lyndon B Johnson, writing in the report The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (March 1965).
Delinquency and Crime
The combined impact of poverty, failure, and isolation among Negro youth has had the predictable outcome in a disastrous delinquency and crime rate … It is probable that at present, a majority of the crimes against the person are committed by Negroes. There is, of course, no absolute evidence; inference can only be made from arrest and prison population statistics … In Chicago in 1963, three-quarters of the persons arrested for such crimes were Negro; in Detroit, the proportions were the same. In 1960, 37% of all persons in Federal and State prisons were Negro. In that year, 56% of the homicide and 57% of the assault offenders committed to State institutions were Negro …
The Armed Forces
The ultimate mark of inadequate preparation for life is the failure rate on the Armed Forces mental test …A grown young man who cannot pass this test is in trouble. 56% of Negroes fail it. This is a rate almost four times that of the whites … Service in the United States Armed Forces is the only experience open to the Negro American in which he is truly treated as an equal … In food, dress, housing, pay, work—the Negro in the Armed Forces is equal and is treated that way.
Source O
Victor (Vicky) Weisz, a political cartoonist, depicts two senators outside the US Congress responding to the civil rights programme of President Lyndon B Johnson [LBJ] in the cartoon “Now, we mustn’t let him rush us into things!” for the British newspaper the Evening Standard (29 November 1963).
Note: The text on the placard is “Half the way with L.B.J.” and the text on the newspaper is “‘We have talked long enough about equal rights. We have talked for 100 years …’ – President Lyndon Johnson”.
[Source: Victor (Vicky) Weisz, ‘Half the way with L.B.J’, The Evening Standard,
29 November 1963. Reproduced with permission.]
What, according to Source M, were the problems faced by African Americans in the US?
What does Source O suggest about the situation in 1963 regarding the granting of civil rights?
Markscheme
• African American youths suffered due to “poverty, failure and isolation”.
• There was a significant likelihood that they would be involved in crime and/or put in prison.
• The Armed Forces mental tests suggested that young African American men had been given an inadequate education.
• African Americans were not treated as equals (except in the armed forces).
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. It is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive and no set answer is required. Award [1] for each relevant point up to a maximum of [3].
• Some senators were opposed to any speedy action.
• President Johnson was impatient with the slow progress in achieving civil rights.
• There was willingness to go only half way with Johnson’s programme.
The above material is an indication of what candidates may elect to write about in their responses. It is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive and no set answer is required. Award [1] for each relevant point up to a maximum of [2].
