"Race in America" Critique
Dr. Engel
ENG 201-06
24 February 2014
“Race in America: ‘We Would Like to Believe We Are Over the Problem’” Critique In her piece for the Catholic weekly publication America, “Race in America: ‘We Would Like to Believe We Are Over the Problem’,” Maryann Cusimano Love responds to a comment made by Delegate Frank D. Hargrove Sr. and discusses the still prevalent issue of racism in the United States of America. Love provides many facts and figures in obstruction to Delegate Hargrove’s belief that the blacks in America need to move past the grudge of slavery because it is not an issue today. Love obviously disagrees with his statement and spends the majority of the article arguing why he is wrong, as well as providing her solution to the problem. I do not believe that Love was successful in her argument against Delegate Hargrove’s comment. While she gave multiple statistics in defense, they tended to be weak in reliability as well as being emotionally driven. Love relies on manipulative language to carry her article, which makes her writing seem shallow and poorly developed.
In her article, Love argues that, though many citizens, politicians, and even the press profess that the country is far past its racial issues, they are still present in today’s society. Love begins by bringing up an interview of Delegate Frank D. Hargrove Sr., a Republican from Richmond, Virginia. In this interview, Hargrove made the statement that “blacks need to get over [slavery]” because it is “counterproductive to dwell on it” when “not a soul today had anything to do with slavery” (Love par. 2). Love goes on to argue against Hargrove’s views, providing many statistics to prove that America is in fact not over the problem of racism. Love concludes with a reminder that “the United States is not alone” (Par. 6) in its racial struggles, and determines that the solution to them is to study the past to understand where the origins of racism are as a whole nation, not just as individual
ENG 201-06
24 February 2014
“Race in America: ‘We Would Like to Believe We Are Over the Problem’” Critique In her piece for the Catholic weekly publication America, “Race in America: ‘We Would Like to Believe We Are Over the Problem’,” Maryann Cusimano Love responds to a comment made by Delegate Frank D. Hargrove Sr. and discusses the still prevalent issue of racism in the United States of America. Love provides many facts and figures in obstruction to Delegate Hargrove’s belief that the blacks in America need to move past the grudge of slavery because it is not an issue today. Love obviously disagrees with his statement and spends the majority of the article arguing why he is wrong, as well as providing her solution to the problem. I do not believe that Love was successful in her argument against Delegate Hargrove’s comment. While she gave multiple statistics in defense, they tended to be weak in reliability as well as being emotionally driven. Love relies on manipulative language to carry her article, which makes her writing seem shallow and poorly developed.
In her article, Love argues that, though many citizens, politicians, and even the press profess that the country is far past its racial issues, they are still present in today’s society. Love begins by bringing up an interview of Delegate Frank D. Hargrove Sr., a Republican from Richmond, Virginia. In this interview, Hargrove made the statement that “blacks need to get over [slavery]” because it is “counterproductive to dwell on it” when “not a soul today had anything to do with slavery” (Love par. 2). Love goes on to argue against Hargrove’s views, providing many statistics to prove that America is in fact not over the problem of racism. Love concludes with a reminder that “the United States is not alone” (Par. 6) in its racial struggles, and determines that the solution to them is to study the past to understand where the origins of racism are as a whole nation, not just as individual
Cited: Cusimano Love, Maryann. "Race in America: "We Would Like to Believe We are over the Problem"."America 12 Feb. 2007: np. Gibson, Bob. "Slavery apology measure ignites legislative debate." The Daily Progress. N.p., 16 Jan. 2007. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. .