| Date | November 2017 | Marks available | 4 | Reference code | 17N.1.BP.TZ0.14 |
| Level | Both SL and HL | Paper | Paper 1 - first exams 2017 | Time zone | TZ0 |
| Command term | Analyse | Question number | 14 | 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.
With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of Source M for an historian studying the social position of African Americans in the US.
Markscheme
Value:
• It is an official report written in 1965 and its purpose was to justify the need for change on a national level. It outlines difficulties faced by African Americans.
• It provides detailed statistical analysis on the arrest of African Americas, the African American prison population and the failure rate of African Americans in the Armed Forces mental test.
• Moynihan’s academic status as a sociologist means that he is likely to have offered a useful insight into the position of African Americans in US society.
Limitations:
• In contrast to the second bullet point of “Value”, some candidates may argue that Moynihan’s service in the armed forces may have tempted him to exaggerate the extent to which African Americans were fairly treated in the armed forces.
• Moynihan’s position as Assistant Secretary of Labor in Johnson’s government may have affected the report, and/or the title of the report may reflect the lack of objectivity in the report.
• Caution may be required in using this information, as suggested by the language in the source,for example, “there is of course no absolute evidence” and “It is probable that”.
The focus of the question is on the value and limitations of the source. If only value or limitations are discussed, award a maximum of [2]. Origins, purpose and content should be used as supporting evidence to make relevant comments on the values and limitations. For [4] there must be at least one reference to each of them in either the values or the limitations.
